Swiss America Gold Standard ads

Major news networks have all rejected two animated television spots developed by Phoenix-based Swiss America Trading Corp. depicting Ben Bernanke and President Obama printing money with abandon, and promoting ownership of gold and silver as protection against this policy.
The ads have been rejected by Fox, Fox Business, CNBC, NBC, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, & the Discovery Channel. ...

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Swiss America CEO Craig Smith said the intent of the ads was not to make a political statement.

The goal, he said, "was to take what we thought was a humorous approach to a timely and important economic topic in order to advertise our company and promote a new book we've recently published."

Along with Fox News and Fox Business, the two commercials have been rejected by NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, ABC, CBS, CNN/HLN and the Discovery Channel.

Comcast, in rejecting the spot, told Swiss America that it "does not meet our standards on public symbol."

Comcast's Public Symbol Policy specifies that the "use of the name or likeness of the President of the United States and/or the Presidential Seal for endorsing commercial purposes must be authorized by the White House."

Fox News said the "representation of public figures is something we try to avoid."

CNN/HLN told Swiss America the commercials were "not appropriate for the current political landscape."

"The networks' reaction shocked me," Smith said. "It's a threat to First Amendment rights when a commercial message is rejected not because it is inaccurate or misleading, but because it makes what is perceived to be a political statement the networks want to avoid."
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