Article
GSTV refuses to run Obama ads
The controversy raises questions about political ads and digital signage.
August 10, 2008 by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance
A war of words broke out last week between an emerging leader in digital signage at c-stores and the presumptive Democratic candidate for president.
On Wednesday, the campaign of Barack Obama announced that it had purchased insertions on the Gas Station TV network, which operates pump-top digital signs in more than 400 cities. But later that day, GSTV announced that it had never approved such an order – and would not, citing a company decision to turn down all political advertisements.
Emails were forwarded to ABC News that purport to show an agreement between the two parties to run the "National Priority" spot – which, certainly not coincidentally, focuses on high gas prices and dependence on foreign oil.
A blog on ABCNews.com quoted the Obama campaign as saying, "Gas Station TV informed the campaign this afternoon (that) the company will not run ads that are damaging to oil companies."
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"The campaigns that contacted Gas Station TV did not receive approval to move forward with a media buy on our network. At no time did Gas Station TV receive what is known in the media industry as an insertion order, which is required to purchase ads on the network. Gas Station TV must approve any ads running on the network and no political ads were sent to Gas Station TV for review and approval. All ads are subject to creative review before airing. No invoices indicating approval from Gas Station TV to run a political ad were developed and at no time were related financial transactions completed with Gas Station TV and its partners."
Political ads on digital signs – a good or a bad idea?
Whether or not the Obama ads were initially approved by GSTV, a larger issue remains for digital signage operators – are political ads a good idea? It's easy to imagine the damage that might be done to a brand in the eyes of one constituency if the brand is seen as aligning with an opposing one. But it's hard not to look at the sheer number of dollars political campaigns spend on advertising, and wonder whether or not some of them could be snagged.
"If I were a network, I would try not to miss this revenue opportunity, given its size," said Nurlan Urazbaev, director of marketing for digital signage software company BroadSign.
He said he would make sure to comply with any local legislation regarding political ads, and then focus on creating strict guidelines for what kinds of ads would and would not be accepted, basing those guidelines on the sensitivities of the audience in question.
"I think it's inevitable that political ad buyers eventually will be chasing digital signage networks - and apparently they have started doing that," he added. "This is one of the cases when it's not the sellers who are seeking buyers but vice versa, because political campaigns are seasonal - there is pressure both from deadlines and from competition, and the pressure of budget limitations, so you have to be fast, aggressive and more creative than the competition, especially if you have a smaller budget."
Should political ads run on digital signage? Click to discuss.
The Obama presidential campaign has been a series of firsts, and here is yet another. Dick Trask of Scala, whose software powers 200,000 digital signs worldwide, said he has never seen a political ad on a digital sign up until now. BroadSign's Urazbaev corroborated the notion that this may indeed be an industry first.
He also pointed out that the attention this issue has generated will likely work in favor of GSTV.
"In a controversy like the one with Gas Station TV, it put them on Advertising Age's radar in a second, which is not a bad thing in the cynical ad world," he said. "Gas Station TV would have spent months or years trying the get an editor's attention otherwise."
Bill Yackey, editor, also contributed to this article.
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