Days before this anti-Exxon spoof ad was set to run on ABC, NBC and Fox News affiliate stations in Arkansas, the Texas-based oil company threatened legal action and the ad was pulled, reported the Institute for Southern Studies on Thursday. Fortunately, we have the Internet – the video is available on YouTube.
Thanks to the Internet, you can also read the cease and desist memo [PDF] written by ExxonMobil lawyers, which is just as funny as the spoof. The memo challenges the “numerous inaccuracies” of the ad. For instance, “Here at Exxon we hate your children,” is accompanied by pages of proof that the assertion “cannot be substantiated.”
Bogged down in a controversy over the recent oil spill in Arkansas where reporters have been threatened with arrest for entering the contamination zone, Exxon, it seems, just wants to stick to the facts.
We've made it easier and more affordable to give the gift of In These Times than ever. Give a shining example of a free, independent press to all the progressive thinkers on your gift list. For a limited time, 12-issue gift subscriptions are just $10.
For a limited time, you can give a gift subscription to In These Times magazine for just $10.