SunHerald.com:
The franchisee of a Meineke car care center in D’Ibverille has run an apology in the Sun Herald for having a political message inserted into a recent newspaper advertisement, corporate officials said Thursday.
An ad on Page A3 on Feb. 3 for deals at two South Mississippi Meineke locations contained the phrase “AMERICA RISING: We are taking our country back 11/02/10,†which refers to the date of congressional elections.
America Rising is the title of a video circulating among conservative political Web sites that warns President Barack Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress that conservatives intend to take back Congress in the fall.
The video shows Democratic politicians and the old Soviet hammer and sickle. It also shows scenes from Colonial times, as well as the recent TEA Party conservative protest movement.
John Vitagliano, vice president of marketing for Meineke, said D’Ibverville Meineke franchisee Leonard Harris had Sun Herald advertising employees add the “America Rising†statement to an ad, which had been previously approved by the company without the political statement.
He said that was a violation of company policy. After the ad ran, complaints came in to Meineke and a regional company official was notified about it.