Attempts from Seahawks, Starbucks and Seattle Times to Take Down Tiffany Smiley Ads Backfire
Washington, D.C. – Veterans advocate Tiffany Smiley is running an effective campaign against three-decade incumbent Democrat Patty Murray by talking about issues that voters most care about like skyrocketing inflation and crime in the Evergreen State. Since she can’t argue with the facts on those issues, Murray has turned to her allies at woke corporations – like the Seahawks, Starbucks and the Seattle Times – to try to cancel Smiley and her ads.
Kim Strassel of The Wall Street Journal points out Democrats are so “worried … about Washington Sen. Patty Murray’s re-election … that Seattle’s corporate heavyweights are playing dirty pool on her behalf.”
“[A] trio of titans—Starbucks, the Seattle Times and the Seattle Seahawks—are actively attempting to sabotage the Smiley campaign, albeit in a distinctly underhanded fashion. Their targets are two effective Smiley campaign ads. ‘Game Day’ hit the airwaves Sept 1. Five days later, according to documents I obtained, the Smiley campaign received a terse email from the Seahawks claiming a trademark violation … ‘Cup of Coffee’ went live on Sept. 20. The next day, the Seattle Times sent an email to the ‘Jane Smiley’ campaign—apparently without running it past its fact-checking desk—accusing it of ‘unauthorized use of The Seattle Times logo and two headlines’ in violation of the paper’s ‘copyright and trademark.’ … Two days later, Starbucks sent a certified letter saying the campaign was appropriating its intellectual property … One such letter may be the product of an overzealous lawyer, but three in a row looks like more than a coincidence … it’s something else for individual companies to go to bat for a candidate via behind-the-scenes threats based on tenuous legal claims …”
But as Strassel also writes, “The campaign didn’t roll over.”
“In a legal letter sent Thursday to Starbucks, the campaign rebutted the company’s infringement claims … It suggested Starbucks focus on its own problems, like its recent union woes. The Seattle Times also received a letter refuting its claims, but it got something in addition. The Smiley campaign on Thursday filed a Federal Election Commission complaint, charging the paper with providing the Murray campaign a prohibited in-kind contribution. It turns out that Ms. Murray has also used a Seattle Times headline in her ads.”
Local journalists and commentators have also taken notice:
- Ari Hoffman of The Post Millennial on the Seahawks: “The Seattle Seahawks have decided to turn their resources on Washington’s Republican Senate candidate Tiffany Smiley and her husband Scotty … You guys honored Scotty Smiley in 2014 … Now you’re mad about him wearing a Seahawks jersey in a campaign ad because his wife is running as a Republican for Senate … Murray, the media, and corporate supporters are likely getting more desperate …”
- Brandi Kruse of [un]Divided on the Seahawks: “The jersey in question was given to Mr. Smiley by the Seattle Seahawks when he raised the 12th man flag in honor of his service as the nation’s first blind active-duty military officer … On Friday, Washington State Rep. Tarra Simmons (D) posted what appeared to be an endorsement from the Seahawks on her campaign page … Overall, I don’t think it’s a good look for the Seahawks and could serve to alienate part of their fan base.”
- Ari Hoffman of The Post Millennial on Starbucks and the Seattle Times: “Left-leaning media and corporate allies of the Democrats, including Starbucks and the Seattle Times, are growing so concerned about Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray’s re-election changes that they have turned their vast resources on her Republican challenger Tiffany Smiley …”
- Brandi Kruse of [un]Divided on the Seattle Times: “Why was Murray allowed to use the Times logo, but Smiley wasn’t? It is a fair question … I pressed [The Seattle Times] for clarity on two fronts: What about the use in question gives the impression that The Times has endorsed her campaign? Was the Times comfortable with Patty Murray’s usage of the logo in 2016 because it had endorsed her campaign in that race? [They] declined further comment.”
- Andy Ngo of The Post Millennial on Starbucks:
###
