McCain ad questioned as word 'HANG' appears over image of Barack Obama John Byrne

Published: Thursday August 28, 2008





Print This Email This A McCain ad aired on Fox News channel with the words "HANG" in the background along with a photograph of Barack Obama has sparked outrage after being noticed by a reporter at a local Fox television affiliate.



The words "HIGHER TAXES" are transposed on an image of Obama standing in front of a crowd. The background is blurred at the edges so that the words from Obama's signature theme -- change -- has been cut down to the word "HANG." The shot appears for about a second. You can watch the ad in its entirety below.







Asked about the image, the McCain camp said, "We're not even validating such an outrageous and preposterous claim with a comment."



Strikingly, the image of Obama with the word hang in the background is blurred far more heavily on the side where the C would have been, suggesting the decision was intentional. The company that produced the ad refused to comment when the local Fox affiliate inquired.



Not everyone is buying the claim the transposition is deliberate. Even at the liberal blog Daily Kos, an informal poll indicated 76 percent thought the image was deliberate, with 23 percent saying it was a coincidence.



"Is this a coincidence?" one diarist wrote. "People spend hours and hours editing political ads, I really don't see how this could go unnoticed by the editors. Maybe they saw it and thought it wasn't noticeable or maybe they thought it wasn't important."



This video is from Fox 14, broadcast August 28, 2008.









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