Posted on 06/09/2007 3:09:21 AM PDT by johnny7
Possible presidential candidate Fred D. Thompson is lending his voice to radio commercials for a company that says it fights identity thieves and that was co-founded by a man accused of taking money from consumer bank accounts without permission. The one-minute commercials are airing across the country on behalf of Tempe, Ariz.-based LifeLock Inc., which said nearly 200,000 customers pay about $10 a month for services that include placing fraud alerts on their credit files.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I remember when “Bedtime for Bonzo” was supposed to be too embarrassing for Reagan to be a viable candidate for president.
Watch this replace Paris Hilton as the DBM’s lead, weekend story.
It’s a hit piece in the sense that if it was about one of their favorite RATS the story would never have seen the light of day, but if you read the whole thing it does seem that Fred got mixed up (inadvertently) with a shady character.
As for the claim that celebs can’t investigate every product they endorse... if a RAT made that claim, I’d call him/her on it, and so would many others here in FR.
The fact is, when a celeb endorses a product, he/she doesn’t say, “I’m only doing this for the cash and have no idea of the actual value of this thing.” No. That’s not what they say. They say something like what Fred said here: “I urge you to buy this.” Which implies that they DID investigate the product, that they DO know the product, that they genuinely DO like the product.
So, hit piece? Yes. If it was His Majesty Obama or Her Beastship Hillary and the facts were exactly the same, the story would have been flushed down the nearest toilet.
Nevertheless, Fred, you screwed up here. You’re not just a celeb. You’re a potential PREZ. Mistakes like this are NOT in the playbook.
Depends. If I'm just reading an ad without a personal endorsement, then no, I don't need to do research. If I'm saying "I'm GATOR NAVY and I recommend you use LifeLock" then yes, I'd make sure it was legit.
Although much of what LifeLock does can be done by consumers themselves for free...
How much of anything advertised can be done by the consumer themselves? What's important is whether or not the consumer thinks it's cost effective to do it themselves.
But what might be really upsetting the Democrats is Fred relationship with a shady character could be viewed as an attempt to cut into the Democratic base of shady characters.
an attempt to cut into the Democratic base of shady charactersLOL!
If I'm saying "I'm GATOR NAVY and I recommend you use LifeLock" then yes, I'd make sure it was legit.And it depends on the product. If it's BreckGirl endorsing his favorite campaign shampoo or lipgloss, well, hey, there ain't a whole lot of difference between shampoos and lipglosses.
But a credit protection service is a pretty sensitive, personal and important thing. It DOES deserve investigation before personally endorsing it. Indeed it does.
Some of the best inventions are by people who have done the crime. So who better to stop identity thieves then someone who’s done it. Aren’t some fire wall programs made by people who know how to break into computers or home protection by ex buglers. This is a non story folks. Don’t let the left stir you up or let this become the next Paris Hilton headline.
Big friggin deal/ Lets hear the Media tell us about Clinton and his InfoUSA deal. You know theone I am talking about. The one where Clinton targets the old timers for scams.
Yawn.
Fred is a radio personality who does a show. They read ads for virtually any sponsor who requests them to for a set fee. It is not an endorsement, it is a service that is available to all their sponsors. This is a strawman and the LA Times being in the business knows better. This is like suggesting the LA Times is endorsing and is responsible for everyone who advertises in their paper.
Some of the best inventions are by people who have done the crime. So who better to stop identity thieves then someone who’s done it. Aren’t some fire wall programs made by people who know how to break into computers or home protection by ex buglers.That's a GREAT point and that's EXACTLY what Fred (or his spokesperson) should have said.
But that is NOT what they said. No. Indeed not.
What they DID say is that we can't expect on-air personalities to investigate every product they endorse. Which means, in fact, that LifeLock could be the biggest scam in the known universe and hey, it's not up to Fred to tell you. All he's gotta say is, "I urge you to buy this."
Sorry, Charlie. Doesn't wash. He screwed up, or his spokesman did, and the media is going to point that out and his only way out in front of it is to come clean, one way or another. Then it will become a non-story. But if he sticks to this "can't expect me to investigate everything" line then it's going to look bad for him. Not to the folks here, of course. And not in a big way, of course. This isn't major. But it's out there. And he put it out there. And he's got to handle it.
The editor of the LA Times does not add a line at the bottom of every ad that says: “We here at the LA Times urge you to buy this product.”
Wow, with all the “he musts” you just laid in your posts, its a wonder that he hasn’t hired you to run his campaign.
That’s right. Shoot the messenger. Critique my writing ability. Have fun. Meanwhile, Fred hurt himself here. Not with you. I know. But he did.
I am just curious what you think is so evil about this. The guy settled up with the FTC without admitting any wrong doing, and he paid his casino debt and charges were dropped. Neither of this instances had anything to do with this company that Fred read the ad for.
I see what you're saying, but I'd like to think that if I was ever in a position to endorse any product with my name, it would be because I really used that product.
As a side note, I lived in Japan for many years. It was hilarious to watch how many serious "actoooors", who would have slit their wrists before lowering themselves to do a TV commercial in the States, did commercials in Japan.
And neither did Fred. Suggesting someone contact a company and buying are two different things. Radio hosts do this all the time for their advertisers. This is a bogus story but what it shows is the left is getting scared of Fred. Fred hasn't even announced and the LA Times is running a long story of dubious merit. Desperation is in the air.
Fred is a radio host, radio hosts read ads for their advertisers. Fred did this at the request of ABC. This is not an endorsement, it is reading an ad for an advertiser on their stations. This is a standard radio provides to their clients.
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