"Buy American" Ads Turned Down

I think I’d file this under a “little kooky.” The Seattle area Metro bus company has refused to sell ad space on their buses to a company that is asking folks to buy American made products this Christmas season.

A local group’s plan to buy ads on Metro buses urging people to “Buy American” and “shop Locally” has been rejected by King County as too political

TAP America, a Seattle-based nonprofit, sought to place the ads starting this week on the outside of Metro buses, concentrating on bus routes that run through shopping districts of downtown Seattle and Bellevue.

The message was meant as a reminder to holiday shoppers that they could do something positive for the country by thinking about how they spend their money, said Richard Tso, TAP America’s executive director. (Source: Seattle Times)

All I can say is Wow. How in the heck is a push by a group trying to get folks to purchase American-made products political? Maybe it’s because we don’t want to offend the Chinese or other countries that ship goods to America. But doesn’t urging folks to purchase American products helpful to both sides of the political spectrum? Republican and democrats, and Conservatives and liberals all own small and medium sized businesses that produce goods for sale.

The gun-shy attitude of King County is a result of some ads that were purchased last year that alleged “Israeli War Crimes.” Now that is political. This is an issue where you take a stance. People from both sides protest this issue. But I don’t recall anyone ever carrying signs that said “Don’t Buy American” at some protest rally.

Metro is having troubles with revenue and here they go and shut down an opportunity to earn $8K. Silly and a little kooky.