Some of you have emailed us concerning a political attack video by the Meg Whitman campaign for California governor which features a screenshot of FAIL Blog attacking the other candidate Jerry Brown. We want to make it VERY clear that FAIL Blog nor the Cheezburger Network had any involvement or knowledge of the Whitman campaign use of a screenshot of FAIL Blog. In fact, the screenshot portrayed in the video never existed because the Whitman campaign faked the content within the screenshot. FAIL Blog or the Cheezburger Network has never been involved in any endorsement of any candidate or political party and do not plan to do so.
This is a place for humor, a place to laugh, and to have light-hearted fun poking at each other and what we see in the world. The FAIL Blog community involves liberals, conservatives and everyone across the political spectrum. And we do not endorse the use of FAIL Blog’s image or any content on any of the Cheezburger sites for anyone’s political gain.
We demand a written apology from the Whitman campaign and the removal of the video.
Sincerely,
Ben Huh, Founder of the Cheezburger Network
P.S. Jerry Brown, you better not be thinking of using this image or post in your political ad either.
This video is also viewable at: DailyMotion | Funny or Die
-
-
Copy & paste this:
It has wrinkles!
BEN HUR I READ??????
Epic name ftw!!!
P.S I like turtles
All right. I know the fail isn’t about humour, but this is one of the biggest fails ever.
word.
you fail
Worked under Meg at eBay and was thoroughly un-impressed. She didn’t do anything the ever benefitted the company. Look at the history of the company. Of the dozens of acquisitions and billions of dollars of investor money wasted, can you even think of ONE acquisition that help the company?
Thats the future of California.
Paypal? StubHub?
I had a friend who worked at eBay while she was there and she did exactly what this one movie called “Outsourced” did; she flew in workers from India and had certain departments train those workers to do what they were doing (many of these jobs included customer service); once the workers were trained; they would go back to India and from there they would do the jobs of the American workers who had trained those workers from India; were then given pink slips (laid off); so customer service jobs for Meg belong in other countries because it is much cheaper and would save Californians lots of money but would inconvenience those workers who are laid off. What a great Idea Meg; lets just ship more jobs over seas and only the rich make it; screw the middle class and those bloody liberals who voted for Gore in 2000 and then voted for Obama in 2008, and those excellent Bush Tax Cuts should continue on until our Country becomes bankrupt? I don’t think so! We would be in a disastrous state if she becomes our Governor; she must be stopped! I know she is trying to purchase the Governor’s mansion will her billions of dollars that she made from eBay while many workers are laid off so that she can be paid more; we don’t need a greedy power hungry governor; we need a Governor who can actually do the job right.
“Outsourced” is a TV show.
‘Outsourced’ was a movie, and the TV show is based off of it.
I hope she loses. What a cheap nasty dumb trick. If how she plans on running things is anything like her campaign strategy, why would we want her to be in charge of anything
YEESSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! gets my vote
Wait, so somebody thought the presence of their opponent’s image on a humor site (whether it actually happened or not,) would somehow impact votes? THAT’S a fail.
That’s like if McCain had an ad saying “look, Perez Hilton posted about Obama- don’t vote for him!” WTF?
^That actually could be a powerful reason to vote (or vote against) someone.
Anyone Perez Hilton approves of, I’m automatically against. Just a policy I’ve kept for a few years, seems to work well!
I might as well embrace that policy, as well. Something he likes (sucking …), I hate!
+1
Pathetic, Polliticians FAIL
Ah, so close yet so far from #1. Oh well, noobs! At least I’ll be the first to say “first” so here goes, FIRST!
fail fail
-_- Just get out, stink…
stink senses jealousy
*lurches through the blog dragging a headstone*
*headstone is caked with gore and dried blood*
*
safety**THWACKS stink across the head with headstone*
*repeats a few times*
*lurches through the blog dragging a headstone*
*headstone is dripping with gore and blood*
Stink’s senses seem to be a bit off.
*stagers forward*
Brains!
*checks beaten body left behind by ZA*
*shuffles off in dissapointment*
You spelled staggers wrong, you wretched boor.
But they are still loved more than you.
And in lots of different, adventurous, and creative positions.
don’t forget the toys, lots and lots of toys
&_&
you all failed… miserably
Nah, I found it amusing. Junky’s wasn’t quite as good, but hey, he had a hard act to follow and I give him credit.
I think you fail, for not noticing the funny in the comments.
Arc senses trolling.
i think ur retarded
Grunty smells more trolling… oh, wait, it’s just my dinner… Anyone up for broccoli?
Life imitating Art!! I think it’s hilarious!!
I find it hilarious that they would even think of doing this.
I mean, hypothetically, what if Jerry Brown had shown up on Failblog? Hell, if I were running against him, I’d be afraid to even mention it. That’s like trying to score political capital by pointing out that someone’s fly is down. No one cares
No political content? Can you say Pundit Kitchen?
You may want to re-phrase your stement
OOps spelling FAIL
You may want to re-read his statement.
Did you even read the statement? Where does it say they abstain from political content????
Soooo, reading comprehension added to the list of fail…. not uncommon these days ^.^
Ya i c ur point we al talk lik were txting lololololololol
(By the way, I don’t actually talk like that. I only do that when people are being uncomprehensive misunderstanding unknowledgable people who can’t understand words with more than two syllables.
P.S. I’m not saying this to you, Cait. Just talking to the world in general.)
Her name’s actually Diana, and she’s the leader of her people…
Hmm…I Wonder…
You know damn well that if it was a liberal candidate attacking a conservative we wouldn’t hear a peep from failblog. If you actually deny failblog’s liberal leanings, you haven’t been paying attention to their posts for very long (like their fail of the year poll a while ago).
Oh god, where is a failpeep with a troll weapon when needed? Please shut up.
Lol did I really hurt your feelings that much? Quick, jump to defend failblog! Pwetty pweeze shut up!
typical teabagger, *yawn*
Is a teabagger anything like a dip?
A certain kind of Dip…
Wow – a sexually insulting connotation to refer to someone who supports limited government…that’s fresh…you should copyright that original thought before a bunch of morons steal it from you and start using it.
Don’t you mean morans?
I lol’d at that. I’m a non-librul and I still lmao at the pic of that guy.
Don’t you mean mormons?
If you honestly support the tea part of all things, you fail.
Wow, that’s *deep*, Deepthroat. You are quite the deliberator. “If you don’t agree with me, you fail.” Just… deep…
They are completely unable to discuss or consider any non-leftist views. They are limited to ad hominem. It’s ironic that their “insults” are to refer to those that think differently than them as simply being “f@gs.” That’s how they roll. Interesting how the tolerant lefties hate g@ys and g@y behavior like teabagging, isn’t it? I mean since that’s an insult I would assume that. (Pardon the “@”‘s but it got blocked without them.)
It was a funny comment, see ‘bagging’ is a euphemism for ‘teasing’ – read the name of the poster being teased. Yes, there’s a sexual meaning, and I also read a political one. Look, you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed, and posting on here lets us all see that. I have no opinion on the political argument you guys are having, but I did take the time to read the comment properly and appreciate the wordplay.
Wow! I am SO stupid. Thank you, DrB. Boy, I am so the wiser for having read your comments. Have a good evening.
Well, I changed the subject
I’m sure there’s some good political threads going-on over at LGF, with a slightly more interested crowd. A good evening to you also.
Err…maybe see you there.
*tries to analyze logic*
“My” point = valid, and everyone should listen… “Their” point = automatically invalid since “they” said it, therefore “they” are engaging in ad hominem… “They” love calling people “f**s”… Sorry for the @ signs, I really wish I could have been using the actual slur but those darn lefties won’t let me…
*head explodes*
Agreed.
Hypocrisy is a global pandemic these days.
“Limited Government” That phrase seems to be thrown around a lot. Need I remind you that those who advocate limited government are against repealing laws that make marijuana (among other things) illegal? Not only that, but they want to create laws that make abortion (among other things) illegal. They want limited government yet they support upholding and creating laws that put no limits on the powers of the government. “Limited Government” is the most contradictory argument in the history of politics and those who use it seem to be lacking a good education.
Well-said.
Broad brush much? I’m a “teabagger” and I’m very much in favor of limited government and that includes ending this insane war on drugs. Wanna bake your brain? Knock yourself out.
Abortion involves the death of an unborn human being. Sorry, but that human being’s right to live trumps your desire to duck the consequences of your drunken 1 night stand with a 3 toothed carny in town for the weekend to run the Tilt-A-Whirl at the local American Legion fair. I oppose abortion for the same reason I oppose killing you, it’s a fundamental abrogation of an individual’s God given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Nice try though.
Too bad thousands of raped women will be forced to give birth when they didn’t want babies, no, didn’t want SEX in the first place. Oh well, better than letting poor, young teenage girls living in the streets off the hook, right? Right?
wait, is Gana Rhea your real name??
clever
Geez – don’t encourage them!
*squeeze*
*snork* well, I read a triple entendre whether it was intended or not!
*squeeze*
A triple!?!?!?
Sh!t!
*runs and hides*
Hell, I haven’t seen a triple since the last time Mookie had a ball!
Hee. You might just have been the only one to catch that (or at least crazy enough to admit to it).
Oh so being courteous is being weak, I’m not sorry @sshole. Let me rewrite that statement. Shut the Fvck Up.
*sigh*
Trolls excel at dragging folks down to their level. May I drag you back up?
*grabs teatime of death and pulls him into the breakroom*
Thanks man. It’s really unsanitary down there.
“man”???
*giggles*
I’m sorry, Thanks Dragon.
Well, I called you a “him” so I can’t really complain, can I??
*gives tod a cookie*
Ooo a cookie!
*noms*
And all you’ve done is ask for a “failpeep” (I have no idea what that is but then again I have a life outside of the internet), you couldn’t even deny failblog’s liberalism.
So what if it is liberal (Which it isn’t..) ? I highly doubt anyone cares. Nobody comes here to debate politics. You are in the wrong place shoeman12.
I dunno, I see alot of political debating. Which is sad, cause yeah, I don’t think that’s the point!!
+1. No politics in this thread until you, shoe. Take it somewhere else.
You are well named shoeman12 for you are most certainly a load of cobblers. You are obviously new here if you neither know what a failpeep is, nor have a handle on who haunts these halls. Why would one wish to deny liberalism or conservatism and why must one be one or the other. Feel free to return to your dismal “… life outside of the internet …”.
Hatemonger? Gosh, touchy for not liking a suspected liberal lean to a website. Kinda like the Failbook post that Walt Disney was racist because he didn’t like people with long hair in Disneyland.
We have obviously never come across each other before. You term, “… suspected liberal lean …”, is telling me volumes. Before you break out the label maker and try to tag me as a hatemonger I suggest that you do a little looking about first.
I saw the failbook post that you mentioned. The failure there is that length of hair has nothing to do with race as the facebooker thought.
I check failblog a lot, just not the idiotic comments.
well, if you did you might realize that this place isn’t biased as you’d like to think it is. You merely want it to be focused on the failures of liberal media. You really are an idiot.
I do read the idiotic comments. Here’s an example of one:
“You know damn well that if it was a liberal candidate attacking a conservative we wouldn’t hear a peep from failblog. If you actually deny failblog’s liberal leanings, you haven’t been paying attention to their posts for very long (like their fail of the year poll a while ago).”
One of the things that makes it so idiotic is while in one post he says that he doesn’t read the idiotic comments in this one he says “… you haven’t been paying attention to their posts for very long …”. Priceless!
Shoe, your life is unhappy because of the choices you made in life, not because of liberalism. The sooner you are able to come to terms with that fact, the quicker you will be able to fix what’s wrong and be happy.
Yeowch!
*gets scorched just from the heat radiating off shoe’s burnt corpse*
Personally, I think this is a Failblog Win. The idea that Failblog has the audience and the credibility to affect a Gubernatorial candidate’s campaign, well… that’s pretty awesome
BTW, as a Liberal in one of the most liberal towns in the most liberal part of the Left Coast, I would like to say that, yes, Failblog and Punditkitchen do have a Liberal slant. Denying it is silly.
Because failpeeps are SO cool. Get over yourselves… you’re a group of people who met on the internet who happen to have a catchy name for themselves. Guess what, you’re nothing more than that. If some stranger doesn’t know who you are, who cares, you’re a group of people on the internet, not Paris Hilton. Instead of ganging up on some moron who has no clue what he’s talking about, how about you quit acting like the popular people at school. You’re not, you never were and never will be. You are 12 year-olds on the internet seeking attention.
First let me say this: Thank God we are not P.H..
As for the rest, you strike me as another teen with too much time on your hands and too little guidance in life. In short, another talentless troll. Shoo.
So you own this place huh? You get to have say in who or who doesn’t stay? Quit acting like you own the place and then we’ll talk.
I may not own a park, but I may swat a mosquito at one.
Tell him to make like a tree.
All bark and no bite?
You’re running rings around him, Coyote.
Maybe it’ll leaf now. I’m off to bed now. You remember sleep don’t you? Still scarfing chocolate espresso beans?
Night all!
Of course he is…
Thank you, tree. It’s often hard to distinguish between the rabid ideologues of either stripe and the caretrolls who imitate them.
Cheering for the person who swats you for caretrolling makes it easier to tell.
I fail to see what you are so angry about. What I DO see is you oh so very maturely insulting people by calling them immature and ‘uncool’.
Hmm…
…
…
.. hmmm….
..
.. yeah. I’ve decided you’re right. Little kids on the internet who post mean things about others are definitely losers and seeking attention.
No I was just asking for a licensed troll exterminator. You= troll.
Licensed troll exterminator? Gee, I never heard it put that way before.
*drags stereo from the grave*
*cranks volume, pushes play*
*
safety**AC/DC – Thunderstruck starts playing – very loudly*
*250 million zombies erupt from the ground*
*zombie hoard rocks out to the tunes*
*hoard surrounds troll suspect in the process*
*entire hoard dives on troll suspect at once*
*every single one avoids the head*
*everything below the neck that isn’t bone is eaten*
*hoard stands back and watches with awe*
*zombie smashes skull open to reveal the worst smelling excrement*
*hoard recoils in disgust*
*hoard rocks out back to their graves as the song ends*
*a horrifying display is left behind as a warning to others*
*everyone nearby suffers temporary hearing loss from the volume*
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
WHAT?? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!
WHAT?!!?!?!?!
I’m sorry, all I hear is, “Blah, blah, blah, Liberal Bias is everywhere, waaahh, blah, blah, blah…”
Well at least you comprehended the important part of that sentence.
You seem to be missing the point in the message that was posted about the fake Failblog screen shot. This is not a place for politics, especially hatemongers like you. I personally don’t give a damn if you’re liberal or conservative, I’m sick of all this constant political vomit that people spew nowadays. But to use Failblog as a way to attack you opponent is the work of a true bottom feeder.
Amen… Being liberal or conservative is effing useless unless you want to get into a fight. People who actually use their brains support POLICIES not parties (unless it’s a luau, then I vigorously support it).
Here friggin here! Some real sense there.
By the way, have tried genuine Kalua pig?
And the only tea party I support is a good Cantonese-style one with lots of dim sum.
REAL American’s support pretty princess tea parties with Mr. Bear.
>applauds<.
I agree totally, I can barely talk to some of my classmates because of their politic spewing tendencies.
Oh, there you go bringing class into it again.
What does school have to do with social economics?
“Class.” Classmates. He was making a joke, I think.
You think correctly. Monty Python and the Holy Grail reference/pun.
Coyote…making a joke? Why I never!
Wouldn’t even know how if I wanted to.
bloody peasants!
So, candidates aren’t allowed, or shouldn’t be allowed to use pop culture icons in their campaigns? I thought the new fad was getting the young ones out to vote. The young ones like fads. How else do you explain Twilight?
While I agree that this should not be a place for politics, the fake screenshot ad was not posted here. It was the Failblog/Cheezburger people that put it here. Hypocrisy is a two-way street, and if the folks at Failblog were serious about their claim, their lawyers would have written letters to the campaign chief, instead of posting it on their site. They MADE it a place for politics, by posting this here.
A professor of mine once said, that when they complain about a media outlet being biased towards one opinion, they don’t want it to be fair. They want it to be biased towards the opposite opinion.
See also Fox News.
… yes, I know “lol fox newz is bad” is a bit of cliche these days, but it fits the example: some people consider Fox to be “Fair and Balanced” in that it’s balancing out the preceived liberal bias on other networks.
Its all insane, really.
For Snoopy’s sake, will you just put a bullet in your empty skull?
You’re more annoying than an offspring between a troll and a poodle. (yes, it is possible!)
Even though Barky is a doggy, I agree with him. This Bottom feeder troll is the stupidest creature on the planet *the kitten hisses and takes out troll-bazooka* Be gone, troll!
And yet here you are. Funny, that.
How on earth is failblog liberal? I’ve never seen anything on here that is politically biased in any way. You are just a typical conservative crybaby that points at the media and calls it liberal simply because it never tells you what you want to hear.
From the typical judgemental liberal? People that can’t see far enough past his or her own opinion to recognize that people are different and have differing opinions, and rather that rationally discuss issues to attempt to reach a consensus, they point fingers and call names are no better.
This two-sided, black and white, right and wrong BS is the problem. Neither side is just going to take their toys and go home. A little fyi, not all conservatives are wealthy, bible-thumping, caucasian business owners, and not all liberals are lazy, hippy, gay welfare recipients. If we could take half a second to concentrate on the things we have in common, all this political posturing would go away on it’s own. But everyone is too busy taking sides, ignoring the actual issues, meawhile nothing is getting done, and we’re all circling the drain. For too many people, it’s not about finding an acceptable compromise, it’s about being “right.” “I’m right, and anyone who doesn’t agree with me is stupid, and I’m gonna make fun of them.” When that sort of nonsense happens on the playground, it’s called bullying.
Damn you and your logical reasoning and pragmatic look at the problem at hand! Don’t you know a political conversation is no place for such things!?
i get the point, but I havn’t seen the video, any got link?
Nice trick, it’s 50 seconds into a 1 minute spot. Problem is I outsmarted them, I muted the
cakesound.Failblog is a holy and sacred place of hilarity and, while I have no stake in the California race, I do hope that she loses by less than the number of Failblog readers with a vote. Now that would be a deserved fail.
Oh, I see. When you use other people’s trademarked and copyrighted material as satire to make a profit, it’s perfectly OK. But when someone uses your trademarked and copyrighted material as satire in a political campaign, it’s not. Boo-hoo. Methinks your hypocrisy is a FAIL.
Yo tard, a political ad is NOT the same as satire. Look it up
So it’s not satirizing an opponent? And a political ad can’t be satire? And you’re the one calling me names and telling me to look it up? What a d-bag.
When you’re using someone’s trademarked and copyrighted material in an attempt to get votes — especially under false pretenses, there’s a problem. When you’re using it as satire for the sake of only satire, that’s different.
Are you referencing Henley v. DeVore? It would take quite a leap to make that applicable to their claim.
Satire drips with irony. There was nothing ironic about that political ad. There is an unbelievably huge difference between satire and mudslinging. Didn’t you take English in high school? Failblog is all in good fun and is never intended to personally attack anybody. Whitman’s ad was an attack on her opponent. Go back to school please.
Ouch.
Nice, never thought about it that way.
“never thought about it.”
FTFY
Another one – “Waaaahhh!”
Well, normally that would be the case. Except this “trademarked and copyrighted material” you speak of never existed in the first place. I think that’s the point of this post.
Uh, did you see the R in a circle next to the big FAILblog logo? That’s what they’re so upset about. They used their Registered Trademark in their ad. But artistic license says you can use it without permission and for free if used for satire, which is what was done. Ben Huh is mad because someone satirized his satire. To Ben Huh, I say, “Huh, Ben. Too bad. Suck it up and deal. Someone done did to you what you done did to them.”
You know, I went and paused the video and nowhere, NOWHERE! did it even show a recognizable FAILblog logo. It showed the design and what might have been either part of the logo or a logo so blurred by motion that it was unrecognizable. So FAILblog has zero, ZERO! claim to infringement. What a bunch of hypocrite crybabies. You want a written apology. OK, here’s one. “TS, baby! See yas’ in court.”
Congratulations, sir, you have invalidated your own argument.
“That’s what they’re so upset about. They used their Registered Trademark in their ad.”
FAIL. See argument below.
Wow… I’ve never seen a kitten bodyslam a pig before.
Too bad the kitten doesn’t know what it’s talking about. Read my response below.
How did I invalidate my argument? FAILblog believes that a satire using their trademarked material implies endorsement. First of all, it’s satire, so too bad. Second of all, IT DOESN’T EVEN SHOW a trademarked logo. Third of all, it only has the “appearance” or “design” of the website which is as weak and nebulous an argument as you could get for “trademark infringement”. Fourth, the FAIL meme existed long before FAILblog tried to capitalize on it by making it it’s own. So have fun in court wastin’ yo’ money.
I was about to point that out to you, but you saw it already. Yeah, I’m afraid FB is not going to have a case. The “site” in the ad doesn’t SAY “Failblog” so it doesn’t mean it IS Failblog. That’s their defense. Crafty work on the part of the ad creators.
Incidentally, though, if you do hate Ben Huh so much, why are you even here?
I don’t hate Ben Huh, I don’t even know him. In fact, I visit far too many of his websites every day. But what I hate is hypocrisy. He makes his living on satirizing others, i.e. he profits from them, and when someone does it to his enterprise, he starts whining like a little girl. It’s just cringe-worthy.
Ah, gotcha. Although in his defense, I’ve known a few peeps who have asked him to take down their copyrighted stuff, and he always does.
We aren’t privy to the machinations of what went on here, but there is normally a business etiquette that one follows. First, in good faith, you send a nice letter asking them to remove your trademarked/copyrighted material. If they persist or rebuke, you have counsel send them a cease & desist letter. If they ignore the C&D, you have a couple options. If you have a bully pulpit like they do here, you tell the story and try to pressure them to remove your material. You can ultimately sue, but that is the last option you should take. But what you don’t do is just start stomping around, making demands and trying to humiliate the other party. It’s childish, it’s unprofessional, and ultimately it makes you look like a vindictive harpy.
BTW, legally, trademarks aren’t just words or logos, but can be designs. They could try to make a case with that, but it would be like spitting in the wind; i.e. they have zero chance in court. Worse, if they stomp around and threaten to sue without actually following through, they can invite a lawsuit against themselves.
Yes, scroll down a bit and look at the convo about the Monopoly game.
“…the screenshot portrayed in the video never existed because the Whitman campaign faked the content within the screenshot. FAIL Blog or the Cheezburger Network has never been involved in any endorsement of any candidate or political party and do not plan to do so.”
They’re not upset that their copyright was used. They’re upset because the attack implies that FailBlog either endorses this candidate or is against the other. Plus they’re upset that the candidate pretty much LIED about the site’s content by faking a FAIL.
Political attack campaigns COULD be considered satire as defined as “the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.” But at the same time, they’re dragging FailBlog through their little mud fight when FB didn’t do what they say (and show) they did, and da FAIL don’t like that.
How did I invalidate my argument? FAILblog believes that a satire using their trademarked material implies endorsement. First of all, it’s satire, so too bad. Second of all, IT DOESN’T EVEN SHOW a trademarked logo. Third of all, it only has the “appearance” or “design” of the website which is as weak and nebulous an argument as you could get for “trademark infringement”. Fourth, the FAIL meme existed long before FAILblog tried to capitalize on it by making it it’s own. So have fun in court wastin’ yo’ money.
“They’re not upset that their copyright was used. They’re upset because the attack implies that FailBlog either endorses this candidate or is against the other. Plus they’re upset that the candidate pretty much LIED about the site’s content by faking a FAIL.”
- Uh, yes, they are upset that their trademarked material was used because they feel by using it in the ad, an endorsement was made. I guess they don’t get the fact that the “faked FAIL” as you call it WAS the actual satire. Add the fact that not even a logo was involved and their chances in court are ZERO. What a bunch of whiners. I hope whenever FAILblog or one of its affiliates posts a fake news screencap with the APPEARANCE of Fox News’ crawler on the bottom, Fox News sues them for Trademark Infringement. WAAAAAHHHHH!!!!
PorkRoll fancies himself a trademark/campaign attorney. #1: Political ads are not satire, satire is used to mock a person/idea/organization for the purpose of humor. Failblog has only a marginal control over the content that is posted on it’s site, and when asked to remove copyrighted material, they do. #2: The use of FB’s front page, though not a clearly defined image, very clearly implies that the screenshot came from Failblog’s front page. Watched on tv, it’s quick enough that someone may not make out ‘FAILBlog’ clearly, but it’s slow enough to clearly imply Failblog’s front page. While they may not have a case, I don’t feel that it is unreasonable for Ben Huh to ask for an apology. The fail is yours for being so psycho about it. Chill the fug out, dude.
#3: Perhaps the clearest difference between satire/parody (protected) and infringement (not) is this: Parody makes it obvious to most reasonable people that the parody is NOT the real thing, it’s simply poking fun at it. Whitman’s ad tries to trade off the perception that Brown really was featured on FAIL Blog.
A much-less blatant example of the same principle: Try going to a political rally wearing your easily-identifiable work uniform and getting photographed, and see how quickly you get fired for the inherent implication that your workplace endorses that cause. Let us know how well they take to the “But it was satire!” argument.
There is no court involved, you nincompoops.
They’re just clarifying their stance and demanding an apology.
How does no one on here know the definition of satire? POLITICAL MUDSLINGING IS NOT SATIRE people, jesus.
Don’t bring religion into this.
Copulation! Fornication! Intercourse!
There, now we have politics, religion AND sex! The three no-nos of civil conversation. Throw a chair!
Hitler
*gags Hitler with a ballot paper and gives him a sound rogering at 3:16pm*
Hold me.
*holds securely*
Oh! Godwin’s Law! Spoilsport.
Dude, you’re stupid. Stop being an idiot and try using your other hand to jack off for once. A political attack ad is not satire. Satire makes fun of things. A political attack ad tries to emphasize the follies in one’s opponent in order to earn votes.
*breaks out the Captain Morgans so people will take things less seriously around here on a Friday afternoon*
*clinks ‘n drinks*
*sups*
*splorts*
*coughs*
*drinks*
*refills*
*repeats*
*sneaks out of the breakroom where Dragonwriter put her*
*fills glass*
*chugs*
Woops! I called you a him! I’m sorry.
And this IS the breakroom, silly.
*has another drink*
Oh thank goodness!
*fills glass, drinks and refills*
A very nice week ended soooo poorly.
I know…it’s rather appalling, really. Though we could always head back to the cuddle puddle.
*squeeze*
*squeeze*
I meant IRL, but things do seem to be kinda trollish around here.
I’d be happy to find the Cuddle Puddle I missed.
Aww…I’m sorry to hear it! I hope your weekend more than makes up for it.
ACKTHLLPBBBP!!! Go shake outside, please! :p
I’ll go *FOOM!* ‘em if you like. It’s been a while since there has been someone truly deserving of a *FOOM!*-ing.
Nah. not even worth the effort. Besides, just the offer is enough to put a smile on my face.
*dragonsizedsqueeze*
Lessee, ToD is sneaking out of the breakroom and ending up back in it and DW is calling her a him. Haven’t you two had enough?
I’m feeling French-farcey today. :p
Well, I must have wandered into the hallway. Oh well!
*grabs another drink*
But where are the sardines?!
*runs downstairs to find the plate*
The sardines are in the can.
And LCB used up all the plates with the cheese blintzes.
And there aren’t any left.
I’ll break out the brownies.
No worries. I’ll clean that right up for ya.
*brings in a box of plates*
(wb!)
*tests the table for wobbles*
I’m pretty sure the table doesn’t have the wobbles.
Me on the other hand, not so musch
*wobbles*
*tips n’ winks*
Finally we have political power! MUAHAHAHA!!!!! Today California, tomorrow Rhode Island.
NOW you’re dreamin’ big.
You’re missing a “neither” in your statement.
Avert your eyes!
Better yet, BURN IT!
U.S.A., where the schmutz comedians are more professional and ethical than our representative government
Well said.
I watched the ad. There’s no reference to Fail Blog, though admittedly the site referenced is identical to FAIL Blog with a few key changes (including removal of FAIL Blog’s name). The next shot is made to look like YouTube, but all YouTube references are removed there as well. It’s even made to look as though it was posted from Jerry Brown’s YouTube account, which would be ridiculous considering the video is titled “Jerry Brown Failure.” I don’t hear Google whining about it.
I don’t live in California and don’t much care who wins their race. But you’re blowing this a bit out of proportion, especially when you consider that Meg Whitman herself almost definitely had nothing to do with much of what’s in the ad.
BTW, you can watch the ad here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAkTfwN39us
The difference is that YouTube is a host for videos of all stripes; as long as it doesn’t contain illegal or adult content, it gets hosted. Therefore, the depiction of an anti-Brown video on YouTube doesn’t mean much, as it isn’t implying an endorsement of Whitman by Google.
However, FAIL Blog is a site with controlled content. What gets posted here is up to the determination of those who own and run the site. By depicting FAIL Blog, Whitman is creating the impression that FAIL Blog is selecting anti-Brown content, and implicitly endorsing Whitman.
As an aside, the overall theme of the ending, that there’s some sort of “viral” campaign against Brown, and that the Whitman campaign is part of that, is patently silly. She’s an ex-CEO; she couldn’t be less grassroots.
Good point Alex on the differences in FAIL Blog and YouTube. I totally get why FAIL Blog chose to respond to it, but I don’t think the response from a lot of their commenters needed to be as harsh or even FAIL Blog’s response. Sure, it was a gaffe, but not an unforgivable sin. Like I said, I highly doubt Whitman had a clue the FAIL Blog piece was included.
“She’s an ex-CEO; she couldn’t be less grassroots.” I don’t think her ex-CEO status makes her any less grassroots. Her inability to energize a grassroots campaign would make her less grassroots. But we’ve seen a lot of ex-you-name-its get grassroots campaigns going. Obama was about as elite as they come (Harvard education, law professor, then U.S. Senator) and yet he was able to put together arguably the biggest grassroots campaign in history. Saying she’s not grassroots because she’s an ex-CEO doesn’t make much sense and sounds a bit anti-business. Just my two cents.
Anyway, thanks for the response. Can’t argue with you.
Doesn’t change the fact that Jerry Brown has been such a disaster his whole life he should be the mascot for FAIL Blog.
I find it sickening anyone would vote for him simply because he has a (D) after his name. I don’t think Meg Whitman is a great candidate either, but Jerry Brown created a mess when he was governor, and things in Oakland got much worse when he was mayor.
Heads on a stick I say, no more career politicians in California.
So basically, you can vote for Whitman, who will outsource government work to her corrupt corporate cronies, lower taxes for only the top 10% of earners, and kowtow to corporate interests who refuse to make small accommodations that benefit the public. Or you can vote for Brown, who will hand over government offices to his corrupt bureaucratic cronies, refuse to cut wasteful spending out of political fear, and kowtow to unions who refuse to make small accommodations that benefit the public.
Y’all screwed.
Yep, that’s pretty much it in a nutshell.
That’s why I’m thinking of moving to Nevada. At least in Vegas, you’ve got the mob running things. Much less deception and moral ambiguity than dealing with politicians.
Personally, I wonder whether this is part of Arnie’s strategy for running for President. With only the two of them on the ballot, he’s guaranteed to have a giant state full of people who fondly remember his tenure as the glory days.
Except that he, not being a natural born citizen, isn’t eligible to run for that office.
He has about a 24% approval rating in California. I hate hearing people outside California saying Arnie is a loved politician. He’s a tax raising hack and everyone is confused why he has an (R) after his name, he’s anything but a Republican.
And you’ve nailed politics, my friend. It’s been this way since the last of our founding fathers died out. Go ahead and vote all the losers who have ruined this country out of office, but nothing will change because the new ones you vote in will be just as bad. The U.S. desperately needs another man like Thomas Jefferson right now.
Or woman.
*has Life of Brian moment*
Who said I was voting for either actually?
At the very least corporate interests do in fact create a product and add value to a nation, corruption can be handled depending on who does what, and who might be able to be prosecuted.
When Unions get these benefits, the government has no interest in investigating itself, and backroom handshake deals for extraordinary pension benefits which the taxpayer has to foot becomes the norm.
There is no perfect answer, so until there is, I choose the prior.
Oh, no! Not Unions! You’re right, we’d better stick to the more democratically-run institutions like corporate boardrooms as a model for working towards shared ends.
Corporations haven’t put California in $5000 of pension debt you boob. By even a MARGINAL moral standpoint in claiming the corporations take advantage of people, they do so only be voluntarily purchasing their product or service. Unions on the other hand, especially government employee unions, have a strangle hold on the Democrats, and in the case of the government unions, we now have debt so high California came close to becoming insolvent during our last fiscal budget.
Hmmmm…. who’s more evil in that case?
That was meant to be a B, $500b as in $500 billion. That’s a hell of a lot of money.
Oh, really?
‘Cause at that hotbed of liberalism, the Bloomberg site, the primary cause has been cited as the worthless CDOs that investment banks sold to CalPERS. You can find coverage of this in greater detail elsewhere, but I thought sourcing it from a conservative site would slightly increase the chances you wouldn’t dismiss it as librul lize.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aW5vEJn3LpVw&refer=news
Just wanted to point out that I read the article you posted and while they cite this as a problem, it is NOT cited as the primary cause — it is NOT the primary cause of California’s pension debt. California did not purchase $500 B in CDOs.
Still, yes, it’s a big problem, but one of others.
I don’t agree or disagree with you politically, just saying not to generalize a real problem by saying “the fault is all corporate.” It’s just not.
Fair enough; I was being intellectually lazy by assuming (and inferring) that the Bloomberg article would give the same coverage that other sources did.
On the other hand, I would argue that corporations can take away value from a nation just as quickly. BP, for instance. They took away more than they put in, even. That needs to be controlled.
True, but that is one of the examples of corporations being prosecuted. And in this case, it’s a foreign company, not a US ran company, so the distinction in what the US can do is more murky. Regardless, Obama is doing the right thing with the 20 billion escrow account no matter what Limbaugh or other conservatives say. Obama and his administration though still have a lot to answer for.
You need to listen to less John & Ken, dude. Those guys are crazy liars.
Funny, all they do is read news reports (AP, LA Times, etc) and give their opinion. They go after Republicans almost as much as democrats. And I don’t agree with them 100% of the time.
Justice, I can’t figure out what you meant by your first sentence, there. “I find it sickening anyone would vote for him simply because he has a (D) after his name. ”
Do you mean that you are sickened that anyone would vote for a Democrat?
Or are you sickened that people will vote for Brown JUST because he is a Democrat. That is, you are sickened by people who are so loyal to their party that they disregard facts.
It can be taken both ways, I’m trying to figure out which way you meant.
Just because he’s a democrat. I find people who vote along party lines sickening, especially those that never bother to find out what they stand for. The only time I have ever checked off someone in the ballot box is if I know what they stand for.
Cool, I was pretty sure that was how you meant it.
Hear, hear!
I don’t care if Party X has Jesus H. Ramirez Christ running for office, you’ll never see me donate money to a political party.
We want some honest dialogue on the issues, damnit, and so far, no party seems to be interested.
I think the point everyone is missing is Meg Whitman did not create the ad, but some lackey in her team did. What they did was akin to blocking out the name of a ketchup bottle or a soda can, but still leaving it visible.
While it’s not the best commercial, oh God do I hope Jerry Brown loses. He created the public retirement mess we have now when he was governor the first time (over 500 billion in pension debt obligation to state workers in CA) AND he also signed orders to stop building roads and freeways in CA in his “era of limits” fiasco, so if you’re stuck on the 405 now trying to get home you have Jerry Brown to thank. Plus Jerry Brown is a crazy, rambling old man.
Nobody cares who made it cause it doesn’t make a lick of difference. She put her name on it, therefore she endorses the message.
Does anyone know if Meg Whitman has any idea what Failblog is though? Is she supposed to keep track of the style and format of every website to make sure they don’t too closely resemble an existing site? That’s my point.
I agree with theywentwild. A candidate is ultimately responsible for every message that his or her campaign sends out.
Just to chime in real quick, I can give you an example of why Meg is responsible for what ever her lackeys come up with. When the BP explosion occurred, BP came out and said flatly that they weren’t responsible for what happened because even though they own the oil, they don’t actually run the well. They tried to put the blame on the company who runs things there. But because they are the company who owns it all, they had the ultimate responsibility. Just like if McDonalds sells food tainted because some irresponsible employee doesn’t wash their hands and it results in someone dying of some illness, the responsibility would lay with McDonalds, and the employee would get fired and the company would be facing law suit. Meg is responsible for what her campaign team publishes; she has to take responsibility, maybe fire the guy who did it, and own her mistake just like any corporation or entity would. That’s what happens when you are in charge, you instantly become responsible for those working underneath you.
Further more I’d like to say I live in Ca and trust neither candidate because these mudslinging campaigns have been occurring on both ends for months and makes me really not want to vote for either person.
Peace to you guys, great and insightful posts here.
Responsibility when things go wrong: that’s why Meg and Tony H. and the McDonalds execs get paid the big bucks.
I live in CA also. Months of negative or misleading ads, from any candidate: DO NOT WANT.
On a lighter note: gotta admit it was funny to see the
pre-Presidency, pre-Monica Bill Clinton talking about anyone reinventing themselves.
Good night folks!
Their use of FailBlog’s structure just shows the success of FailBlog and its visibility in our culture. Kudos to FailBlog!
I saw it! Blatant shoop is blatant. But, it could have been uploaded by a user, couldn’t it?
There was no shoop da woop in this video…
IMMA FIRIN MY AD PEOPLE!
it’s so easy to see how stupid political arguments are when you’re impartial :p
POLITICS! ITS BURRRRNNNNSSS!
I thought Failblog was safe from it- but now it has invaded here too! Be gone!!
Hit ‘em w/ a DMCA cease and desist letter!
I think this is a Failblog win..
And yet of course, you have the morons who come in here and defend her just because she has an (R) after her name.
FAIL!! I hate that woman. Stick it to her, FAILblog!
Wow. Credibility FAIL. (Not like being a politician in the first place didn’t already undermine her credibility, but still.) The internets can be a great source of publicity, for good or for bad, depending on what you do with them. Unfortunately for Whitman, that publicity is now going to be all negative thanks to this advertisement (except from her few hardcore supporters; everyone’s got their devoted nutjob fans). She can certainly kiss her chances of winning goodbye.
You really think that any more than 1 or 2% of the voters in CA will actually hear of this incident? You really think this is a huge enough deal that millions of supporters will grow pale and slowly file home? My God some of you people…
Only Andy was close to the actual core of the matter, here. Failblog has become an iconic social meme. It’s on the edge of transforming into the kind of generic term that kleenex, xerox, and yes, google have become.
A “Fail” is distinctly different from a “failure” though the difference is hard to quantify, beyond having an element of humor. So enjoy your success, guys. Don’t try too hard to keep the copyright infringers away…imitation being etc.
All that flailing about above on who is better, who worse, juvenile insults and namecalling is irrelevant. EVERYBODY KNOWS WHAT FAILBLOG IS!!!
Celebrate that.
FAIL Blog win.
ANGER THE INTARWEBZ AND IT WILL GET YOU BACK!!! right in the nut sack
Lymaree is right: FAILBlog.org has become the nexus of a social meme, and the word “fail” is developing a complex, nuanced new meaning because it. (It is wonderful to watch this happen with words in the English language, as it has many times through history.)
On another thread, I set forth a preliminary (and inadequate) preliminary explanantion of what the word “FAIL” has come to mean in this context:
“The first kind of FAIL is one resulting from sheer, unadulterated, pounding stupidity. The second kind of FAIL is one that happens because of everyday human frailties like inattention to some detail that turns out to have been quite important.
“[A] FAIL of the third and most disturbing kind [is] where the suffering agent seems to have had little or no control over the circumstances that led to his misery. The iconic FAIL of the baseball player at the moment the baseball hits groin paydirt is an example.”
No question about it, though: the whole Cheezburger Network is a wonderfully pleasant respite from so much of the Internet, and most of this complex is appropriate for all ages (except for a few sites like Hawtness, but even at Hawtness, the pictures are so softcore that they wouldn’t be offensive other than to this pseudo-prudish American era). I wasn’t sure kids would get some of the humor of some of the Cheezburger Network sites, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised that, in some cases, they knew more about the references and the humor than I did.
Let’s hope Whitman’s experience getting own’d here is enough to deter other politicians (Republican and Democrat, alike) from trying to use FAILBlog.org allusions to somehow take the FAIL out of their campaigns and lives.
Way, way! tl, dr
What a disgrace! You should sue them.
Mmm, well guys, I’m afraid it doesn’t actually say that the “website” is Failblog anyplace on the screen during the ad, so you might be SOL with getting them to take it off. Not trying to be a douche, just telling you what I know about legal stuff.
A game board that looks like a Monopoly game board only without the word monopoly on it, is an infringement on the copyright. At least according to the warning on mine.
Coyote!
*squeeze*
Why hello there!
How is the world treating you these days? Feeling A-ok (or a reasonable facsimile thereof)?
Feeling more B-ok. The doctors will be taking mass quantities of me for samples for the next week or so. Other than that I’m spiffy. This Sunday is my 53rd birthday and for the first time in a while I’m looking forward to a birthday.
B-ok is better than C-ok. As for the samples, don’t let them take the best parts of you!
And in case I don’t talk to you again, Happy 53rd!
I’m older than you! By maybe three months. So you have to listen to me – keep your chin up!
*squeeze*
The last time that I kept my chin up they stuck a MAHURKAR™ catheter into my neck. Since we’re worried about copyrights I felt that I should include the ™.
Eeep! (Are you collecting royalties, at least?)
Sorry, toots. Hope all goes well.
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY™, COYOTE!!!
I once heard the the two ladies that came up with the Happy Birthday song did get royalties when it was used commercially. I have no idea if that’s true or not.
Got to go now. Sherlock Holmes is on. Then Inspector Morse. Talk at ya’ll later.
I won’t be around Sunday to wish you a happy birthday, Coyote. Happy birthday my friend! I’m very, very happy to have the opportunity to say that. *squeeze!*
Where are you gonna be, R?
Thank-you! I can’t say for sure why this particular one tickles me so.
Hmmm. Can’t imagine why, either!
*squeeze*
Hmmm. Can’t !magine why, either!
*squeeze*
A surgeon probably left something inside.
Seriously? Hmm. Maybe that’s because it’s hard to mistake a Monopoly board for any other board game. See, WE know that the fake website in the ad is meant to be Failblog, but would the average person? Or would they just think it was some random website?
Seriously. I don’t believe that preexisting knowledge of a hypothetical third party matters one bit to the courts. As for this case if they weren’t appealing to those that know about Failblog why make something that looks like Failblog. My slant on it anywho.
Jerry Brown needs no help to be a FAILure! Go Whitman! Clean that shithole state up!
Message to staff at Failblog: – Get over yourselves! Mountain out of Molehill dontyathink? If you are unhappy with what they’ve done you should liaise with them directly or via your lawyer, not publish your crap here as part of your product! I felt embarrassed for you reading this post. Your pathetic whiny reaction reminds me of something Perez would do.
Leslie, I guess great minds think alike.
I hit the “Add Comment” button on this post 2 minutes after you:
“We aren’t privy to the machinations of what went on here, but there is normally a business etiquette that one follows. First, in good faith, you send a nice letter asking them to remove your trademarked/copyrighted material. If they persist or rebuke, you have counsel send them a cease & desist letter. If they ignore the C&D, you have a couple options. If you have a bully pulpit like they do here, you tell the story and try to pressure them to remove your material. You can ultimately sue, but that is the last option you should take. But what you don’t do is just start stomping around, making demands and trying to humiliate the other party. It’s childish, it’s unprofessional, and ultimately it makes you look like a vindictive harpy.”
Well, how do we know they didn’t take those preliminary steps already?
Just a thought.
The whole point is that if you’re going to try to pressure them publicly, you tell your side of the story (the whole story, including what you’ve already tried) and state that you simply want them to remove the offending material. You don’t start wailing like a child, pointing fingers and demanding written apologies. In other words, you act like a professional adult, not a snot-nosed brat.
I mostly agree with you guys but it is true that some failbloggers might get the wrong idea and accuse the cheezburger network of corruption or something.
Then how about a message that says, “We do not endorse Meg Whitman, and we have kindly asked her to remove the image from her commercial,” rather than the long and whiny post that makes them sound butthurt.
watch as her votes go down from failblog pwning her!
Ha ha ha, like 1/10th of 1% of people will even consider this as a reason not to vote for someone. Small and petty reason actually seeing that some 23 year old intern probably made the commercial.
Politics on failblog! Weeeeeee!
I was going to say “let the flaming begin” but people already started flaming…
Failblog fail. You don’t have a copyright on writing the word “fail” over an image. Anyone can clearly see that site is NOT failblog.org. They aren’t saying it was on failblog, they aren’t using failblog content, they aren’t referencing failblog.
Good god. How petty do you have to be? You think you have the ONLY right to stamp the word “fail” over an image? Get over yourselves.
Anyone else notice that she looks like Vigo the Carpathian from Ghost Busters 2?
Ha ha ha… she does actually…
i think this sounds like the perfect copyright infringment suit…. cheezburger network could use an Escalade right?
Yeah, but in a lawsuit, you usually have to prove damages. Besides, Failblog got their panties in a bunch over the Guinness Book of world records thing too, I guess people forgot about that.
I just think the creators didn’t like their likeness being used in a political ad, and likely one to the opposite of their beliefs, which is fine, but no real huge reason to act butthurt.
Now Politicians make an argument against their opponents based on FAILBLOG. POWER TO THE FAIL! XDDDD
I do believe that there would probably be SEVERAL lawyers out there who would be willing to EAT THIS WOMAN ALIVE for this.
Don’t just demand an apology. Demand a lawsuit. Demand that the public know.
Yeah, that’s what Failblog wants to do. One of the most shameless flouters of copyright laws on the internet getting litigious.
How about all the prostitutes in the world start suing people for giving them venereal diseases? How about all the drunk drivers in the world start suing bars for serving other people alcohol?
I saw this today on tv, I find it hillarious that the republican candidates keep attacking each other by calling the other liberal.
I couldn’t agree more. They are attempting to brand liberals as bad by calling them what they are… liberals. That’s like insulting a person by calling them “a person.”
“Gosh, you’re such a person.”
Thomas Hobbes would have found being called a person an insult.
Hello lawsuit!
You may want to re-read his statement.
what about the youtube shot? i wanna see youtube on her ass too!
More anti-conservative comments means more posters are liberal. What’s sad is that this isn’t acknowledged. That said, basically everyone here fails except for the site itself, whose failure of bias is only insinuated. Therefore, you can all die in a fire. Thanks.
I have an opinion, too, and I’m FURIOUS! In fact, I’m so ANGRY about people not agreeing with me that I WON’T EVEN TELL what my opinion is! TAKE THAT!
Meg, actually.
PotiticalDebate blog ftw
Yeah, this is wrong. Only PUNDITKITCHEN endorses political parties.
RE-POST FROM ABOVE !!! YES I AGREE !! Message to staff at Failblog: – Get over yourselves! Mountain out of Molehill dontyathink? If you are unhappy with what they’ve done you should liaise with them directly or via your lawyer, not publish your crap here as part of your product! I felt embarrassed for you reading this post. Your pathetic whiny reaction reminds me of something Perez would do.
Message to staff at Failblog: – Get over yourselves! Mountain out of Molehill dontyathink? If you are unhappy with what they’ve done you should liaise with them directly or via your lawyer, not publish your crap here as part of your product! I felt embarrassed for you reading this post. Your pathetic whiny reaction reminds me of something Perez would do.
I remember seeing this ad yesterday and saying “I never saw that on failblog O_O”
If this weren’t so sad, it would be funny.
This is a comedy website that frequently utilizes copyrighted materials without searching for sources (assuming that submitters have done this work, knowing full well that they have not), and which has co-opted the use of widely established memes and pretends, if only subtly, to have been the originator.
It’s also a website network which, given the oversight of accepted submissions to its “news” section, has a massive credibility problem on any sort of “unbalanced” political subject.
So, let’s summarize: a website run by individuals with a known political bias against conservatives, which uses hilariously standard blog formatting, which uses frighteningly ubiquitous images (“Thumbs up! OMG THATS OURS!”), which has coopted a meme created by others and which does not search for sources on images and videos it uses…is angry because someone duplicated some aspect of their extraordinarily generic and copyright-insensitive operation?
Seriously, guys? Get over yourselves.
There is no political bias to failblog. Not once has this website endorsed any political candidate, nor has insulted one. You are all obviously those very paranoid “everyone and everything around me is liberal” type people. I must warn you that this paranoia is unhealthy and you may want to consider seeing a doctor and/or psychologist.
Wow, original, I disagree with your opinion so you must be mentally ill. I made it a small life mission a while ago debating paranoid bloggers on conspiracy websites, asking them to prove their case rather than simply post opinions and beliefs without any standing. In this case, I am reacting to an overall atmosphere of the Cheezburger network, plus the tone of this message, to come to the conclusion that Faiblog may have a liberal slant, and that the majority of posters and voters on this site lean left of center and contribute to the atmosphere.
By the way, anyone with a screen name Gana Rhea must be mentally unstable.
I do enjoy how you’ve posted one reply after another throughout this thread to convince others that THEY’RE the ones who are butthurt. Keep ‘em coming!
Not butthurt, just posting my opinion. Anyone who comes to any opinion through critical thought deserves my respect, regardless of the decision (as long as no one else is hurt in the process). Anyone who laughs at or tries to silence or mock those who speak out on an issue that hits a nerve with them, well then, if that’s what you’re about, fine, continue.
Nice variation of “NO U” (if a tad overlong). You wouldn’t happen to be Jonah Goldberg, would you?
You’re about as “independent” as Mallard Fillmore, and it’s hilarious that you actually believe you’re fogging that over with blather.
FAILblog WIN
Wouldn’t it have been simpler to say: “FAILBLOG endorses Jerry Brown for governor of California” (a state you do not even live in)?
Hope you tax deduction is worth it.
Meg Whitman FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL!!!!
Hahaha, look at all the little teabaggers/Whitman operatives trying desperately to keep their failure of a candidate afloat.
So if a conservative corporate shill wins the election in liberal leaning California, would 0 have been divided by?
Failblog, get the hell over yourselves.
“This is a place for humor, a place to laugh, and to have light-hearted fun poking at each other and what we see in the world.”
“We demand a written apology from the Whitman campaign and the removal of the video.”
This is so pathetic… what kind of politician stoops so low as to show a fabricated internet meme proclaiming that their opponent is stupid?
I think Failblog has a right to be pissed- just imagine if they had put an picture of him on a can of brand name ham; that company would have sued for sure.
did they already send a written complain or not?
TEDR
(too earnest, didn’t read)
The video with the faked and unauthorized FAIL Blog reference is still very easily available on Meg Whitman’s website. Worse still, it is a just a negative attack without citing factual information It basically boils down to name-calling.
This is from a woman who paid approximately $200,000 in a confidential legal settlement for allegedly shoving an employee in 2007. Recently she claimed that the incident was only a verbal dispute, then later admitted that she had put her hands on the employee.
(LA Times, June 25, 2010)
Pesonally, I expect better behavior from my first graders.
What she did was horrible. Besides, she looks like the Quaker Oats man in drag. *two thumb snaps in the air*
OK who gave the teabaggers this addy?
I saw this ad on TV. At first it went on like an average political ad at first. Then, they came to the “Fail Blog” part and I almost spit out my milk. I saw it once, but I haven’t seen it since.
Fail, Meg. I hope that this greatly affets people’s opinions of you.
I sincerely doubt you spit out your milk.
If Failblog has that much of an emotional connection to you, please, see a psychiatric evaluator.
“Wow, original, I disagree with your opinion so you must be mentally ill.”
–Justice, only a few posts earlier
What opinion was I disagreeing with? Fail.
Wow, Ben Huh and the Cheezburger Network, both entities known for ripping IP, are now irritated at THIS?
The irony and hypocrisy is strong with this one….
yet another item added to the list of why i dont vote
list of reasons of why i dont vote*
Yes i do actually. No person on this green earth can fix this country, so it doesnt matter if i vote or not. And please, learn how to type to make sure when trying to point out idiocy, you dont look like one yourself.
You understand that when referring to oneself, “I” is capitalized, yes?
no
You heard the man, folks: don’t vote, but cry because the system’s “broken”.
More like “lame-o-bucket”
why? because voting for a liar will fix the problem right?
You know what? Never mind. We’re all better off if you stay home.
im glad you saw it my way. dont vote
Thanks Fail Blog. Keep the Trolls at bay.
It appears they do – you commented, LOL!!!
Well, so much for the level of honesty with today’s politicians…
This was the turning point for you?
Fail blog cry baby fail.
12 years of stupid people using any exploitation they can get their disgusting tentacles on is too much.
And, yes, I was referring to my age.
Oh you think using the word fail in a video is your “intellectual property” now?
SUE ‘EM!
The Meg Whitman campaign ad with the faked FAIL Blog screenshot is now airing on television in southern California. I saw it on Sunday, June 27. Cox Cable is airing the ad.
BTW, Meg Whitman did not register to vote until she was 46 years old. She did not vote in the 2000 Bush/Gore presidential election. She did not vote in the 2003 California recall election of Governor Gray Davis which brought Arnold Schwarzenegger into office. This election had one of the highest voter turnouts in California history. (LA Times 9/29/2009)
Wait– isn’t she running for uh, governor of California? Do you think she will be able to find her way to the polls to vote for herself?
Hm, I’m surprised theres not a single Dead Kennedys reference here.
Yes i do actually. No person on this green earth can fix this country, so it doesnt matter if i vote or not. And please, learn how to type to make sure when trying to point out idiocy, you dont look like one yourself.
w_tf?
“we do not endorse the use of FAIL Blog’s image or any content on any of the Cheezburger sites for anyone’s political gain.” That statement is pretty funny watching the extreme liberal bias here. I bet if a liberal used anything cheezburger network related to attack a republican there would be total silence from the cheezeburger camp.
this attack add is still up on Meg’s site: http://www.megwhitman.com/ads.php and on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAkTfwN39us&feature=player_embedded
I just called her office: (408)400-3887 and spoke to Brandon, who didn’t know anything about this or about FailBlog at all. I tried to explain that this is copyright infringement but I don’t think he understood the situation even though he was trying to be helpful.
@Cheezburger Network – I think our legal system is satisfactory at best and don’t usually support litigation over things like this, but please be bold and sue this chick for being stupid!
Copyright infringement? LOL. Wow…
Stupid? Yes.
Copyright infringement? Not even close. Sure, the formatting is similar, but no logo is used (nor is a logo used in the YouTube piece following the FAIL Blog piece…should YouTube sue too?).
People need to chill out. FAIL Blog did the right thing. They called her out on her stupid mistake. She should do the right thing and pull the ad (or at least re-make that section of it). But pulling out legal guns is ridiculous.
You need to read the laws before you assume. Ironically, this isn’t nearly as bad as some current top leaders using false statements relayed to their constituents by making statements that they claim were endorsements by the so-called best thinkers that they could assemble, and completely misrepresenting what the best thinkers said.
Thank you for the phone number. I would like to ask them to remove the ad, and also inquire if the newspaper article shots in the ad were from actual articles published in a newspaper. More on that in my post a few minutes ago.
Thanks, Aaron. I used the “Suggestions” section on her website to ask that the ad be removed. Now I can give them a call too.
Also, if the FAIL Blog screenshot was faked, it makes me wonder if any of the other images, which appeared to be from newspapers, were faked too.
Oops! Please disregard the second redundant (and accidental) post. Wish I could blame it on my computer. Operator FAIL.
I can haz lawsoot
For what? To make political hay? I’m sure you are right. For breaking the law? There is no law broken.
Fail blog has just failed.
“FAIL Blog or the Cheezburger Network has never been involved in any endorsement of any candidate or political party and do not plan to do so.”
Yet they just attacked one for the use of a logo that isnt even trademarked or copyrighted.
Failblog has lost all of my respect by becoming more and more like funny or die.
Whats next? Are they going to call out Whitman for the use of the word “FAIL” or “FAILURE”?
I hope you lose your case against the National Pork Society.
Shall we assume by this complaint that the left owns “fail”?
This ad just aired exactly as above at 4:49pm PST on KABC channel 7, Los Angeles. Get ‘em!
Uh, I guess Ben Huh forgot about two and half years ago when this was posted:
see more Epic Fails
So you don’t use fail blog for political gain or commentary?
sorry, this link:
http://failblog.org/2008/01/30/bush-and-co/
thought that code was to to embed the photo
If the Fail Blog screenshot was faked, it occurred to me that the supposed newspaper articles and headlines in the ad could have been faked too. The newspaper masthead photo said, “The Daily News, Thursday, October 12, 1989, Vol. 32, No. 10.” I could find no newspaper with that name and that article on that date.
There is a paper called the Daily News of Los Angeles which was publishing in 1989. (Source: Wikipedia, which cited a book called Los Angeles from A to Z, University of California Press, 2000.) It is still published today, but the online archives don’t go back to 1989, alas. Can someone with better internet skills verify that this is a reference to an actual article in the publication?
If that is not a photo of an actual article, then someone went to a lot of trouble to make it look like one.
To answer my own question: the “newspaper articles” shown in the ad are indeed false. The Cathleen Decker article in the LA Times, 6/27/10, politely called them “faux” articles. To me this seems like fraudulent advertising.
Omg, she totally took failblogs totally original idea, that was developed 100% by the cheeseburger network without any sort of inspiration from anyone else. Failblog, being the very first website on the internet to use FAIL to describe something should be owed an apology, and no political person should ever be allowed to use an internet meme ever again, because it is the brainchild of this brand.
Omg, she didn’t even mention failblog at all! That’s got to be like double copy right infringement or something. I hope someone explains to her in legal terms how the word FAIL on a picture is owned by this website.
Post in the LA times blog says they aren’t going to remove the vid or apologize.
…[Updated at 6:12 p.m.: A Whitman spokeswoman said the campaign has no plans to remove the footage from the ad. "Jerry Brown owned failure 35 years before FailBlog launched its website," said spokeswoman Sarah Pompei. "The only entity with an ownership stake in failure is Jerry Brown Incorporated."]…”
They have no need to take it down.
“FAIL” is not copyrighted and if it was, they could just use Fair Use.
The logo isnt even copyrighted and failblog alreadu has a history of using other peoples logos.
If anyone should be punished it should be ben huh for being a hypocrite.
I just saw this commercial on TLC!
I’m old enough to remember when Ronnie Reagan “brilliantly” used the John Mellencamp song “Pink Houses” for his campaign.
I believe he never actually listened to what the lyrics to that song were saying.
Meg Whitman is equally as lost.
Guys! Guys! I just watched Good Morning America and they talked breifly about Meg Whitman and the challenges of facing government unions in California and…. they didn’t mention the fail ad.
This is such a small deal in the grand scheme of a 500billion dollar debt obligation in California that i think all of you so worked up over this are mental retards. I don’t care if I stoop to name calling, why the hell would this occupy anyone’s time at all, worrying if a political ad has more than a passing resemblance to a website like this? Good God people.
$26 billion
That’s our budget deficit.
Our pension debt obligation is 500 billion for government workers.
All we need to do is reform the pension system, or PRINT MORE MONEY!!!
Go over to youtube and search for Meg Whitman resigns. I think you will like it.
This is pretty stupid. This entire Cheesburger sites takes photos and captions them in ways to make them funny and/or embarrassing… sometimes they are hilarious and sometimes they are not. Demanding an apology from someone who basically did the same thing is ridiculous.
I quit using eBay years ago after growing sick of their incompetence. One thing I found out is that their front-line support staff is very small, so small in fact that I was able to interfere with their ability to do their jobs just by bugging them constantly over a period of a few weeks. You can read the amusingness at eBaiting.com.
Spam troll smells like spam.
D@M Str88
See, I think this is a way to make this infinitely worse: to make this into a beef (and thus unfunny). Now you’ve polarized the issue. Now it’s FailBlog against Meg Whitman. And the kind of drama and political trolling I expect to avoid when I come here.
I by no means support Meg Whitman, but honestly, I thought the ad was a compliment.
Failblog counterattack WIN
All I want to know is this:
Did she ever apologize?
You steal content from people all the time.
Failblog hypocrisy FAIL
True, but it’s also not used for political or personal gain. The “stolen” content is meant for amusement only and isn’t used to attack anybody.
Wait…. isn’t that copyright infringement?
I hear thats a big deal in the US…
Meg Whitman can go eat excrement and die
This is why I love failblog. It’s hilarious, and it doesn’t take s**t from anyone.
Wow, sue her lol
(u probobly would win)
I agree, Fail Blog is a place for fun, not politics, which are important, but some places are meant for fun and only fun. Plus, if someone has to smear their opponent in order to get votes, they obviously have nothing to say about themselves.
Magnificent issues altogether, you simply won a logo new reader. What may you suggest in regards to your post that you made some days ago? Any sure?
You’re truly a good webmaster. The site loading speed is amazing. It seems that you are doing any distinctive trick. Furthermore, The contents are masterwork. you’ve performed a magnificent task in this subject!
Hello, Neat post. There’s a problem with your web site in internet explorer, may test this? IE nonetheless is the marketplace chief and a big part of people will miss your great writing because of this problem.