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Seattle Times, Seahawks and Starbucks Did What? (Video)
Woke corporations, the Seattle Times, Starbucks, and the Seahawks all have something in common: GOP candidate Tiffany Smiley. Smiley is running against longtime Democrat Senator Patty Murray, who is up for reelection in next month’s midterms in Washington State.
Smiley is viewed as a strong contender against Senator Murray, but recently Smiley’s ads have come under fire from the three entities above.
Smiley spoke with Fox News host Laura Ingraham about it this week, saying she believes this was a coordinated attack and not a coincidence.
The Back Story.
Tiffany Smiley, a nurse, and entrepreneur from Pasco, Washington, is married to a retired U.S. Army Ranger, Scotty Smiley, who was blinded by shrapnel in Iraq.
The Smiley campaign has released several ads, two of which have recently come under fire from all three corporations.
One ad called Game Day, aired on September 1st, shows Smiley in a kitchen preparing to watch a football game, referring to Senator Murray and the Democrats regarding the ever-increasing cost of food. The ad briefly shows Smiley’s husband, Scotty, wearing a Seahawks “12” jersey. The veteran had been given the jersey by the team and honored with the raising of the “12th Man flag” for his service as the nation’s first blind active-duty military officer.
A few days later, the team sent a “Cease and Desist” letter to the Smiley’s. The letter insisted the Smiley campaign stop its “unauthorized commercial use.”
Local journalist Brandi Kruse posted an example where another candidate’s use of the Seahawks team logos was not objectionable to them. Washington State Rep. Tarra Simmons, a Democrat, not only used Seahawks jerseys on her campaign Twitter account, she posted photos of Seahawks players posing with her while wearing the jerseys.
So how do you explain this from a Democratic candidate’s campaign page? @TarraSimmons5 has done AWESOME things with her life — but so has the Smiley family.
Are you a football team or a political organization? pic.twitter.com/ChJdd7RegA
— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) October 1, 2022
Smiley’s next ad, Cup of Coffee, aired on Sept. 20, which both the Seattle Times and Starbucks had objections over, although her opponent, Senator Murray, has also used a Seattle Times headline in her ads. Her “First 2016 Ad” clearly shows the newspaper’s logo under the headline: “Patty Murray’s and Paul Ryan’s Teamwork Is a Model for Congress.”
Starbucks sent a certified letter saying the campaign was appropriating its intellectual property and complaining it might “create an unfounded association in the minds of consumers between Starbucks and your campaign.” Their letter demanded the campaign either pull the ad or alter it to strip the (barely visible, backward) sign and the Seattle Times headline referencing Starbucks.
Smiley’s campaign manager, Kristian Hemphill, blasted the woke corporations.
Woke corporations are going to learn the same lesson that DC bureaucrats have. @SmileyForWA is not easily intimidated
Their efforts have backfired & we will continue to hold to account the failures of a 30 yr incumbent and offer WA a path to hope.https://t.co/dKv5rXqSrC
— Kristian Hemphill (@DaeHemphill) September 30, 2022
Meanwhile, the Smiley campaign is not backing down. They filed a Federal Election Commission complaint last week charging the Seattle Times with providing the Murray campaign a prohibited in-kind contribution.