USANext
A couple weeks ago an ad was running on a couple conservative blogs that basically said AARP supports Gay Marriage and is against the troops. The group was an attack on AARP from USANext a conservative group that defines itself on it's new member page as :
USA is a nonprofit nonpartisan organization under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Because USA lobbies Congress on behalf of seniors, contributions are not tax deductible for tax purposes.
Additionally there's a lot of connections between the legendary Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and USANext.
Well the liberal blogging community went nuts and started digging, and protesting and angry.
The CEO of USANext defended his ad saying:
I wanted to test to see how long it would take for the liberal blogs in this country to go berserk over a single image.
It could have ended there, but instead of posing a fake gay couple for the ad, they just lifted a picture of a real gay couple, who being liberal bloggers themselves, noticed it, and tried to figure out how they got the picture.
Someone must have gotten in touch with them and told them they had some legal recourse against USANext, and decided to sue for $25 million dollars. The judge in the case ordered a temporary restraining order preventing USANext from using the picture, and gave some indication that the plaintiff's case had real merit.
So the liberal over-reaction to the ad was a $25 million dollar lawsuit, that has a good chance of succeeding. Congratulations, USANext, perhaps next time you will settle for a focus group.
