When buying political advertisements, it pays to spend a few extra seconds studying geography.
A batch of online ads intended for voters in Portland, Maine, were accidentally played Sunday some 2,500 miles away, in Portland, Oregon.
The voters in Oregon were understandably confused about why they were seeing attacks aimed at Troy Jackson, the former logger and state legislator running as a Democrat for U.S. Senate in Maine. And the social media commentators were predictably merciless.
“Laugh all you want but after these ads, I don’t think Troy Jack gets a single vote in Oregon,” one user wrote.
The mockery is how the group that paid for the ads, Defending Main Street, found out about the snafu, said Sarah Chamberlain, its chief executive. She said Defending Main Street’s ad buyer accidentally landed the ads on the wrong coast.
“Whoever bought this either was careless or didn’t understand the difference,” Chamberlain said.
Defending Main Street is the super PAC of the Republican Main Street Partnership, which has supported moderate Republicans such as Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) for decades. The misplaced ad cost Defending Main Street about $25,000 of its $1 million in spending on the Senate race in Maine.
“Everything else has been run in the proper place,” Chamberlain said.
Michael Beach, spokesperson for the ad buyer, Cross Screen Media, said the group takes full responsibility for the mistake and had since refunded the super PAC.
Spokespeople for Collins and Jackson did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
The ad attacks Jackson on affordability, noting that he voted to raise sales taxes while he was a state senator and calling the candidate “Taxin’ Troy Jackson.” Not exactly pressing information for Oregon residents.
The two Portlands have a long history of confusion. Both are considered desirable, sometimes quirky, places to live.
The ad started appearing as intended in Portland, Maine, on Monday.
No word yet on how the incident is playing in Mexico, Maine, or Rome, Maine.
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