A political candidate for whom I'm doing some work purchased several advertising certificates at a chamber of commerce fundraising auction earlier this year. When it came time to cash one of them in at a local radio station, the station's sales manager said that the certificate/credit could not be used for political advertising. I asked why, since there was no such restriction listed on the certificate. The manager insisted that she'd attended some RAB political advertising training and was quite certain that she was on terra firma in rejecting this use of the advertising credit.
Incredulous, I contacted both the executive director of our state broadcast association and attorney Erwin Krasnow, co-author of the RAB's Political Advertising Handbook. Both men made it quite clear that unless the certificate specifically contained this exclusion in writing, there was no legitimate basis for not honoring the candidate's request.
My big takeaway from the experience is this: put everything in writing!
It's not uncommon for stations to donate gifts of advertising credit to various non-profits and community fundraisers. Typically, we include certain stipulations regarding the use of the credit: can't be used to pay a past due account, can't be used to replace an existing advertising contract, must be used in addition to any current advertising schedule, etc. If you don't want the credit used by a political campaign, be sure to add that exclusion to your list!
