Threatening Obama Ad Called a 'Glitch'

[RamboLiberal]

Source: ABC News

The Secret Service is investigating an Internet advertisement as a potential threat against President-elect Barack Obama, but the people who created it say a technology glitch was responsible, and they feel terrible about it.

Ads for a company that sells mobile-phone ring tones that appear on the Yahoo News Web site, teased viewers into taking an IQ test. But when viewers scrolled over the ad's picture of Obama, the words "When Will You Die?" flashed across the image.

The Secret Service said it had known about the ad for "a couple of weeks." Yahoo, on the other hand, as well as the company behind the IQ test Web site and the company that designed the ad, learned about it only when contacted by ABCNews.com

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The ad depicts a photo of Obama's head atop a cartoon body. It reads: "Barack Obama's IQ is 124!" and "Take the IQ Quiz Now." Some viewers noticed that when they scrolled over the advertisement with their computer mouse, red-colored text that read "When Will You Die?" briefly flashed across a picture of Obama.

Although clicking on the ad brings viewers to the Web site officialiqquiz.com, backed by Australia-based Mobile Messenger, the ad was created by a Chicago firm whose CEO is beside himself at the mistake and said he's a huge Obama supporter.



Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6257484&page=1

---

Yep, but wonder if whomever designed the page is an Obama supporter?

[zelta gaisma]

1. huh... i don't know whether to run with my paranoia or not

[bitchkitty]

2. Don't get paranoid.

It was probably alt text that he didn't change from another cheesy banner ad. I've seen them - take the quiz to find out your real age, or take the quiz and find out how long you will live, that kind of nonsense. He probably just changed the image path and forgot about the alt text.

[zelta gaisma]

7. i was kinda thinking ...

the same thing but I'm so used to assuming the worse... it gets so automatic I have to stop myself sometimes

[alfredo]

17. Don't run with your paranoia, if you fell on it you might put out your eye.

[Paladin]

23. Have You Been Keeping Up With The News For The Last Few Days?

If some of us are paranoid over stuff like this, we have damned good reasons to be so.......

[alfredo]

30. This incident looks like a mistake, nothing more. Someone didn't change

a link, or put the wrong one in. Programmers are not perfect. I used to hand code websites, I know how easy it is to fuck everything up.

[always_saturday]

22. Exactly. But it wasn't a "glitch" - it was carelesness.

[roseBudd]

29. Not true that's not how flash ads work, any thing you see on a rollover is created inside that...

button instance or within that actionscript.

Unless that Flash programmer copied a frame from say a game, & I find it hard to believe a game would use text rather than audio for a character, this was done on purpose by the person who created the ad in Flash.

As in they had to type, "When will you die?"

[bitchkitty]

31. Was it a flash ad? I don't think so.

I've seen those IQ adverts, and they are not Flash.

Find something real to be indignant about.

[LynnTheDem]

3. No more of the stupidest MFer in the room!!!

Descriptive Classifications of Intelligence Quotients

IQ Description % of Population
130+ Very superior 2.2%
120-129 Superior 6.7%
110-119 High average 16.1%
90-109 Average 50%
80-89 Low average 16.1%
70-79 Borderline 6.7%
Below 70 Extremely low 2.2%

[FlaGranny]

18. Obama's IQ is NOT 124!

It can't be. Mine is about 129-130 and I damn well KNOW he is smarter than I am.

[ekwhite]

4. His IQ is only 124?

I could have sworn it was even higher than that.

[IndyOp]

6. I've seen estimates of 160+ from testing at Punahou School, but the scores were pulled

from the web quickly. I think the campaign didn't want to put him in the category of "elite" --

From Chris Bowers at MyDD:

A political scientist friend of mine sent me an article yesterday that attempts to estimate the IQ of 42 of the 43 Presidents of the United States. You can read the entire article here, including the convoluted methodology. I would rather just cut to the chase and post the amusing results, ranked from highest to lowest:

Estimated Presidential IQ Range, Age 18-26. Source: Dean Keith Simonton, UC Davis

1. J. Q. Adams: 165-175
2. Jefferson: 150-160
3. Kennedy: 148-160
4. Clinton: 147-159
5. Carter: 144-157
6. J. Adams: 145-155
7. Wilson: 144-155
8. Madison: 135-160
9. T. Roosevelt: 142-153
10. Garfield: 141-152
11. Arthur: 141-152
12. F. Roosevelt: 140-151
13. Lincoln: 140-150
14. Filmore: 137-149
15. Tyler: 137-148
16. Pierce: 136-147
17. Hayes: 136-146
18. W. Harrison: 136-146
19. Van Buren: 135-146
20. B. Harrison: 134-145
21. Eisenhower: 134-145
22. Cleveland: 133-144
23. Nixon: 133-143
24. Polk: 133-143
25. McKinley: 133-143
26. Bush Sr.: 133-143
27. Jackson: 130-145
28. Washington: 135-140
29. Hoover: 132-143
30. Reagan: 132-142
31. Coolidge: 131-142
32. LBJ: 131-141
33. Ford: 130-140
34. Truman: 130-140
35. Taft: 130-140
36. A. Johnson: 129-140
37. Buchanan: 129-140
38. Taylor: 129-140
39. Harding: 128-140
40. Bush Jr.: 129-139
41. Monroe: 128-139
42. Grant: 125-130

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/5/30/131648/708

Emphasis mine - my fav Democrats near top and Booooooosh near bottom.

[ekwhite]

25. I am suspicious of the methodology

I seriously doubt that George W Bush has an IQ in the 129 - 139 range. He seems to be overestimating IQ by 20 points or more. I find it hard to believe that George W Bush has even average intelligence, no less borderline genius. Barack Obama, on the other hand, is obviously highly intelligent, as is Clinton and Carter.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

27. And Reagan was nowhere near 132.

That list is bullshit.

[ladywnch]

9. I've seen this ad show it as his IQ is 136, 164, 124..... they keep changing it

as if they would really have ANY idea what his IQ really is. it is hype..like ALL advertising....BS

[silverojo]

14. Yeah, I thought it was 135 - n/t

[Texas Mom]

15. It's not they just make that shit up to get you to click on. n/t

[Truth Teller]

24. Those ads put Palin's at 120, so you know thay aren't accurate. :)

[IndyOp]

5. I am more concerned about the fact that they are lying about Obama's IQ...

Obama has not released that information. There is no way it is as low as 124.

[PatrynXX]

8. Seen the ad, just not the switch.

But then again I have a script blocker on firefox so that might be affecting the results. Basically the ad is saying Obama is stupid. Smart.

So whats Sarah Palin? A 2?

[demwing]

13. As low as 124?

124 is NOT low

[ekwhite]

26. Yes, I know.

124 is a high intelligence, but Obama obviously has a genius-level IQ. I would put him at a minimum of 140, but probably even higher than that. This guy is the smartest guy in the room in a town full of smart people.

[iamthebandfanman]

10. arent there quizes that tell you 'when youre going to die'

thats probably what the cross over message meant... ive seen tons of these types of ads before trying to get people to take iq tests and look at their 'death clock'...

[Doctor_J]

11. Yes. That's all this was

I don't think anything was meant here.

That test is a hoax btw. I took it and it just led to a series of "offers"

[iamthebandfanman]

12. heh, they are always a trick for advertisements ;) n/t

[NashVegas]

21. Must've Been Some Budget Cuts In the Quality Control Department

Have you noticed, we never hear that phrase anymore? "Quality control," that is?

[struggle4progress]

16. Why dishonest numbskull wrote the headline? It should read "Ad Threatening Obama ..."

but instead it sounds like the Obama campaign aired threatening ads

[ohio2007]

19. " the ad was created by a Chicago firm .."

That must be "The Chicago way "

lol

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22The+chicago+way+%22&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&um=1&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#

[Bandit]

20. I saw the exact same ad only it said his IQ was 138

:shrug:

[WriteDown]

28. I've seen the ad a couple of places and...

its always a different #.

[No Elephants]

32. Glitch, my behind. If it were a glitch, they would not be giving his IQ as anything under

165-and that is a conservative estimate. (Please pardon use of the word "conservative.")

[Life Long Dem]

33. Lock them up and throw away the keys