Dumb Strategy, Flawed Execution

Every campaign season brings its own annoying twists, and in recent election cycles at the Chronicle, we've gotten used to a new one: copyright violations by political campaigns. Staff photographer John Ander­son has become a repeat victim, most recently by the Carole Keeton Strayhorn mayoral campaign, which last week launched her latest TV and Web commercial ("Not on My Watch!") that briefly employed a copyrighted Anderson/Chronicle photo of opponent Lee Leffingwell – without permission or credit (or, needless to say, payment to Anderson). To the campaign's credit, when we complained to coordinator Mark Sanders, he quickly took action to get the photo pulled, while grumbling about the PR firm that produced the ad. (After a quick check on Google, commented former reporter Sanders, "I don't even do this stuff, and I know you can't use a copyrighted photo!") It turns out the ad was produced by the San Francisco- and New York-based public relations firm Dresner, Wickers & Associates, which describes itself as "the go-to political consulting firm for Republican candidates, ballot initiatives, and major trade organizations." (And here we thought Strayhorn was an "independent.") DWA also headlines its "Smart Strategies, Flawless Execution." Not this time.