Got a shitload of money from ass-raping the American public, and you don’t know what to do with it all? Why not buy the next leader of the free world!

ExxonMobil is sponsoring CNN’s coverage of both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. They’re sponsoring CBS’s political news coverage as well. A startling bit of news, since it’s no secret that, while claiming to be politically neutral, ExxonMobil PAC gives 87% of its total political donations to Republicans (particularly those sluggish on alternative fuels), while only offering 13% to Democrats. Now how do you suppose that will affect coverage?

I spent this past weekend sightseeing in Washington DC. Had a blast, but let me spare you the tourism and skip right to something interesting. Being in marketing, one thing I always notice when I travel is the advertising, and how it changes from location to location, and gathering place to gathering place. In DC, I saw a lot of ads for seemingly indestructible Panasonic “Toughbook” laptops targeted to the military sector, with witty block letter press conference messaging such as “Legally, we cannot say it can take a bullet” and “Legally, we cannot say it knows where Navy SEAL team three is.” Meanwhile, venture into Philadelphia or Detroit, and Pepsi’s multi-million dollar ad campaign for whatever new color Mountain Dew comes in presents its sell messaging encoded in street lingo, spraypainted on a brick wall. Consider yourself profiled by marketing, based on where you’re standing, at all times.

The most interesting ad campaign I encountered in DC was an anonymous one asking a compelling question: “Do you own a US oil company?”