Quinn Strikes Out with Mr. Burns Ad

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Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is trying hard to paint his general election opponent, Bruce Rauner, as an out-of-touch rich guy. 

His main line of attack centers on minimum wage, and Rauner's strong opposition to raising it. Quinn's first ad of the season contains footage of Rauner talking about his stance on minimum wage. 

Quinn's second ad on the topic didn't last very long. 

On Thursday, the incumbent released a web ad that compared Rauner to fictional Simpson's billionaire C. Montgomery Burns. 

The advertisement used the image and voice of Mr. Burns, and that apparently didn't sit well with 20th Century Fox the company that owns rights to the long running animated series. 

Fox kiboshed the ad after the Sun Times reached out to ask about copyright protection, and it went dark shortly after it was released. A new message says "This video contains content from Fox, who has blocked it on copyright grounds."

Fox told Sun Times that they don't allow their characters to be used in political campaigns (see below for Burns' endorsement of Mitt Romney in 2012.)

Rauner's camp pounced on the copyright gaffe, telling the Sun Times: 

“Looks like Pat Quinn is running his campaign as poorly as he’s running the state,” spokesman Mike Schrimpf told the paper. “At least this mistake didn’t cost taxpayers money.”

Quinn's team tried to spin it, saying Rauner must have called his buddy Monty to have it removed. 

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