Claim: Photograph shows a Minnesota billboard bearing a picture of smiling President
Examples: [Collected via e-mail, January 2010]
This photo was sent to me via email and I was wondering if it was true. According to the email this bill board is on I35W in MN.
Origins: September 2009 saw the emergence of an Internet meme (as viewed in this
The simple question of whether the billboard exists is easily answered in the affirmative: Plenty of motorists have seen it, some of them having taken pictures of it from varying vantage points:
Definitive answers to the larger questions of what the billboard was intended to mean and who sponsored it remain elusive. Are those paying for its display
Although a representative of the company that leases space for the "Miss Me Yet?" billboard stated that some of the sign's sponsors were "Obama supporters," skepticism remains about who is truly funding the billboard and what message they're intending to convey. For example, Yahoo! News reported that:
McNamara told us that the message the group hoped to convey was one of "Hope and change, where is it?" She went on to say that she has yet to receive any negative feedback about the ad, which has been up for about a month, and added that some have even contacted her office offering to donate money to keep it up. However, not everyone is buying McNamara's portrayal of the group's ideological makeup. Cindy Erickson, the chairwoman of the Democratic Party in Chisago County, where the billboard is located, suspects the ad's funders are conservative activists posing as Obama supporters. "I don't have any idea who did it, but my thought was that they're Tea Party people," she said. "Regardless, it's been the subject of many conversations around here. I think most people have interpreted their message to be 'If you think it's bad now, don't forget how bad it used to be,'" she said.
Mary McNamara, the general manager at the Minneapolis office of
FOX News had a slightly different take on the story:
"They thought it was a funny way to get out their message," she added. However, Master [said] the ad buyers wish to "remain anonymous." [A]ll indications are the billboard was a slap at Obama. "My personal feeling is it's probably anti-Obama," [said] Mark Drake, a spokesman for the Minnesota Republican Party. Drake said [he] has "no idea" who designed and paid for it.
Bev Master, office manager with Schubert & Hoey Outdoor Advertising, said the
Last updated: 9 February 2010
 | Sources: |
Dykes, Brett Michael. "Mystery Swirls Around George W. Bush 'Miss Me Yet?' Billboard." Yahoo! News. 9 February 2010. von Sternberg, Bob. "Bush Billboard on I-35: 'Miss Me Yet?'" [Minneapolis] Star Tribune. 9 February 2010. FOXNews.com. "Ad Firm Says 'Anonymous' Business Owners Behind Bush Billboard." 9 February 2010.