A blogger has identified the actress in Pete Hoekstra's ad as Lisa Chan, a 21-year-old from California.GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The CBS affiliate in Flint and Saginaw mistakenly ran Pete Hoekstra's controversial Super Bowl commercial – attacked for claims of xenophobia in February – at least two times Tuesday morning, campaign spokesman Greg VanWoerkom said today.
“We’re not running that commercial and we’ve called the station to try and figure out what happened,” VanWoerkom said. “At this point, it looks like a complete station error. Every other station in the state used the right one.”
The station's management, on Tuesday afternoon, admitted it was their error that led to the spot being rebroadcast.
“WNEM accepts full responsibility for the incident which was a simple miscommunication," Al Blinke, the station's vice president and general manager, said in a prepared statement.
"The order for a new round of advertising came in before the new ad did. Someone misinterpreted the order and began executing the new order with the old ad. We’ve spoken with the Hoekstra campaign and they understand it was a mistake.”
VanWoerkom said the commercial that was supposed to hit the broadcast was part of the Hoekstra’s “Michigan Solutions” broadcast buy. That ad touts Hoekstra's experience as a businessman and a Washington reformer.
VanWoerkom said the campaign staffer who submitted the latest commercial does not have access to the Super Bowl piece, which drew widespread criticism and was assailed by Democrats and Republicans.
Hoekstra stood behind the spot initially, saying it attacked only Debbie Stabenow’s voting record. He is competing in the Aug. 7 primary with Clark Durant, Gary Glenn and Randy Hekman for the GOP nomination to face Stabenow in the November general election.
The 30-second ad in question was filmed in California and shows a young Asian woman riding a bike through a rice field. She stops and thanks Stabenow in broken English.
"Debbie spend so much American money, you borrow more and more, from us," the woman says. "Your economy get very weak. Ours get very good. We take your jobs.
"Thank you, Debbie 'Spenditnow.'"
The screen cuts to the 18-year veteran of Congress as he sits by a fire.
"I think this race is between Debbie Spenditnow and Pete Spenditnot,” he says.
“I'm Pete Spenditnot Hoekstra and I approve this message,” he says.
The commercial and an affiliated website were taken down four days after debuting. The actress in the spot apologized for her role.
Follow Nate Reens on Twitter at www.twitter.com/natereens