WASHINGTON (Sept. 18, 2000) -- Video editors are in the news again this week as the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) takes a closer look at a George W. Bush campaign ad in which eagle-eyed viewers across the country noticed a one-frame flash of the word "RATS" in large, white upper-case type. Whether editors inserted the text intentionally or if it was a fragment of the word "bureaucrats" is still unknown. However, given the precision with which political campaign spots are edited, speculation among the digital video editing community is running strongly against the wayward text being accidental.

In response to complaints of subliminal advertising, the FCC sent letters to 217 television stations last week that ran the spot, asking if anyone knew before the commercial was broadcast that it contained the word "RATS". The stations were given until next Friday to respond.

The ad, withdrawn last week, was intended to criticize Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Al Gore's prescription drug plan. In it, the word "RATS," apparently a fragment of the phrase "bureaucrats decide,'' flashes in large letters for one frame (1/30th of a second).

Although the FCC is not empowered to sanction political campaigns, video editors or producers of advertisements, it can admonish or revoke the license of a station that knowingly broadcasts an advertisement the agency decides is unfairly deceptive.

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