History Main / IApprovedThisMessage

In the United States, a portion of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, otherwise known as the [=McCain=]-Feingold Act, requires that a political candidate for a federal office - or the group that produced it - give "a statement by the candidate that identifies the candidate and states that the candidate has approved the communication." This means an ad has to say something like, "I'm [[StevenUlyssesPerhero Cole Rupt]], and I approved this message." This only applies to candidates for Congress and the presidency.[[note]]Or, theoretically, candidates for vice president. But in practice, VP candidates simply act as NumberTwo to the presidential candidates, and never run their own separate campaigns. Thus, it'll always be the presidential candidate who "approves this message," even if their running mate is providing the sound bites for the ad. Though [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N30_sbtE0gE Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina]] did run some "We approve this message" ads.[[/note]] It does not apply to candidates for state or local office, or to anything other than politicians.

The provision was added so that political candidates would be less likely to fund attack ads or ads with questionable claims. However, that doesn't stop outside parties like interest groups from running their own ads: the NRA or AARP could run an ad that says "Cole Rupt is a brain-eating alien," but it would obviously not have opposing candidate Bea Ribe's "approval." ''These'' must be followed by a statement along the lines of "Paid for by the Republicratic National Committee", or "The [[FunWithAcronyms S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A.]][[note]]Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc.[[/note]] has paid for this message and is responsible for its content".

However, a number of ads for things other than politicians are parodying this requirement, and including it on them even though it is not applicable to anything else. So some ad will say "[=TropeCo's=] tropes are tropier. We're [=TropeCo=], and we approved this ad." Oh yeah, right, an ad by some company might not be approved by them.

->''We're Website/TVTropes, and we approved this message.''

For obvious reasons, this is mostly an American trope, since other countries and their political systems aren't obliged to do this in their own turfs.

[[folder: Product Ads]]

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' In ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #611, ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} claims to have Blackest Night symbols on his toenails ("My feet are a rainbow of power!") with a footnote reading "I'm Geoff Johns and I approve this message — Geoff Johns, former ''[[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]]'' writer".

* An issue of ''Franchise/{{Spider Man}}'' in which ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} claimed to have ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'' symbols on his toenails ("My feet are a rainbow of power!") had a footnote reading "I'm Creator/GeoffJohns and I approve this message -- Geoff Johns, former ''[[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]]'' writer".

->''We're Wiki/TVTropes, and we approved this message.''

* In 2006, Wrestling/{{WWE}} renamed their ''Taboo Tuesday'' [=PPV=], where fans would get to vote online on who they wanted in matches and/or what kinds of matches would be on the show, ''Cyber Sunday.'' [[Wrestling/JimFullington The Sandman]] was one of the three potential opponents, along with Wrestling/ChrisBenoit and Wrestling/{{Kane}} (who was the winner of the vote, but not the match), for Wrestling/{{Umaga}}. The Sandman cut a promo urging the fans to vote for him. As this was a mid-term election year, he ended his promo with, "I'm the Sandman, and I approved this message."

In the United States, a portion of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, otherwise known as the [=McCain=]-Feingold Act, requires that a political candidate for a federal office - or the group that produced it - give "a statement by the candidate that identifies the candidate and states that the candidate has approved the communication." This means an ad has to say something like, "I'm [[StevenUlyssesPerhero Cole Rupt]], and I approved this message." This only applies to candidates for Congress and the presidency.[[note]]Or, theoretically, candidates for Vice President. But in practice, VP candidates simply act as NumberTwo to the presidential candidates, and never run their own separate campaigns. Thus it'll always be the presidential candidate who "approves this message," even if their running mate is providing the sound bites for the ad.[[/note]] It does not apply to candidates for state or local office, or to anything other than politicians.