• Portfolio, Friday, March 20, 2009 10:30 AM

CBS News was wondering what its journalist Katie Couric was doing introducing a promotional video aimed at car dealers. Couric appeared in a promotional clip created by the Automotive Broadcasting Network, which picks up CBS entertainment and news content via the CBS Outernet unit.

ABN used a snippet of Couric in a marketing piece that deplores the "negativity" of the news and its bad effect on car-buying. The footage of Couric was originally part of her introduction of a news clip; ABN never had permission to use it in marketing materials.

Ironically, one example of negative news coverage in the promo is a piece from the CBS "Early Show" about the sorry state of the auto industry. After receiving a cease-and-desist order, ABN removed the Couric clip from its marketing.

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