NRA sues over advertising agency website
Public unhappiness among NRA board members over Ackerman McQueen's NRA-TV emerged in September 2018 after show host Dana Loesch sought to mock the children's show “Thomas and Friends” for promoting diversity by showing an image of the train engines dressed in KKK robes and hoods.
The bitter divorce between Oklahoma City's largest and oldest advertising agency, Ackerman McQueen, and the National Rifle Association now includes a new lawsuit demanding all history of their 38-year relationship be erased from the agency's website.
The two sides are suing each other for more than $100 million over claims of breach of contract, false billings and questions of millions paid to NRA-TV personalities through Ackerman McQueen. The NRA and Ackerman McQueen both moved to terminate their relationship in June.
The latest suit filed in Dallas by the NRA alleges Ackerman McQueen has continued to showcase its work with the NRA and claims of success with NRATV, which was a live streaming network featuring Dana Loesch, Oliver North and other politically oriented show hosts.
“Not only did Ackerman McQueen use the NRA by regularly overcharging and falsifying invoices, it is now known that defendants (along with others) conspired to mislead the NRA
leadership regarding the performance of its signature service — NRA-TV,” NRA attorneys wrote in their suit filed Friday.
“Ackerman McQueen continues to improperly make reference, directly and indirectly, to the NRA on Ackerman's website. Those references are unauthorized and falsely suggest that the NRA continues to be an Ackerman McQueen client and endorser of Ackerman McQueen's services in connection with NRA-TV when, in fact, the NRA terminated NRA-TV because of its failure to achieve the objectives for which it was begun.”
The suit seeks injunctive relief and unspecified damages, claiming it owns all content and mentions of its name and brands.
A statement released in response by Ackerman McQueen calls the new lawsuit “a ceaseless waste” of NRA members' dues.
“The NRA stopped fighting for any aspect of their members' agenda over a year ago,” the agency responded. “Instead, they became a factory for frivolous lawsuits. With all the smart people that saw this foolish strategy and left, the NRA's understanding of the Second Amendment, and now apparently the First, seems to be nearing an alltime low.”
The NRA and NRA-TV once dominated Ackerman's McQueen website with extensive photos of their work and broadcasting efforts.
Among the examples of references to their work still online, the NRA cites Ackerman McQueen mentions of work with a “gun rights organization” and states that it “built media companies on behalf of ... the Second Amendment to the Constitution.”
On a page titled “Our Media Evolution,” the NRA claimed, the website posted a timeline of the agency's projects for clients, including videos and photos related to NRA-TV, a page titled “Our Team” with a photo caption of “NRA Life of Duty,” and “Gallery” pages with 15 references to the NRA and NRA-TV.
The split between the agency and the nonprofit has been swift, with hostilities breaking into the open in April with a lawsuit filed by the NRA claiming Ackerman McQueen was not complying with requests for details on billings that topped $40 million starting in 2017 as NRA-TV operations ramped up.
Both sides have acknowledged the dispute emerged as the NRA was losing members and annual revenues were dropping by more t han $ 55 million. The battle intensified as NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre claimed the agency attempted a coup against LaPierre through North, who resigned as the group's president at t heir May convention.
More accusations followed of misspending by LaPierre involving expensive travels and vacations, rent for a New York City apartment f or a young female intern who worked for La Pierre and suggestions an attempt was made through Ackerman McQueen to spend millions to buy a Dallas home for LaPierre.
In the midst of the battle, longtime Ackerman McQueen CEO Angus McQueen died, with his 32-year-old son, Revan McQueen, taking full control of the firm. With loss of its biggest account, Ac ker manMc Queen warned in court the NRA owed it millions because of required layoffs of staff assigned to the account.
“In light of its continual `shooting itself in the proverbial foot,' one can only conclude that the people who are supposedly running this apparently failing organization did not ever believe in the Constitution in the first place,” Ackerman McQueen said Friday. "The NRA continues to spend its members' money on useless fights in an obvious attempt to deflect attention from its dwindling influence across the country.”