Tipsheet

OFA Ad Shows "Hardworking American" Who's Actually A British Commuter in London

Organizing for America, the political organizing group that helped President Obama's campaigns for the White House, made a bit of an error in their latest ad campaign regarding the minimum wage. One of the "hard-working Americans" portrayed in the ad isn't actually an American, but is actually a British commuter using mass transit in London.

Two seconds into the video, there's a shot of a woman on a nearly-empty train sipping a coffee. The train she's on is part of the London Overground line located in eastern London, not an American commuter train or subway. The location of the train is evidenced by the map located behind the woman and by the distinctive patterns of the train's seats.

The nationalities of the other people in the video are unknown at this time. The video clip of the woman is likely from stock footage.

The number of Americans who work minimum-wage jobs is a very small percentage of the workforce, and the vast majority of minimum-wage workers are young. Large percentages of minimum-wage workers are from middle class homes and are not the primary breadwinners.