WASHINGTON, 2 May — At least nine national cable networks have turned down a potentially lucrative advertisement from the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. No national cable networks have accepted the ads. “It seems the Saudi Arabian brand name is not an easy sell in America,” said yesterday’s Washington Times.

“The People of Saudi Arabia — Allies Against Terrorism” is a $10 million TV campaign that uses quotes from President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell to send a pro-Saudi message to the American people. But some US networks are refusing to touch it.

National cable networks that have passed on the Saudi spots include A&E, AMC, Bravo, the History Channel, Lifetime, USA Network and The Weather Channel.

“We had a raging debate,” said a senior marketing executive at one of the cable networks approached to run the two 30-second spots. “I looked at the tapes. I thought they were tastefully done,” said the executive, who, citing the issue’s sensitivity, asked for anonymity. “I didn’t like the end line, ‘(Allies) Against Terrorism.’” The network ended up walking away from a buy worth $300,000 to $400,000, the executive said.

Both 30-second commercials feature misperceptions about Saudi Arabia by showing statements about the desert nation that at first appear to be negative and then transform into what were actually positive remarks by either the president or the secretary.

One of the spots, for example, starts with the appearance on the screen of a “misquote” from Secretary of State Colin Powell to the effect that “Saudi Arabia has been prominent among terrorist organizations”; the visual then dissolves to the “correct” quote: “Saudi Arabia has been prominent among the countries acting against the accounts of terrorist organizations.” The voice-over narration intones, “Prejudice, fear and conflicting views can distort what you see and hear. Please keep you eyes, ears ... and especially your mind ... open.” On screen, the tagline is seen.

The second spot begins with an on-screen “misquote” from President Bush that reads, “The Saudi Arabians have been less than cooperative.” That dissolves into the real quote: “As far as the Saudi Arabians go ... they have been nothing less than cooperative.” The voice-over for this spot is, “Read the editorials ....if you want opinions. Listen to America’s leaders if you want the facts.”