Herman Cain responds to criticism of his ‘smoking’ Web ad

The Internet was ablaze Tuesday after Herman Cain's presidential campaign released a short Web ad featuring campaign manager Mark Block (gasp!) smoking a cigarette.

It didn't take long for the conspiracy theories to flow in: He's shilling for big tobacco! There's a hidden message! Think of the children! Within hours, parodies emerged online. Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert made a few of his own Cain-style commercials.

Cain's response: I just thought it was funny.

"Many of us found it hilarious because we know Mark," Cain told Fox News host Sean Hannity. "So there was no hidden message there other than we were in Vegas and we wanted to put something new out on the internet because I was inundated with other requests, and I trusted Mark, which I still do, and I thought he did a great job with the ad."

"We have a saying in my campaign: let Herman be Herman," Cain said. "This is the attitude that I have when I do debates, this is the attitude I have when I do interviews, let Herman be Herman. Mark Block is my Chief of Staff. And we also say let Mark be Mark. Mark happens to be a smoker. He knows it's a bad habit but he smokes. So we weren't trying to send any subliminal message whatsoever."

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