Technology and Alternative Politics

One of the most exciting new advances to come out of the 2006 election cycle has been the emergence of YouTube as a means of downloading and watching videos from around the country and around the world. Not only did alternative party candidates benefit by the extra views that there produced-for-television commercials enjoyed, but media appearances such as local news interviews, speeches, and other supportive clips were also e-mailed, downloaded and viewed thousands of times over.

In other cases, we saw ads with very small media buys (typical for alternative candidates) generate much greater buzz and receive much greater media exposure as a result of the "viral" effect of YouTube. In the case of Libertarian Phil Maymin, his clever ad (here) had far more hits on his web site and via YouTube then it did runs in paid media. This led to appearances on Tucker Carlson and MSNBC News Live, a rarity for alternative party candidates. Those interviews themselves were then posted on YouTube where they can be viewed over and over (here and here).

This site is not specifically about what is involved in producing an effective TV ad. However, the effectiveness of any ad is increased when people who might be influenced by the ad are able to access it. The fact that TAP is able to watch and review ads from all over the country via YouTube and candidate web sites speaks to the power of the internet to put ones' message in front of the consumer (in this case, voter).

As mentioned before, alternative parties rarely have the funds necessary for large paid media ad buys. It is therefore essential that these campaigns use the resources available to them to get the greatest "bang for the buck" from their paid media efforts. TAP strongly encourages campaigns to post their ads to the campaign web site as they are produced.

We further recommend pushing the envelope with "web only" ads. These type of ads are those that are specifically geared towards the media and supporters. Web only ads allow a campaign to insert issues and positions into the campaign with relatively little overhead and create the opportunity for the media to pick up on the ad, run it free of charge on their broadcasts, and raise the candidate's profile. Furthermore, web only ads can speak more freely to the base supporters, re-enforcing their support and providing donors with a sense that their money is being used to effectively to address the issues that are important to them.

Another great ad that had a very small buy, but received a large amount of free media on the web and in broadcast is the controversial cartoon produced for Christy Mihos's independent run for Massachusetts Governor that attacks the massive cost overruns of Boston's Big Dig (here). Like the Maymin ad, this great commercial received nationwide attention leading to a number of print articles and TV appearances for the Mihos campaign as well as over 42,000 YouTube views.