There's a special election today in Florida's 13th Congressional District. Former Washington lobbyist David Jolly is the Republican contender. Alex Sink, former CFO for the state and Gubernatorial candidate in 2010, is the Dem. The seat was held by GOP Rep. Bill Young, who died in October after representing the district for more than four decades. He was the longest-serving Republican member of Congress at the …
The Scoundrel’s Dilemma: When and How to Evoke Patriotism in Advertising
The great English writer Samuel Johnson once declared that, “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” Johnson’s beef wasn’t with patriotism per se, rather the issue of it being coopted for the purposes self-interest. In the preceding several hundred years since he uttered the phrase, proof of Johnson’s quote is still readily seen in many pockets of society. Politicians often appropriate the love of country …
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President Obama Embraces Google+. Now, Will You?
Google+ is the unloved soc net. But that may begin to shift, now that President Obama is using the platform's Hangout feature for a virtual town hall, or "Fireside Hangout" this Thursday, just two day after his State of the Union address. According to Google, selected participants will ask the President their own pre-screened questions starting Thursday at 4:50 p.m. EST. BTW, President Obama's Twitter …
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Guns Don’t Kill People. But People With Guns Do.
The National Rifle Association makes "repugnant and cowardly" ads, but the gun lobby appears slightly more adept at brand-sponsored content. Here's a look at a video from their "Life of Duty" series sponsored by Smith & Wesson and Brownell's, the world's largest supplier of firearms accessories, gun parts and gunsmithing tools. "It's freedom to be an American," says the NRA and Brownell's. Of course it …
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What We Can Glean From Karl Rove’s Real Bad Day
Now that we're on the far side of the election, horribly misleading crapvertising like this has vanished from our public airwaves (although it is still plentiful online): Bloomberg reports that the maker of the ad above is under fire from conservative investors who spent more than $300 million on TV ads that failed to deliver results. “Right now there is stunned disbelief that Republicans fared so poorly …
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You Need Quants And Coders To Rule The World
Certain media personalities and business leaders like to claim President Obama has no traction with the business community. Such statements are wrong on two counts. First, we can not talk about the "business community" as a monolith. For most of us in America, are "in business" of one form or another. Secondly, President Obama and his team are not just pro-business, but also quite skilled in business themselves. …
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Do We Need Some Nate Silvers In Advertising?
Political campaigns are marketing campaigns. And while Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight wasn't working for a campaign, he was absolutely on the mark in his projections of the election results this year. Anyone who bet on him, as opposed to pundit predictions on TV, made the right move. Advertising is relying increasingly on data and microtargeting to reach an increasingly divided audience. But so much of it seems …
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Kerry v. Fischer One of Several Bellwether Races
As we approach Tuesday's election, the national media is laser-focused on the Presidential race, but there are many other significant races around the nation that will also have a major impact on the kind of government we have for the next two-to-six years. For instance, in my home state of Nebraska, Bob Kerry is running for Senate against cattle rancher and member of the Nebraska State Legislature, Deb Fischer. …
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