A liberal media group, Brave New Films, is producing anti-McCain ads and distributing them on the Internet. One, McCain’s YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare, is an example of what to do right – and what to do wrong – in pushing a message.
The ad is direct and clear – clips of Senator McCain making contradictory or false statements. For most of the ad there is no voice over, just clips of the Senator speaking and clips of reporters correcting him. A clean, clear and direct negative ad.
But at the close, over a black and white picture of Senator McCain red letters appear reading: “The ‘Straight Talk Express Has Derailed’ but the corporate media won’t cover the story.” This is followed by a black screen and the words, “It’s up to you to get the word out. Send this to 10 people and tell them to pass it on.”
The problem is that after 2 minutes and 49 seconds of McCain v McCain, I’m told the problem isn’t McCain at all but rather “corporate media.” This tells viewers the problem isn’t a specific person they can specifically do something about, but rather a nebulous entity that’s running a conspiracy theory of which we are all victims. By introducing a new element at the end the ad undermines its own argument, distracts from the point of what’s being said and by placing blame in a nebulous “them” it dis-empowers the viewer. In addition, the ad would have much more reach if “corporate media” ran it either as news or as a paid ad on broadcast or cable television. Removing the attack on “corporate media” strengthens the main message of the ad, so it shouldn’t be there. The ask at the end (send it to 10 people) is good, it tells me what to do next, easy and doable action. There should also be a second ask – to donate to a fund to put a 30 second version of the ad on the air in battleground states (ideally the clips of McCain saying he doesn’t know much about the economy).
So a plug for a good clean whack at McCain, but a whack for leaping off message and missing and opportunity to raise money to put the ad on television.
