A Model Independent Political Ad
By amba | Related entries in Elections, General PoliticsMy friend Barry Casselman, a poet, playwright and political journalist who lives in Minneapolis and writes regularly for The Washington Times and the Weekly Standard (he’s sort of the house centrist, the way David Brooks is the New York Times’ harmless pet conservative) has sent me an advertising piece for Minnesota Independence Party candidate for governor Peter Hutchinson. At the official website at that link, you can see some of the features of the same very appealing ad campaign.
The advertising piece is about 5″ x 4″, an orange rectangle with a bold black border that opens outward from the center like a pair of window shutters. The invitation and inviting description OPEN, in large, paler-orange letters, underlies the small words NOT LEFT in black on the left, and NOT RIGHT in white on the right.
When you open out the two panels of the front, right in the center, in large white letters on green, is the word:
FORWARD.
And then the following:
Minnesota moves forward by keeping the main things the main thing. [ . . . ]
(The main things being education, health care, transportation, environment, energy independence and fiscal sanity.)
Minnesota moves forward only if we refuse to let elected officials and special interests distract, divert or scare us with the issues upon which we never agree–the 5Gs. Politicians use guns, gays, god, gambling, and gynecology to divide us. But we can still work together to achieve practical results: we can reduce gun deaths, strengthen marriage (and reduce divorce), increase respect for religious values, limit gambling, and reduce abortions.
On the left, purple-gray panel it says POLITICS IS [in white] BROKEN. [in black], with a bulleted list of all that’s going wrong in Minnesota: gridlock, property tax increases, 10,000 polluted lakes and streams, healthcare costs, traffic jams, poor school preparation. On the right-hand purple-gray panel it says AN INDEPENDENT [in black] CAN WIN. [in white], followed by a short list of reasons why and the web address, www.OpenUpMN.com.
Turn the piece over and on the back, in the upper left corner at a cozy angle, is a small sign, just like the one on the glass door of a mom-and-pop store in the 1940s, that says “Yes [in script] we’re OPEN.”
The website expands on the theme of OPEN, from another old-fashioned little tilted “Come in we’re OPEN” sign at the top left corner, to links titled
- Open Up! Tell Us All About It! [a rather "cooked" blog of "personal" raves for Hutchinson -- "Brilliant guy. Snappy dresser. Gorgeous wife. Track record of making real change in dynamic and courageous ways."]
- Open Source! Read All About It!
- Grand Opening. Contribute Now!
- Open Door Policy. Volunteer Now!
- Open Invitation to connect. Register for the newsletter now!
Clever! More than clever, smart. Take note, centrists and independents. Imitate (steal from) this campaign. Better yet, hire the person who created it. I’ll post hizzerher name when I ferret it out.
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 20th, 2006 and is filed under Elections, General Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 20th, 2006 at 8:22 pm
I do like this ad, however I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see a significant liberal tint to the agenda, particularly when you observe the “guns, gays, god” thing borrowed from Howard Dean.
That said, I think national security and a reduction in gun deaths are the objectives, and it’s time we genuinely and rationally consider the means of achieving them.
April 20th, 2006 at 9:48 pm
I hadn’t heard “gynecology” as the fifth “G”, though!
April 21st, 2006 at 5:25 pm
Thanks for the compliments!
Spyglass Creative (Minneapolis) designed this piece as part of a purposefully non-traditional and hopefully very successful campaign to support Peter Hutchinson’s 2006 bid for governor. Stay tuned for more hard-hitting, fun and engaging campaign and marketing tactics!
May 2nd, 2006 at 1:02 pm
The point of this very clever approach is that MANY OF US ARE SICKENED by the traditional 2-party system which is so polarized that there’s no common sense in the common goals anymore. This state (and the country!) needs a vibrant, viable 3rd party because most of us think from the middle of the road.
June 28th, 2006 at 11:38 am
The Peter Hutchinson for Governor Campaign website has changed due to the newly endorsed Team Minnesota. Team Minnesota consisting of the candidates Peter Hutchinson (Governor), Maureen Reed (Lt. Governor), John James (Attorney General), Lucy Gerold (State Auditor), and Joel Spoonheim (Secretary of State). Team Minnesota is another part of the Independence Party’s plan to go forward rather than get stuck in partisan politics as usual. The new website is TeamMN.com