Bush in 30 Seconds

[shannon_a]

Moveon.org recently ran a very interesting contest where they asked people to submit 30 second political ads talking about Bush's record. Over a month period they got 1000+ ads.

During December they let member vote on the ads, up to 20 per day. I managed to remember frequently enough to vote on just 60 or 80, but overall the ads I saw were very high quality and interesting.

They've now culled the herd down to the top 15 ads; a final winner will be decided upon by a panel of judges, then that ad will be redone to appear on television. The 15 finalists are an interesting and depressing look at what's happened to our country in the last 3 years. A couple of them are superb. I highly suggest taking a look to get a true understanding of what Bush has done to this country:

Bushin30seconds.org

If you want to look at just a couple I suggest: Child's Pay, What are we Teaching Our Children?, and Human Cost of War. In My Country is interesting too, but I don't think it'll play in Peoria.

Comments

[seidl.livejournal.com]

Those are mostly pretty good. :) I think for national air time though, some of the more preachy ones might be too much. Humor and catchy images will play better. The 'What are we teaching our Children' one for example, or the repair shop or speedometer. Some of the others, like the alarm clock, seemed to focus too much on sound bites that we're always clear (at least to me watching whats not a great quicktime image). Will be interesting to see what finally gets picked, although I suspect it would be better if a couple of them eventually saw airtime. Not everyone will get every spot.

[christophera.livejournal.com]

I agree -- too many of these will make those who already are convinced feel good, but the real target needs to be people that are on the fence. "Child's Pay" can too easily be blamed on everyone, not just on Bush. I'm not sure if "What Are We Teaching Our Children" is too strident, but it is compelling. My personal feelings are expressed by "In My Country", but as Shannon said, it won't play in Peoria.

[shannon_a]

The What Are We Teaching Our Children is my abolute favorite. Strident, yes, but done with a sufficient twist that it might just make people look (and think).

The main problem with In My Country is that the whole -point- of the piece will also make a lot of America tune out. When they see a Middle Eastern man talking about atrocities, they won't care, and thus they'll never realize that he's talking about this country.

[maida-mac.livejournal.com]

Something we have in common. :) It's been my favorite, too. And I think despite the stridentness, it'd be damn effective.

[angelovernh.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting that! Patrick and I both chose "What Are We Teaching Our Children" as the best . I also like "Hood Robbin'" and I found "Bring 'Em On" to be quite moving. Patrick's next picks were "Imagine" (which I also think was very professionally done) and then "Desktop".

I registered to vote, but apparently we'll just get to vote on special categories - funniest, youth, and animated. I didn't see any that were animated so perhaps there's another set we'll get to vote on? Not sure I like the judging panel as representative. I wonder why they did that instead of having the public judge it..

[angelovernh.livejournal.com]

oh, right.. "Desktop" is probably 'animated'. :)

[shannon_a]

They let the public judge the original 1000+, then the judges pick from the public's top 15.

I think it's a good move. It lets the public cull through the original 1000+ in a statistically sound way. Then it allows people who are really thinking about what makes a good *television ad* to make the final decision. Because, it's about more than just if it's a good 30-second clip: it also has to draw people in, to be somewhat effective even if people are just listening, and to really depict a solid message that will be meaningful to people who don't already hate Bush. I wouldn't expect the general public to necessarily make the best decision for some specific parameters.

[angelovernh.livejournal.com]

Your post was the first I've heard about it.. or I WOULD have voted on the first 1000. Alas.