Political Advertising

I grew up in California, which is as safe as any single color-state, so I didn't watch a lot of presidential campaign ads. The only ads I saw were aired during Jeopardy, and since the only other ads aired during Jeopardy are not targeted to my demographic, I have to assume I wasn't being particularly targeted by these ads either. However, that doesn't mean I can't recognize good ads when I see them:



This series of ads is actually from defunct HBO comedy program Mr. Show, which was at one time almost certainly the best show on TV, a mantle which has since been passed to less meaty fare.

At any rate, we are now at one of those epochal moments when it is absolutley crucial for Democrats to snare young people (note my use of culturally relevant comedy material near the top of this post). The link in the preceding sentence postulates a fascinating scenario in which voting patterns for entire demographic blocs can be set for their lifetimes by the direction political winds are blowing when they come of age. So how come I'm not being targeted with ads?

As regular readers of this blog know (thanks, Mom!), I have a short fuse for all the jerks giving advice to Democrats. However, I feel free to advise that microtargeting is something the Democrats would do well to embrace a little more enthusiasticlly. Part of the problem, as explained by blogger hot shots, is that relationships between media consultants and the party have gotten altogether too cozy. Since the media consultants make their money on commission, their incentive is to just dump a wad of cash on some network ad buys, take their money, and go home, and the party lets them.

Aside from the obvious eternal goal of accountability, it's basically inexcusable in today's technology environment to behave that way. There are plenty of new (albeit sometimes creepy) ways to gather tons of information on not just how people vote, but what they watch/IM/text/read/skywrite. Geographic Information Systems are invaluable for mapping it out household by household. And there are many other tools that are by and large under-utilized. So get out there in your skywriting plane and start delivering the Democratic message! (Either that or make a note to mention this issue next time Democrats call you about a donation.)