Political ad campaigns created by presidential camps and infamous 527’s like “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” may have some new competition this election cycle: the average American. VoterVoter.com, which launched a little more than a month ago, is a new non-partisan ad service that helps individuals run their own political campaigns ads on TV. “[This] literally gives a passionate supporter the power to influence voters and directly impact an election,” says Eric Mathewson, founder of VoterVoter.com.
For a budget that starts at around $1,000, customers get assistance with creating an ad for a candidate or cause, targeting a demographic and purchasing airtime in TV markets nationwide. In its first month, the business has already received more than $250,000 in ad orders, and Mathewson says roughly 400 ad spots-primarily for Senator Hillary Clinton-were purchased for the Pennsylvania primary; ad buys for Indiana and North Carolina are in the works.
The Campaign Media Analysis Group, a firm that keeps tabs on presidential political ad spending, estimates that about $230 million dollars have already been spent on TV ads during this campaign season. Of those ad dollars, most come from presidential campaigns, political action committees and the like. Evan Tracey, founder and COO of CMAP, doesn’t think individuals should be added to that mix. “You don’t have do-it-yourself doctors or lawyers, and you probably shouldn’t have do-it-yourself political consultants,” he says. “The likelihood of an ad causing more controversy and taking the campaign it’s trying to help off message is really the risk here.”
Tracey also questions how much impact these citizen campaign ads will have, given that a message has to be viewed repeatedly to make much of a mark, he says. But Mathewson points out that some recent elections have been won by thousands of votes, and maintains that the right message can sway those voters regardless of how many times it’s viewed. “Clearly there are messages out there that can be very impactful to a subset,” he says. Of course, it’s not easy to write a winning ad. Many of the VoterVoter ads are bare-bones affairs. One Clinton ad simply ticks off what she stands for, like “ending the war in Iraq.” Even if VoterVoter doesn’t inspire voting blocs to change who they cast their ballot for come November, Tracey concedes it will make one thing much easier-the ability for the average Joe to “approve this message.”
