Enough About The G-d Commercial!

[Nash]

If avorath or other total amateurs can make a top quality you tube ad with no prior experience then where does that leave the campaign with this "fake" ad???

I love aravoth's video's but they are not "ads" they are videos and there are differences.

Videos are for a captive audience, they use copyrighted music and they are lengthy.

Ads are for people flipping through commercials and spacing out in front of the television set.

Yes this ad is cheesy but it's specifically targeting NH and the style of it suggests the people who made it had this audience in mind. Creating some expensive high production value ad that blows the whole campaign kitty is ridiculous. Using low budget makes the message go farther.

TV ads are not for us. They are for people who watch television in the middle of the day and the 6 o' clock news. People who use the net and watch youtube have already made their decision about Ron Paul, people who are being targeted by these ads don't use the net and don't know what youtube is.

I'm not saying the ad is a masterpiece or deserves an award, but it's not "horrible" either. Would you prefer that RP try to integrate fox news debate coverage into his ads and then get sued like McCain?

 

[alicegardener]

Amateurish? The ad looks like it was made by incompetent professionals and the actors don't look like real people being interviewed, they look like incompetent actors. Im sorry, this ad is painfully embarrassing to watch. I regret whatever portion of my donation went into making it.

 

[LibertyEagle]

I would like them to redo the ad too. However, you seem confused about the difference between YouTube videos and TV commercials. YouTubers frequently use copyrighted footage and music in their videos. Including the one you mentioned. While we can get away with it on YouTube, we cannot in TV commercials. You also need to look at the length of these things. A lot of the Youtube videos are close to 10 minutes long. We have a whole 27 SECONDS for this TV commercial.

Since the commercial was released for us to check out, there have been all kinds of people on this board saying how they could do better. Some stated they had a background in this stuff. Well, why the hell don't they stand up and offer their services, FREE of course, to the campaign? Why in hell haven't they done it before now? Now is our chance.

 

[aspiringconstitutionalist]

Why doesn't Ron Paul stage a Mitt Romney style online competition to get the supporters to create the best 30-second spot? The quality would be leaps and bounds better than the one they posted to YouTube today, and it would save them all the money of producing and shooting a "professional" ad.

 

[LibertyEagle]

Why doesn't Ron Paul stage a Mitt Romney style online competition to get the supporters to create the best 30-second spot? The quality would be leaps and bounds better than the one they posted to YouTube today, and it would save them all the money of producing and shooting a "professional" ad.

It is a good idea and one that was brought up last night. No one has to wait around for the campaign's approval. JUST DO IT! Even if the campaign doesn't end up using them, we can at the grassroots level. In fact, we are needing good quality TV ads RIGHT NOW! www.operationnh.com

 

[jaumen]

HQ is aware of the feelings of those that are bothered by the 30-second clip on Youtube.

And unless any of you have done any market research in NH, then I suspect you know less about making commercials for a limited NH TV market than does campaign HQ.

I propose that the best thing to do is let new threads about this commercial die without response.

PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS POST.

Unless people in New Hampshire like it when people recite clearly scripted lines at them, and amateurly shot video, I fail to see how this would go over better in New Hampshire than in the rest of the United States.

 

[jaumen]

I love aravoth's video's but they are not "ads" they are videos and there are differences.

Videos are for a captive audience, they use copyrighted music and they are lengthy.

Ads are for people flipping through commercials and spacing out in front of the television set.

Yes this ad is cheesy but it's specifically targeting NH and the style of it suggests the people who made it had this audience in mind. Creating some expensive high production value ad that blows the whole campaign kitty is ridiculous. Using low budget makes the message go farther.

TV ads are not for us. They are for people who watch television in the middle of the day and the 6 o' clock news. People who use the net and watch youtube have already made their decision about Ron Paul, people who are being targeted by these ads don't use the net and don't know what youtube is.

I'm not saying the ad is a masterpiece or deserves an award, but it's not "horrible" either. Would you prefer that RP try to integrate fox news debate coverage into his ads and then get sued like McCain?

No, but I'd prefer that the people in his commercials either be much better at reading scripted lines, or just be allowed to say something in their own words, so they don't have to TRY to act. That's the worst part. I can live with the other amateurishness.

 

[aspiringconstitutionalist]

It is a good idea and one that was brought up last night. No one has to wait around for the campaign's approval. JUST DO IT! Even if the campaign doesn't end up using them, we can at the grassroots level. In fact, we are needing good quality TV ads RIGHT NOW! www.operationnh.com

Those ads on that operationnh.com site are incredible! Those are the kind of ads Ron Paul needs to run. Ads that hit the right points and that don't have a distractingly amateurish waxy feel that makes the viewer think more about the low quality of the ad than the message of the ad. Somebody hand over the rights to those ads for Dr. Paul to run them himself! Lol.

 

[Brian]

I like the idea of the commercial. Keep it simple, and cover the bases. Relate to people. My thoughts as I watched it the first time, and most of this has been covered elsewhere:

What's up with the blue screen?
Ron looks pissed off.
Where did they get that cheesy music stock?
NH, the state of neatly trimmed beards.
You really do agree with Ron Paul? I believed you the first time.
These actors are horrible.
Do that many men in NH really look like serial killers?
Why is the women at :16 cocking her head like a chicken?
College kids don't talk like that.
Why did they show us the kids backsides at 0:22?
Don't portray him as catching on, portray him as caught on.

All this makes the commercial appear amateurish. Keep the idea, re-shoot the entire thing.

I apologize to the actors. I understand they are real supporters. I don't want to hurt feelings.

 

[aspiringconstitutionalist]

I like the idea of the commercial. Keep it simple, and cover the bases. Relate to people. My thoughts as I watched it the first time, and most of this has been covered elsewhere:

What's up with the blue screen?
Ron looks pissed off.
Where did they get that cheesy music stock?
NH, the state of neatly trimmed beards.
You really do agree with Ron Paul? I believed you the first time.
These actors are horrible.
Do that many men in NH really look like serial killers?
Why is the women at :16 cocking her head like a chicken?
College kids don't talk like that.
Why did they show us the kids backsides at 0:22?
Don't portray him as catching on, portray him as caught on.

All this makes the commercial appear amateurish. Keep the idea, re-shoot the entire thing.

I apologize to the actors. I understand they are real supporters. I don't want to hurt feelings.

I could live with the beards, sudden shots of peoples' backsides, pissed-looking Ron (why shouldn't Ron be pissed? He's the only person in Congress actually fulfilling his oath to uphold the Constitution), and even the cheesey music. Heck, Mitt uses even cheesier background music in his ads: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fiXLymRkjU <-- Although I think it would be cool if Ron did something similar to this ad, where he just talked directly to the camera, and maybe as he hit the talking points, key words would kind of softly fade onto and off of the screen. The person of Ron Paul and his message is what attracted me, after all, not the fancy website.

They just need to focus more on the man and the message, that's all, and less on trying to prove that Ron's "catching on" with lots of people (I get it--bandwagon effect is what they're going for, but I think the man and the message would be far more effective at this point).

 

[JS4Pat]

To be quite honest NO they probably didn't do their research. They have failed miserably during this whole campaign to work on such simple things as RP's body language, his clothing choice, and all appearance-related issues. You can harp as much as you want about the "subtle beauty" but there's nothing beautiful about people memorizing canned lines and speaking like damned robots. The whole reason many of us like Ron Paul is that he DOESN'T use canned lines.

If you ask me the last two months or so have convinced me that we have a bunch of amateurs in the campaign and the campaign was never expecting to get big so they picked their staff accordingly. Well now we're a lot bigger than they ever expected so it's time for them to actually step up to the occasion.

Unfortunately I have to agree.

Such a great opportunity - everything in place - the best candidate, the grassroots activism, the money, the message: but yet it looks like the national campaign is going to BLOW IT BIG TIME. And this commercial is just another big indicator of that!

Please don't come on this forum trying to justify that piece of garbage commercial - with "they know what they are doing" - They obviously DON'T!

 

[aspiringconstitutionalist]

Now, this is what Ron needs to do:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7wjJyMDUH0

Ron just needs to talk to the camera (come on, he's a handsome guy) and give his message straightforward. Simple, refreshing, and to-the-point. Having second-rate actors read canned lines only dilutes that message.

 

[JS4Pat]

Has this advertisement already been run ANYWHERE in New Hampshire?

If not - what do we need to do to make sure it NEVER runs in ANY market?

It is not FIXABLE - They need to start over with a whole different ad!

 

[LeFou]

An Idea

An Idea:

Why not just let the grassroots creative remix the spot in their usual funky ways. A parody of the "Head On" commercial maybe:
"Ron Paul! Apply directly to the White House"
"Ron Paul! Apply directly to the White House"

And the usual techno & speed metal music remixes using clips from the ad. Yes it's corny; let's make a meme of it.

 

[goldstandard]

I think the ad could be improved A LOT by some small changes:

- make Ron smile
- another background
- cut the "I don't agree with him all the time" and "...I really really do"
- cut the "pronto" woman
- redo the student part

positive:

- the people seem nice to me

I don't have any experience or knowledge regarding ads.

 

[JS4Pat]

I think the ad could be improved A LOT by some small changes:

- make Ron smile
- another background
- cut the "I don't agree with him all the time" and "...I really really do"
- cut the "pronto" woman
- redo the student part

positive:

- the people seem nice to me

I don't have any experience or knowledge regarding ads.

It would take more than that...

How about the fact that it looks like footage from the 1970s?

It's AWFUL!

 

[aspiringconstitutionalist]

URGH! Damage control! Damage control!

http://race42008.com/2007/10/28/ron-paul-new-hampshire-ad/#comment-168539

The ad's already making its rounds on the big political blogs and it's getting BAD reviews and comments....

 

[Ozwest]

Is New Hampshire a far and distant Planet suspended in a time warp, caught between Mayberry and the Twighlite Zone? The "demographics" of this State must be very peculiar. Is Gomer Pyle still pumping Ethyl at the local Texaco Super Chief gas station? Is Aunt Bee still a registered Republican? Strange days indeed...

 

[vauge]

The only thing that I'm aware of is their request for the critics to cease and desist.

And I have a few questions for you guys:

1) How old are you?

2) Do your parents/grandparents spend as much time on Youtube as you do? (mine don't)

3) Do you understand all of the steps that are involved in producing a television commercial?

4) Were the Youtube videos you are referencing produced using television quality equipment or consumer-market electronics?

I understand that we each have our own preferences, but in the interest of maximizing our efficiency with regard to that concept, we should all focus our attention on our own arenas of influence.

1) 35
2) Grandparents are passed
3) Nope.
4) I'll take message quality over *visual quality* any day.

I understand that this ad is bad. Simple as that.

 

[TooConservative]

Via DailyPaul.com today:

I've seen lots of criticism of it around the net, but I think it is great, and here is why: Some people don't seem to like it, and think the ad should be more like the ones on the internet. But I'd like to remind everyone, that internet junkies are fundamentally different from people who get their news and information from TV. I'll admit that the ad seems kind of goofy to me, but then - I haven't watched TV regularly for the past 10 years! All ads seem stupid to me!

Remember, us internet junkies are the ones who got it a long time ago, while those watching TV may still not even have heard of Ron Paul. So remember, these ads are not targeted at us. The takeaway from this first ad is, "he's catching on." I think that is brilliant, and they should keep hitting it hard in the early part of the campaign - "he's catching on, he's catching on." This should be coordinated with radio spots that say the same thing - he's catching on.

In my MBA studies, I had a few classes in marketing and advertising. I'm sure that this ad is the first planned in a series, and they will build on this message. As I said, these ads are not intended to appeal to us, the internet nuts and keyboard jockeys, but to the couch potatoes who are used to watching (in my opinion) hours of inane programming.

Have you ever noticed that people who watch a lot of TV tend to repeat, nearly verbatim, what they hear on TV? This is how people who watch TV form their opinions. This is why I think the ad is great. It is upbeat, positive, and leaves a great message at the end. Now the next time people who don't know much about him get together and and the subject of Ron Paul comes up, they have something they can say and feel intelligent, because they heard it on TV.

Example:

Marge: I keep seeing all these home-made signs for Ron Paul all over town. What do you think of him?

Ed: Well, I don't always agree with him, but he's honest. I think he's catching on.

Marge: Well, that's for sure - he's catching on!

This is how TV becomes reality. Let's put a little faith and trust that the campaign knows what it is doing.

Michael Nystrom
Editor
www.dailypaul.com

- - - - -

Jane Aitken in New Hampshire, who is working closely with the campaign writes:

I have a request and that is that you stop calling the campaign with your complaints. I have offered to work with them on the critique. This is not set in stone, and can be redone. These are real supporters, not actors. I know most of them. Sure Ron could be smiling, and the script could be better. I am going to watch it carefully and send them my suggestions.

But please stop inundating Kent with phone calls and emails OK?
It would be appreciated.

Thanks...​