You Tube Ad Contest: Ron Paul Superbowl Commercial

I used to be in charge of music licensing at a music company.

I checked with harryfox.com (songfile.com). John Fogerty is listed as the only writer for this song. The record shows it being controlled by Jondora Music:

Jondora Music
2600 10th Street
Berkeley, CA 94710-2522
(510) 549-2500

Writing and performance rights were generally seperate. In my line of work, we needed both parties approval. I'm not 100% what licensing this needs, but I would be willing to guess you need both.


To get a special licensing for this type of work you will need a specific license approved by the owners. I generally would fax them a copy of what I was looking for, followed by phone until I got who I needed to talk to. Sometimes these things can be finished same day, sometimes I could never even get an answer.

I would include in the fax how urgent timing is and lay out exactly what the song is going to be used for.
 
Cyclone said:
By the way, here are the terms of service to which you much agree:

You are sponsoring advertising with RonPaulBlimp.com, a for-profit political advertising agency. You are not making a donation to any political candidate or committee.

You will be entitled to a refund, minus any expenses, incurred if your message does not appear on the Skyship 600 for the specified amount of time that you purchased. However, if the advertising you purchase is oversold, we may substitute other advertising of equivalent value that expresses a similar message. For example, if all the advertising time is sold out on the blimp on a given day, we might add planes, balloons, parachuters, or other similar enhancements to the blimp rally. If the Skyship 600 flies with the advertising messages displayed, your purchase is not refundable.


Further, this is a super secret plan that they have intentionally refused to tell anyone about:

Instead, we have developed a plan to target potential Ron Paul voters during the Super Bowl at a significant discount. We are in the process of selecting and securing time slots for a Ron Paul Super Bowl commercial to run in upcoming Super Tuesday states that Ron Paul is most likely to benefit from.

Although we do not want to disclose our specific markets at this point, (no need give our competition our complete strategy) you can assume that we will not be advertising in Super Tuesday states such as Utah or Arkansas. Once we get closer to the game we will post an exact schedule of when and where they will air. The individual ad buys range in price from one to several thousand dollars. To give you an example of what type of magnitude we are talking about, for $100,000 we can reach around 5-6 million viewers who are in important Super Tuesday states.

As stated, we have already reserved ad time in some markets, as space is very limited and we didn't want to lose it. We must act fast to make this a success. In some markets we are finding that ad time during the game is sold out, so we are getting rates for the Pre and Post Game, which are still seen by about 70-90% of the people who watch the actual game.


Taken from their website.

Why do I attack these kinds of things so much? Because I am tired of being ripped off. I am tired of things changing at the last minute. I have no idea what they are selling and I find that terribly offensive. Give us money for we won't tell you what and then will tell you if you paid for it or not.

I read contracts. I know that I can depend on what they say. This contract says nothing. I find it impossible to believe that the station running the Super Bowl will decide out of the blue to give up the greatest ad time known to television at a substantial discount. That is outside the realm of believability.

Further, this says nothing about airing the ad on the station that is playing the super bowl. Nor does it say where the ads will be aired. First it says it will be in Super Tuesday states and then it says it will not be in Super Tuesday states.

What are you paying LPA to do? They will not be producing the commercial. They will not be testing it. They will be doing nothing at all except taking money out of this project. Heck, I can hand money over to a company to air an ad, can't you? You are willing to pay them for that?

Why would you decide to give them money and then let them decide what ad to air. What if you hate that ad? Then what? You have no recourse.

Again, here come all the people ignoring any actual questions and trying to get everyone excited over - well, we don't know what because it is a secret.

It is starting to look as if there are a lot of people here that are working for LPA trying to get this project to go.

Notice how they ignore any real questions. Notice how they go straight to talking about the project, but no one cares that they have no idea what this project is.

For heaven's sake people - if you read the text of that ad, they could be running this ad on the cooking channel during the super bowl. You have no idea what they are suggesting they are going to do. And yet, no one cares?

Either the people who do not care are being very foolish and just imagining something and assuming what they have imagined will be what happens or they are intentionally being obtuse and trying to deflect any questions about the project because they know they answers, they work for the blimp people and they are trying to make a lot of money off of you and they won't even tell you how much.


Have you ever hired ANYONE to do anything without asking how much it would cost?

Why doesn't anyone care about these questions?

Do you also see where they are getting prices for pre and post game ads? That is not an ad run during the Super Bowl.

At this point THEY don't know what they are going to be buying and yet they want you to donate to it.

Hey, I got a great bridge that we can re-name for 50k. Just send the money to my account.
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I suggest that the group sponsoring this activity hire a lawyer or business consultant to draft a agreement and terms of service (TOS). This is standard operating procedure and really is something that should be done, even if it only covers the basic points that Cyclone raises.


parocks said:
I figure they should do it because no one else from the grassroots is doing it.

Some of your statements have validity, but they're the ones who are stepping forward.
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I couldn't dispute this statement more forcefully. There have been plenty of posters who have been hard at work creating PACs and producing radio and TV advertising. While I agree that someone has to drive this, it's insulting that this group thinks it can come-in in the last minute and basically leverage others work in this way. It is quite obvious by recent posts that there is quite a few posters who have suggested that future funding be directed toward advertising instead of the Blimp. I suspect that this group understands this but does not wish to loose their leverage in the grassroots community, therefore they are jumping in front of other's parade.

While this group should be commended for the work that they put in and their willingness to push these efforts forward, they certainly could have come to the grassroots with an inquiry into the best way to proceed, so that others would have the opportunity to contribute to the ideation and execution of this project. While I certainly could be wrong here, I suspect that deep down this is more about egos than the cause.
 
While RP voice-over plays, camera pans divergent groups of RP supporters...BUT FUNNY

fat men dressed as nuns,
techies with nerds for rp signs
grannies with guns
canadians for cannibus
4,000 babies that spell out Ron Paul from a sky-shot
the OTHER 'depends' vote

I'm sure you can come up with funnier groups.
 
an.old.analyst said:
I suggest that the group sponsoring this activity hire a lawyer or business consultant to draft a agreement and terms of service (TOS). This is standard operating procedure and really is something that should be done, even if it only covers the basic points that Cyclone raises.



I couldn't dispute this statement more forcefully. There have been plenty of posters who have been hard at work creating PACs and producing radio and TV advertising. While I agree that someone has to drive this, it's insulting that this group thinks it can come-in in the last minute and basically leverage others work in this way. It is quite obvious by recent posts that there is quite a few posters who have suggested that future funding be directed toward advertising instead of the Blimp. I suspect that this group understands this but does not wish to loose their leverage in the grassroots community, therefore they are jumping in front of other's parade.

While this group should be commended for the work that they put in and their willingness to push these efforts forward, they certainly could have come to the grassroots with an inquiry into the best way to proceed, so that others would have the opportunity to contribute to the ideation and execution of this project. While I certainly could be wrong here, I suspect that deep down this is more about egos than the cause.
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No, actually this is more about reality than egos. I work very hard for Ron Paul. I don't want to get paid a dime. I don't know anything about TV ads nor would I pretend I do. I don't know what works and what doesn't. I do know that some ads are effective and others are not. I also know this blimp team. They have been here before, and I am shocked that this forum, which supposedly does not allow solicitations here allows them to take over.

The only ego involved is that I am distressed to no end how they work. They get a group of people to attack what used to be good people on this forum for daring to post an opposing viewpoint and half of those folks are gone now. Left in their place are these trolls who work for LPA and swarm like bees every time LPA comes up with another scheme to take money away from Ron Paul and put it into their pocket. As a Ron Paul supporter, I take exception to this.

As far as your post, you bring up some good points, but they will not be addressed. Neither will the ones I brought up.

Sorry. No questions allowed. This is the blimp team. This is how they work. They make vague statements, answer no questions and have a whole team of people that act like George Bush advisers, making sure nothing real actually gets through.

Think I am making this up? Read this: http://www.ronpaulblimp.com/superbowl/

You should be able to see that their "offer" and terms of service do not say anything at all. This is so that they can change the terms as often as necessary even after the money comes rolling in. (This happened before, but then I guess folks have short memories).

You should also know this is a FOR-PROFIT company and while every other person here has worked for free for the Ron Paul campaign, these people take a large chunk out for their own "salaries."

When the blimp first started there were many of these people from LPA who stated they were going to take out 1000 per week, each. Then I think they bumped it down to 500.

But don't worry, nothing real will ever get discussed here. That is not how the blimpettes work. They come in swarms, you can tell them because they joined sometime between Oct. and Dec. and a few in January, but almost none prior to October, and they take over threads with pushiness and suggestions about fluff but they do not discuss specifics.

It should be clear by now that anyone that comes on here and pushes people to donate to a company that is going to take a lot of money out of the project for their own salaries, to do nearly NOTHING - except what, take all creative control away from you all and then hand over money to a TV station, is a troll.

A troll - someone using the Ron Paul campaign to make money off of, or to hurt the efforts to get Ron Paul elected.

I am sick of this. They did this with the blimp. A guy tried to do this with the Roy Jones Jr. fight and I was fought tooth and nail for that one too - guy taking money for a supposed ad that never happened - he did give the money back - and now this.

Anyone notice how one of the principals of LPA stated the other day that he had lost a lot of money on the blimp? Now, he is usurping other's ideas, coming in here, requesting that others create an ad for him and then he will take a lot of money off the top so that he can have an ad on the cooking channel during the super bowl.

This behavior is bull. This team knows nothing at all about marketing, they are rank amateurs. To pay them professional, heck, any wages at all is absurd. Now, if they had produced the commercial themselves, that is different. But they are just taking other people's work and they will take a TON of money out of whatever they get and pay THEMSELVES.

Think I am lying? Why would the person who started this thread, see that question about how much they are making and stay silent? This is set up through the same blimp team and I would imagine they same entire over bloated staff of five or more, will require at least 500 per week each so that one person can send a tape and a check into a TV station to air an ad.

But they are very good at what they do and the trolls win out every time. There are too many of them and it impossible to ask legitimate questions.

How about these-

WILL YOU GET YOUR MONEY BACK IF THEY CANNOT FUND THE ENTIRE PROJECT?

WHAT CHANNEL DO THEY PLAN ON AIRING THE ADS?

WHAT TIME DO THEY PLAN ON AIRING THE ADS?

HOW MUCH MONEY ARE THEY TAKING FOR THEMSELVES?

Think those questions deserve answering? I fully expect the troll brigade to rush in here, talk about the content of the commercial and do everything they can to bury these questions.
 
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ggibson1 said:
I just donated money at the super bowl ad page and I will donate more later... Dont listen to the losers that have no plans but lots of complaints... just do it! just give the money to the people that were able to launch the blimp and together we will have more good results.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your vote of confidence!
 
Cyclone said:
Sorry, older than 12. What does KM stand for?
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Cyclone, please be polite. I replied to you inside your quote by accident and had to have at least two characters for it to post so I used my initials, KM=Katharine Memole.
 
BLS said:
Agreed. BUT...

I have many of the same concerns. I donated $50 to the blimp.
I know...it's nothing. A drop in the bucket...but it's still $50 to me.

That being said, I want to know BEFOREHAND what wages each person involved in this will be. I do not feel like the blimp was handled very well, but I too understand you guys are learning as you go, and don't have the benefit of experience. I am empathetic.

However, I personally cannot donate this project without knowing specifics, along with a promise to reveal how, where, and who this money was spent on.

I also have NO problem with you making a profit (if you are fortunate enough to).
But I don't want to be gouged. If someone comes up with an ad better than FrankDogg's (and I doubt you will honestly) or you determine you will use his, and you ask for money, the ad better run.

No excuses like "well, the material wasn't available" or "they're sewing the other banner right now".

I'm sorry....if I am being cynical. I'm really not trying to be, and I also realize I don't have thousands to throw at this, but I don't think that these PRErequesites are outrageous.

Here's what I'm trying to say:

If you come here and say "Look, here's what it's going to cost. This is where they will run, here's what we'll get paid for our efforts (and quitting our daytime jobs), and here's the ad we're going to run", you WILL GET MONEY.
(As long as the ad doesn't suck of course).

If you can bring those things to the table....you'll get more than enough money.

My suggestion is

1. use Frankdogg's ad. (find another soundtrack if you must).
(Also, let me know if you need help with this...I have a superb musician friend who can get something to you, royalty free.....as I'm sure can many others here)

2. Arrange 3 tiers of markets.
a. Essential markets (minimum markets needed to make an impact)
b. Requested markets (Essential Markets + those "would love to have")
c. Every Super Tuesday State - Nuff said.

3. Come to us with numbers required for all three of these with an itemized breakdown of what, why, where, etc.

4. Create a chip in.

5. Follow through on your promises.

I guarantee if you do this...you'll get enough money to run ads in every Super Tuesday state. I have ZERO doubt that the Revolution will come up with every penny they can scratch together for this. WE ALL WANT TO WIN.
We also ALL WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT WILL COST AND IF YOU"LL FOLLOW THROUGH.


Thanks for hearing me out.
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I took your post and emailed it to everyone working on this...thank you for the constructive criticism.
 
frankdogg said:
One thing I left out... If we do put any type of voice over on the CCR ad, I definitely think it should be Ron Paul sound bytes or something written that he reads for us that blends into the messages being shown on the text.

Thanks!
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No voice-over man... that ad is pretty much perfect. The song *instantly* cuts right through to the baby-boomer generation and I think in many ways, reminds them of their more peaceful, anti-war, anti-corruption, pro-freedom roots... its nostalgic, yet totally 'now'.. which again, reminds them of the shit storm we're in.

Its different (no voice-over, modern animation) - just like dr. Paul... and yet grounded in the past(CCR, styling) .. again, just like dr. paul.

The instant those those guitar notes and drum beat kick in, everyone will look up to the TV and listen... and read.

:)
 
RonRules said:
Blimpette you are the best. You don't let yourself be depressed for one second and get up to pick up another fight. (as opposed to many of the posters here)

Instead on waiting for HQ play the Jeopardy music before they decide, you lead the way.

You GO girl!
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Thank you for the compliments. To be honest, the ideas that I end up presenting are a group effort and I am just the messenger. I am aggressive though and I'll take credit for getting things done! :-)
 
This is such an awesome idea! So wonderful. I guess you could call this a bump of exuberance.
 
Let's define what would be the ideal ad for the super bowl, and then decide if we can produce an effective one for the super bowl, or need to use an existing one (then have an objective criteria of the ideal we aren't achieving if we have to use an existing ad).

In my mind, the ad should mention Ron Paul is running as a republican candidate (mentioned before in thread)

b) should have a tie in to the super bowl if possible, or other bang (think Apple's 1984 ad) that makes people sit up and take notice of this specific ad as opposed to a generic ad already run. This gives it more of a chance to be picked up in other media writeups.

c) I think an ad more on the economic issues makes sense at this point, and will be more likely noticed by voters.

d) other criteria for ideal ad...
 
Mckarnin said:
Cyclone, please be polite. I replied to you inside your quote by accident and had to have at least two characters for it to post so I used my initials, KM=Katharine Memole.
Click to expand...

I politely ask you the following:

WILL YOU GET YOUR MONEY BACK IF THEY CANNOT FUND THE ENTIRE PROJECT?

WHAT CHANNEL DO THEY PLAN ON AIRING THE ADS?

WHAT TIME DO THEY PLAN ON AIRING THE ADS?

HOW MUCH MONEY ARE THEY TAKING FOR THEMSELVES?

It appears from your responses to my quote prior, which I admit I did not see, that you have nothing settled yet. Moreover, you state that it is expensive to run focus groups and to see which ads are more effective and therefore you imply that you will not be doing any of this. As a paid advertising agency, I would expect this action to be taken. As a volunteer just doing what they can, I would not.

Forgive the caps above, I didn't feel like re-typing the questions. But will you please answer them?
 
BeFranklin said:
b) should have a tie in to the super bowl if possible, or other bang (think Apple's 1984 ad) that makes people sit up and take notice of this specific ad as opposed to a generic ad already run. This gives it more of a chance to be picked up in other media writeups.
Click to expand...

Of course one tie in is the patriots are playing in the team, but then we'd have to pick a team :) Could still build it in someway though.
 
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