Bringing You Some Zen
Doomscroll 8.4.2024
Hello and welcome to another edition of Doomscroll! Happy August, everyone. It’s been A WEEK. Maybe the 900% South Carolina humidity is getting to me. Le sigh. Let’s get to some doom scrolling!
One Question
Thanks to everyone who answered last week’s One Question about the Harris campaign’s digital presence. And thank you for indulging in my rant (unless you skipped over it, in which case I don’t blame you!). Based on the responses I got, though, most of us are in agreement that the Kult of Kamala is annoying AF. Here are some of your comments:
Mind numbing, basic and the cult of “personality” won’t last. Looking forward to Shapiro or Kelly to bring some seriousness and gravitas to the campaign. In the words of the kids, she so mid.
It felt cheap copying the CharlieXCX bit. The only reason I knew about it was because I'm on the newsletter for the font foundry that did it for CharlieXCX - ABCDinamo. The logo fawning was pretty bad. They literally just did what any sane person would have done - repurpose the current logo/branding. On the political front, it seems they've coalesced the Dems so far (and at least given them a viable candidate to back), but I'd be curious how she'll hold up given the reports of her being uncomfortable with events, needing mock dinners even for supporter events, etc. not to mention her inability to speak coherently. I'd also be curious on her numbers with women (particularly married) and how they see her. My mother talks about her in the same way she talked about Hillary (in terms of dislike). Unrelated - most font foundries seem pretty lib judging by their social media from what I've seen (and on some their pricing mechanisms). There's one on particular (ArrowType) who's EULA for a while banned any usage of his paid types for political purposes EXCEPT for progressive campaigns that the owner supported. Pretty crazy and, if I had to guess the full viewpoints of the owner, likely hypocritical.
Annoying AF
absolute cringe. the left cant meme.
It's not the left can't meme per say, it's that their viewpoints rely on a carefully constructed denial of reality, to a far greater extent than any of the cults or religions they seek to supplant. This doesn't lend itself to simple, easily conveyed messages, because if you rely on your viewers to see things as they are, without providing several layers of carefully selected context, they'll interpret it the wrong way. The left can't meme because memes are the antithesis of how they communicate.
This week’s One Question is simple: How’s fundraising going for you this summer? Are you experiencing the summer slump? If so, how bad is it? Shall we commiserate together?
Who’s Doing What
—Trump: Bringing the Zen
Not gonna lie, I low-key hate that I missed this when it first came out, so thanks to the loyal reader who flagged for me this week. These ads from MAGA Inc, which apparently launched a couple weeks ago, are awesome and I don’t mind saying so. No one dislikes YouTube TV’s “moment of zen” ad breaks. They’re not annoying, and whoever came up with the idea to mimic them deserves a gold star. There’s been so much chaos and turbulence in the news this summer, if we’re gonna get some political ads while we’re enjoying our streaming experience, it’s nice that someone’s thinking about providing a moment of…ZEN AND a reminder that Trump will secure the border. A++
—If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em?
So…we all know Kelly Ayotte is a moderate-ish politician running for governor of New Hampshire. And yes, we all know I’ve been begging Republicans to figure out their messaging on abortion this cycle. But still…gotta say this new ad threw me for a bit of a loop! I get the strategy behind it, I guess. It just still surprises me when Republican candidates basically solve the abortion messaging problem by ::checks notes:: agreeing with the Dems. Seriously. In this ad, Ayotte promises to protect abortion “for any reason” during the first six months of pregnancy and for medical emergencies in the third trimester. Her big hit against the left? That they’re politicizing abortion to win votes. Mmmk. I guess if you can’t beat ‘em…join ‘em? Something tells me this still won’t stop the attacks that are bound to come her way.
—NRA: Not Real Amazing
Ok sorry, it’s the best I could do. But for real: Has anyone else seen some of the latest ad creative coming from the National Rifle Association? They’re…cough cough…not real amazing. Take a look for yourself. I hate to beat up on the NRA, having worked there in the 2016 election cycle. Love the mission. Loved my time there. But whoever is doing their paid advertising these days needs to step it up a notch. Can I get an amen? On another note: compare those NRA ads to the National Shooting Sports Foundation stuff we’ve been seeing lately. I’m really digging these ads - and this entire campaign aimed at getting gun owners to register to vote. Good stuff!
—Third Party Time
Ok, raise your hand if you’ve heard of Jared Young, who’s running for Senate in Missouri? I hadn’t until very recently. Young is challenging Sen. Josh Hawley by way of a third party - the Better Party. Mmkk. Anyway, whatever you think about his challenge, this much is true: His campaign website is amazing. The design is next level. The colors are great and his logo is clean and modern. Honestly, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a website I like this much. He doesn’t have much merch, but what he does have it pretty solid. And talk about some creative PR stuff. The dude is running a campaign where he’s giving away free Cardinals tickets, but you have to be ok with sitting next to stranger with different views from you. Clever.
Yes, he’s also spending on advertising. Some of his ads fall a little short on the creative front - as in, a couple of the face-to-camera videos are a liiiiiittle bit cringey. But he’s got a few interesting things going, like this ad that slams both the Republican Party and the Democrat Party - and some static ads that riff on uber with “2ber”.
Anyway, sleek websites and cool giveaways don’t win elections, but they certainly don’t hurt. I like the effort here.
Who’s Spending Where
P2P
Industry Watch
Texas: 1, Meta: 0
Texas announced on Tuesday that Meta, Facebook’s parent company, will pay $1.4 billion in the largest data privacy settlement brought by a state.
The lawsuit, which Texas brought in 2022, alleged that Meta illegally collected millions of Texans’ biometric information without consent, violating the state’s Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
..
The alleged violations stem from a 2011 Facebook feature that automatically suggested tags with people’s names in photos. The feature used facial recognition to identify people in images uploaded to Facebook without users’ consent, according to the lawsuit.
Also, Digiday has a write-up on the Outbrain + Teads merger. A snippet:
Firstly, the top lines are that “Outbrain will acquire Teads in an approximately $1 billion transaction,” with the two billed as “the preferred destination to drive full-funnel marketing outcomes.”
The respective boards approved the deal, which is subject to customary approvals and is set to be completed in the first quarter of 2025; Outbrain COO Asaf Porat is poised to lead the integration of the two companies.
2024 Watch
This is where I make note of a few other things that caught my eye this week.
Kari Lake beat Mark Lamb in the Arizona senate primary contest this week. I saw someone somewhere refer to her as the Beto O’Rourke of Republican politics. Hope that person is wrong, but…we shall see.
Speaking of Arizona, Abe Hamadeh beat Blake Masters in the Arizona 8th Congressional race. See Blake’s statement here.
A California judge dismissed the RNC’s lawsuit against Google for allegedly blocking Republican emails. Womp womp. Read about it here.
Virginia AG Jason Miyares is demanding answers from ActBlue for engaging in “fraudulent, deceiving, and/or otherwise illegal activities in the Commonwealth…” Read the whole letter here.
The Grapevine
Congrats to Eric Wilson for launching Campaign Trend.
WinRed has some awesome new updates. Check them out here.
RumbleUp’s Thomas Peters is quoted in a piece in the LA Times about political text messaging this cycle. Check it out.
The New York Times published a piece on Friday detailing more chaos inside America PAC - this time relating to the field program. I hope they get their sh** together. ::diverts gaze::
Got a tip for The Grapevine? Job announcement? Job opening? Email ‘em to me at itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com
Last But Not Least
From the other side of the aisle:
I swore I wouldn’t write anymore about “brat,” but I can’t decide if this post from Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers is cringe or actually funny. Part of me is like “Yes, this is how white, older men do memes.” On the other hand…do white older men need to know what “brat” is? I report; you decide!
From the other side of the tracks:
Us political operatives aren’t the only ones obsessed with marketing to Gen Z… Check out this piece from Marketing Dive about how kid’s clothing brand Carter’s is leaning into marketing to Gen Z parents. Its not enough these days to be “cute.” THESE parents want their kids to reflect THEM. And all these new baby outfits also need to work well in a TikTok video. Duh. (kill me now).
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading! Did you like it? Consider forwarding to your friends!