Fail Whale
Doomscroll 5.28.23
Tomorrow is Memorial Day. I can’t go on without mentioning the men and women who gave their lives for their country. I salute you all and am eternally grateful.
If this email was forwarded to you and you are not yet a subscriber, what are you freaking waiting for - a Twitter Space audio to work?? Smash that button now!
One Question
Thanks to everyone who answered last week’s One Question about AI in politics! You all are pretty split when it comes to your feelings about it, which I have to say makes me like this audience even more. Who needs a hive mind, am I right??
One-third of you said you’re worried about the use of AI in politics “a lot.” One-third said you were worried “a little.” Twenty percent of respondents said “lol no,” and the rest of you just aren’t sure. I fall into that last camp, tbqh. In response to WHAT has you all most concerned, 46% said it was something else other than the spread of misinformation or censorship. (30% said censorship while 23% said misinformation). Here are a few of the responses I got when asked you all to expand on what has you worried about AI in politics:
How it will affect jobs (turning lots of people into prompt-writers and eliminating other jobs altogether) - (lots of people mentioned jobs).
Voice AI has me extremely concerned. Once they master this they will be able to fake everyone out with more Russiagate-esque bs. Once they make audio of (insert candidate) saying (something horrible that they didn't actually say), it will be too late to dial it back once the genie's out of the bottle.
Every candidate has nightmares about something their opponent will make up out of thin air, without the time to respond. Now, it could be your very own voice and image saying truly awful things just because some 22-year old hacker was bored in his mom’s basement…
One thing about AI before I move on: Axios reported this week that DeSantis SuperPAC, Never Back Down, inserted fake fighter jets into one of its ads. They got called out and they didn’t deny it (how could they?), but I also want to ask: why? To me, this feels wholly unnecessary. Do we really need fake fighter jets to make a point? Something like that can be EASILY fact-checked and when it’s inevitably exposed, it’s just going to contribute to a media/election environment in which no one believes anything they see online. Seems like not a lot of upside and a lot of downside.
OK MOVING ON. This week’s One Question is about campaign rollouts. Sorry, can’t help it. While I promise today’s edition of Doomscroll isn’t JUST about Ron DeSantis, he gave me so much content this week IT’S KIND OF HARD NOT TO OVERDO IT. We’ve seen several launches so far for the 2024 GOP presidential primary: Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Asa Hutchinson, Tim Scott, Ron DeSantis… here’s my question: Do launches even matter at the end of the day? Do they? Let me know.
And no, I’m not even going to ask who’s had the best launch so far. So many of you are biased so it just wouldn’t be fair or scientific! And I believe in science, so…
Who’s Doing What
--Ron, Ron, Ron of the Jungle
So there I was, minding my own business on a balmy Wednesday evening in May, slicing my toddler’s 12,000th strawberry of the day while attempting to cook a dinner I knew she probably wouldn’t eat, when all of a sudden my TWITTER SPACES CRASHED. Ugh. Hate it when that happens.
Look, whether you’re on Team DeSantis or not, we’d all be lying if we said we didn’t get a kick out of what happened during the DeSantis presidential announcement. It was glorious. It was spectacular. It was gloriously spectacular in all the wrong ways. And while dinner in my house eventually got on the table, my DeSantis audio never seemed to fully recover. Talk about a fail whale.
Here’s what I’ll say: I 100% appreciate the post-flameout spin of “Look! We’re so popular we broke the internet!” Do I buy it completely? Heck no. I suppose there is a world in which maybe they saw it coming and plowed ahead anyway, thinking a Twitter Spaces crash would keep the conversation going and all publicity is good publicity? Eh. Maybe. But in my heart of hearts I can’t help but wonder why they wouldn’t expect a sh*t ton of people to join and why they weren’t more prepared to handle it. THAT SAID, I also respect a team that takes risks. There was a lot on the line for them with this announcement and they went for it. I do give them credit for that. It was unconventional and goodness knows DeSantis is going to have to run an unconventional campaign if he’s going to secure the nomination. What’s more, the digital strategist in me loves, loves, LOVES that his announcement circumvented the traditional televised rally format.
Twitter fail aside, it was a pretty decent rollout. It seemed to take a while for the website to go live, but the alligator thing was amusing. Plus, there were videos and nicely-placed bread crumbs all over the internet. He had digital ads up and running. I got a nice text from the short code the evening of the launch. The logo is cool…Speaking of the website: In a weird way I actually think it’s kind of brilliant. If nothing else, DeSantis has shown us so far that his digital footprint is going to be…different- glitches and all. His website is no exception. It looks way more like a social media timeline than a traditional website, and my guess is that’s 100% the point. A lot of times candidate websites become underutilized assets. They’re built to be gorgeous and flashy with a couple of forms, basic candidate info, and a section for press releases. But campaigns aren’t driving traffic to them and voters aren’t necessarily using them to keep up with election news; that’s what Twitter and TikTok are for! (Right?). Everything from the minimalist design to the “posted 8 hours ago” text at the bottom of every block screams social media feed to me. It says “We want people to come to this destination as a resource,” and I dig it - even if I might be overthinking it. If I’m going to nitpick anything, it’d be on the redirect page after you sign up to “Join the Team.” It asks you to then share why you support Ron DeSantis across social media…but the Twitter and Facebook buttons just lead you to DeSantis’ own pages. It’s also weird that there’s no prominent sign-up form or donation ask, and I agree with Kyle from FWIW that his merch store leaves a lot to be desired. All in all, I’ll conclude with this: it’s not the launch I expected from Team DeSantis, and as of right now I honestly have no effing clue what that means for the rest of his campaign. Time will tell.
--And in the “normal” presidential announcement category…
Straight. Into. My Veins. Is there anything not to love about Senator Tim Scott? I went over his faux-announcement pretty thoroughly a few weeks ago, so I won’t dive too deep into his real announcement this week…except to say this: Your doomscroller was in attendance at his rally in North Charleston on Monday (because why not!?) and the excitement was palpable. FWIW, I think people really are drawn to his theme of optimism. It’s so singular. It’s so focused. It’s so authentic. Every message he’s putting out there right now is about faith and optimism. (How many times can I type the word “OPTIMISM” today?) He’s an optimistic guy and while he’s out there fighting for America he’s also HAPPY to do it, which also kind of makes me wonder what’s wrong with him. Anywho, I’ve been impressed with his texting and email operation since the announcement. And his ads are on point. I’ll say this for Targeted Victory - they know how to run a tight digital ship, and do it at scale. Kudos to them.
--Can we call this a website?
Mike Braun is running for governor of Indiana. He’s also a sitting United States Senator, which tells me a) he’s been around the block and b) this gubernatorial race isn’t his first rodeo. Yes, those things are redundant but I’m driving home a point here so bear with me. Given all of that, what’s up with his campaign website? Friends, I am a simple girl. I don’t need much. But I need more than this. Mike, call me. Together, we can go far.
--Walker’s In
Former Congressman Mark Walker has announced his bid for governor of North Carolina. For those who don’t know, the 2024 gubernatorial race in the Tar Heel state is likely to be the hottest statewide next year (you heard it here first). Walker’s no stranger to North Carolina politics and seems to be relatively well-known, but he still produced a great announcement video that combines bio and agenda. His website is fairly typical, but hits all the right notes. It’s going to be an extremely competitive primary, and something tells me that while spending hasn’t ramped up quite yet, this one’s going to get pretty expensive.
Merch Shout-Out
Two pieces of merch caught my eye this week: This oven mitt from Marsha Blackburn and this new tumblr from Tim Scott. What can I say? I love a good tumblr and the “faith” design is so in-step with his campaign message. And yes, I chuckled at the oven mitt. Marsha’s video is also worth a watch and hey, she’s having fun so I’m on board! I also think it’s nice to see a candidate hawking their own merch. It’s rare.
Industry Watch
Apparently there’s a conservative version of ChatGPT. Am I the only one who’s just now hearing about this? Details from Yahoo:
The makers of TUSK Browser, a censorship-free web browser with an emphasis on free speech, have now rolled out a modified AI chatbot they say promotes conservative values and "aligns with patriots and independent thinkers' point of view."
Dubbed GIPPR in homage to Republican icon and late President Ronald Reagan, who was nicknamed "the Gipper," the new bot runs on OpenAI's ChatGPT technology but has been trained to act like a conservative.
"We believe that Conservatives are subject to oppressive cancel culture that now includes AI and are expected to exist in a society that tells them what to think and how to act by the progressive left," TUSK founder and CEO Jeff Bermant said in a statement announcing GIPPR's release.
Cool, I guess? Is anyone out there using this? If so, hit me up.
Who’s Spending Where
The biggest right-of-center advertiser on Facebook from May 17 - 23 was Sound of Freedom Movie, with a whopping $236,000 in ad spend. FIRE came in second place without about $121,000, while PragerU came in third with about $100,000 in spend. Americans for Prosperity spent another $99,000 on ads about health care costs, and Judicial Watch spent about $43,000 on a bunch of different ads - mostly asking people to follow their page. Overall, nothing too exciting. You know who didn’t spend a lot of money on Facebook this week? Never Back Down PAC and Tim Scott for America.
American Action Network was the top spender on Google during that same time period, with a 30-second ad attacking Joe Biden for the debt ceiling crisis. Tim Scott for American came in second with search ads to his WinRed donation page. Vivek 2024 is also running search ads to his donation page, putting him in third place. The NRCC popped up this week with an interesting display ad about voter id. Rounding out the top 5 is Opportunity Matters Fund Action, the pro-Tim Scott PAC, which is running search ads to his donation page.
Yes, Ron DeSantis for President also spent big, but not until his launch on the 24th.
P2P
The Grapevine
No good gossip this week, I’m afraid. So instead, allow me some Twitter promotion. Do you follow Doomscroll yet?
Got a tip for The Grapevine? Job announcement? Job opening? Fav gatorade flavor? Email ‘em to me at itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com
Last But Not Least
From the other side of the aisle:
Jon Hamm narrated a campaign ad for Democrat Lucas Kunce - a candidate I’d never heard of until I heard that Jon Hamm narrated his ad. He’s running for Senate against Josh Hawley, apparently, and I 100% watched his ad because I like listening to Jon Hamm. So, well played, Lucas Kunce. I will say it got me thinking about which celebrity I’d pay to narrate my candidate’s ad. If money were no object, Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks would be at the top of my list, duh.
Also, CNBC had an interesting look at Biden’s fundraising strategy for 2024. A snippet:
The Biden team said the new effort represents the first time a candidate for president has joint fundraising agreements with every state party, along with D.C.
“While MAGA Republicans burn cash in their primary, competing for whose agenda is the most extreme, the President’s campaign will be capitalizing on the opportunity to raise significant resources that will help expand on our winning 2020 Biden coalition,” Julie C. Rodriguez, Biden’s 2024 campaign manager, said in a statement to CNBC. “Combined with our robust grassroots fundraising network, never before has a campaign had more powerful fundraising tools with a longer runway, and with freedom and democracy on the line in this election – we intend to use them.”
Biden’s campaign alone raised more than $1 billion during the 2020 election cycle. The Biden team said more than $700 million of that came from online grassroots donations. The DNC, likewise, saw over $100 million through the Biden Victory Fund and finished bringing in over $491 million during that cycle.
We’ve got a lot of work to do, my friends!
From the other side of the tracks:
This Lululemon stunt is genius, and I really want their to be an application for us political operatives:
If you can’t beat ’em, give ’em away for free.
That’s what Lululemon did in its “Dupe Swap,” a two-day event in which around 1,000 people in LA received a free pair of the brand’s $98 Align leggings in exchange for knockoffs. The pop-up was, in part, a response to the dupe culture that has taken over social media as creators scour for the best and least expensive alternatives to share with their followers.
The Dupe Swap activation drove a ton of attention online, with some posting that lines were so long, people were camping out overnight to secure their free leggings. One TikToker who works in product marketing called it their favorite activation they’ve ever seen, while some media outlets praised it as “brilliant” and said it showed the brand could be “imitated but never duplicated.”
…Neuburger confirmed that the activation exceeded all of her expectations around reach, visibility, earned media, and social impressions, but did not share numbers.
“If you think of this in a way similar to if we had paid for media placement, to run an ad that everyone would see, I think we actually achieved broader reach,” she said.
Maybe the lesson is simply this: Get. Creative. I know I sometimes get a little snarky when it comes to earned media, but sometimes it’s worth it. Think outside the box to generate those headlines and the digital campaigns will flow!
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading! Did you like it? Consider forwarding to your friends!