Monday, July 11, 2005
Airing it Out
Political advertising is no longer a seasonal sport--just watch the deluge over Justice O'Connors spot.
A week before Sandra Day O'Connor announced her resignation, cable and Sunday morning news shows had already aired an ad that featured the infamous quote from Democratic Party boss Howard Dean: Many Republicans "have never made an honest living in their life." A conservative group called Progress for America has planned to spend $700,000 blanketing the nation with the ad--the first shot in an $18 million advertising effort to help ensure confirmation for President Bush's pick in a Supreme Court vacancy.
TNSMedia Intelligence-CMAG calculates that in the first six months of the year $70 million was spent on broadcast and print political ads, up from $28 million in the corresponding period of 2001, the last year following a presidential campaign. A big chunk from this money pot went to the debate over cabinet nominations, Social Security personal accounts and tort reform. Political ad spending for state issues is strong, too. The projected tab for California's long list of ballot issues: $50 million. "We are now to a point where no political issue is too small for an ad campaign," says Evan Tracey, chief operating officer of TNS. He notes that the Clarence Thomas nomination of 1991 attracted scarcely a dime of advertising.
Ad Spending
$4.4 million
on filibusters and judicial appointees
$1.5 million
on Attorney General Gonzalez's nomination
$8.3 million
on Social Security
$75,000
on John Bolton's nomination to U.N.
$4.5 million
on tort reform issues
Figures as of June 28. Source: TNS Media Intelligence-CMAG.
Issue advertising gained prominence a dozen years ago when "Harry and Louise" TV spots opposed Hillary Clinton's health insurance plan. Now the topics range all over the political map. This summer the National Farmers Union, a group representing family farms, aired radio ads criticizing the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation--a fellow lobbyist--over his stance favoring the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
National Media, an ad agency run by Alex Castellanos, who made election commercials for George Bush in 2000, recently hired away a Young &Rubicam executive to keep up with new business. "We are in a more polarized political environment," says Castellanos.
An unlikely source of this craze: campaign finance reform. The passage of recent laws to curtail soft money donations spurred formation of dozens of so-called 527 groups, whose sole purpose is to run ads during elections. Now, says Tracey of TNS, the nonprofits "have to find ways to stay relevant, so they create issue ads."
A week before Sandra Day O'Connor announced her resignation, cable and Sunday morning news shows had already aired an ad that featured the infamous quote from Democratic Party boss Howard Dean: Many Republicans "have never made an honest living in their life." A conservative group called Progress for America has planned to spend $700,000 blanketing the nation with the ad--the first shot in an $18 million advertising effort to help ensure confirmation for President Bush's pick in a Supreme Court vacancy.
TNSMedia Intelligence-CMAG calculates that in the first six months of the year $70 million was spent on broadcast and print political ads, up from $28 million in the corresponding period of 2001, the last year following a presidential campaign. A big chunk from this money pot went to the debate over cabinet nominations, Social Security personal accounts and tort reform. Political ad spending for state issues is strong, too. The projected tab for California's long list of ballot issues: $50 million. "We are now to a point where no political issue is too small for an ad campaign," says Evan Tracey, chief operating officer of TNS. He notes that the Clarence Thomas nomination of 1991 attracted scarcely a dime of advertising.
Ad Spending
$4.4 million
on filibusters and judicial appointees
$1.5 million
on Attorney General Gonzalez's nomination
$8.3 million
on Social Security
$75,000
on John Bolton's nomination to U.N.
$4.5 million
on tort reform issues
Figures as of June 28. Source: TNS Media Intelligence-CMAG.
Issue advertising gained prominence a dozen years ago when "Harry and Louise" TV spots opposed Hillary Clinton's health insurance plan. Now the topics range all over the political map. This summer the National Farmers Union, a group representing family farms, aired radio ads criticizing the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation--a fellow lobbyist--over his stance favoring the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
National Media, an ad agency run by Alex Castellanos, who made election commercials for George Bush in 2000, recently hired away a Young &Rubicam executive to keep up with new business. "We are in a more polarized political environment," says Castellanos.
An unlikely source of this craze: campaign finance reform. The passage of recent laws to curtail soft money donations spurred formation of dozens of so-called 527 groups, whose sole purpose is to run ads during elections. Now, says Tracey of TNS, the nonprofits "have to find ways to stay relevant, so they create issue ads."
