Culture Wars Calling On Madison Avenue

Washington Individual executives have long lent their advertising talents to advocate their favorite causes or promote their preferred candidates—on their own time. Agencies as a whole, however, have generally shied away from working on advocacy or political accounts, in large measure because of the risk of alienating big clients who might hold different views. But America's culture wars are changing the way clients seek help on hot-button issues. Where advocacy groups once turned to political consultants, they are now asking mainstream shops for ideas—and at least some are willing to give them. Meanwhile, political consultants, who once shunned the touchy-feely creative approach of Madison Avenue shops, are partnering with mainstream agencies on controversial issues. This week, for example, the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington-based advocacy group that supports equal rights for gays and lesbians, has invited several unidentified shops, which sources said include general agencies, to develop a campaign targeted at defeating a proposed amendment to the California Constitution that would eliminate legal rights for same-sex couples. The HRC has joined the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to donate up to $100,000 each with a goal of raising $1 million by Labor Day to fight the proposal. The campaign will initially include TV, print and Internet ads in the state, but the group also has plans to roll out a national effort. "We need to figure out new ways to communicate with the American public [and] really try to get more in depth into emotional, non-rational triggers about marriage for same-sex couples," said Seth Kilborn, HRC director of marriage projects. "We need to really get the help of some of the best creative minds in the ad and communication world." Kilborn declined to name the shops it is talking to about the effort. There are certainly more ad dollars being spent to pitch hot-button issues, with advocacy groups such as Swift Boats for Truth and MoveOn.org (each of which spent more than $20 million on 2004 campaign ads) steadily upping the ante. Such political advocacy groups spent nearly $550 million on ads and other efforts in all races in the 2004 election cycle, nearly twice the amount spent in 2002, according to the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan research group. But the ad industry remains cautious about such work, with holding company parents generally allowing it, but with restrictions. Interpublic Group doesn't allow member agencies to work on political campaigns and decides whether agencies can do advocacy work on a case-by-case basis, an IPG rep said. WPP Group leaves the decision up to its agencies. At Omnicom Group, several agencies handle politically charged clients, and DDB has a Washington-based unit called Issues and Advocacy that specializes in paid-cause advertising. Publicis Groupe execs were not available by press time. In addition, while mainstream agencies and political consultants have always been uneasy in each other's company, now even political consultants see advantages in working with general agencies. "When you combine the strategic value of political advertising with the production values of brand advertising, you really have something," said Steve McMahon, a partner with the Alexandria, Va.-based Democratic political consultancy McMahon, Squire & Associates. The firm has worked on controversial issues involving tobacco and pharmaceutical companies, and has partnered with Publicis' Leo Burnett, although he declined to discuss what he worked on with the Chicago shop. "It used to be you had people who were specialists in political advertising and it was treated as a separate beast," said Eric Webber, vp and marketing director at Omnicom's GSD&M, which handles antismoking work for the American Legacy Foundation and AARP and its fight against President Bush's plan to fund private Social Security accounts with payroll tax revenues. "Now you're seeing an understanding that we're all talking about the same thing. It's about motivating consumers, whether to buy, vote or voice an opinion." Joe Trippi, a political consultant who handled Howard Dean's presidential bid, said advertising has become a new form of lobbying, and a lot can be learned from both sides. "Political communicators can learn a hell of a lot from a large shop that has more experience in demographics and testing," Trippi said. "You rarely get $100 million accounts in politics."

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Culture Wars Calling On Madison Avenue

Randi Schmelzer

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Randi Schmelzer