Shoptalk admires MoveOn.org for its organizational pluck and the creativity of its “Bush in 30 Seconds” online ad contest. And the liberal political-advocacy group throws a pretty good party, too.
At last Monday’s event at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom, Charlie Fisher, a creative director from Denver who works at Leo Burnett in Copenhagen, was named the “Bush in 30 Seconds” winner. But that was only one highlight. Attendees were treated (if that’s the right word) to a rant by comedian Margaret Cho (“being a minority in this country is like dying of a thousand paper cuts”) and a performance by Moby, who played Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side” and Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child o’ Mine.” The latter was a curious choice, as Axl Rose is not exactly seen as a beacon of all that is bright, hopeful and true about America. (In any case, Rose could not be reached for comment—by anyone in the past decade.)
Among the scads of left-leaning celebs in attendance, we chatted briefly with Michael Moore. Very briefly. Informed of Shoptalk’s place of employment, the documentary filmmaker snapped, “I don’t like ads!” and then shuffled off to sun himself under the lamps of the CNN and MSNBC camera crews. (Shoptalk reminded him that he was serving as a judge and presenter at—um, well—an ad contest.) But if Shoptalk had a trying evening, no one seemed to have it worse than Russell Simmons. Shortly after the event began, the music impresario was spotted outside the Hammerstein Ballroom, madder than a spring lemming that his driver had gone AWOL. We can only imagine what Michael Moore had said to him.
MoveOn Rocks the Ad Vote
