The Courage Campaign (where I am employed) launched a video tonight that is getting covered by a number of political bloggers. It's a cheeky piece that aims to get Kim Kardashian to support the Millionaires Tax of 2012, a ballot initiative recently unveiled by the Restoring California Coalition, which includes Courage, the California Federation of Teachers, and California Calls.
We thought the public would find it curious that millionaires like Kim — who made more than $12 million in 2010 — only paid 1% more in income taxes than a middle class Californian. So, we made this video to explain the situation. It's just the sort of fun video that can educate people who aren't politically engaged how much is at stake next November. In our focus groups, independent voters tended to think of celebrities (rather than CEOs, bankers, or Silicon Valley execs) when asked who should pay more in taxes. By the way, our initiative actually polls at 67%, the highest support our pollster has ever seen or a tax measure. More on that here.
We're going to start a campaign to get Kim to endorse the Millionaires Tax of 2012. If she gets on board, we'll reach people who never would have learned about the ballot measure otherwise. But most importantly, we have to show people why it's time for people like Kim to pay their fair share. See the full video by clicking below:
Really?
Can’t we stick to policy instead of randomly singling about people to bully?
Be honest. Why did you pick her? Specifically her. Numbers-wise there are better examples.
You’re exploiting the fact that she got divorced. You’re shaming her for her relationship decisions. Look, I’m no fan of her relationship decisions, but are you kidding me?
This is not okay. It’s exploitative, it’s mean and it’s no way to advocate for sensible tax policy.
But readers of Calitics is not whom the ad is trying to reach. Part of me says, “Hey, whatever works.”
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Thus far the video has been covered by PerezHilton.com, Jezebel.com (part of the Gawker network), and HuffPo Celebrity, not to mention the SF Chronicle and Inside Bay Area. It’s definitely reaching people who do not follow politics closely, which was the whole idea.
Thanks for the feedback, but from a strategic stand point, I strongly disagree with your analysis. “Sticking to policy” is exactly how not to reach the people who are viewing this video.
Also, a special shout out to Christopher Sprinkle and Leighton Woodhouse of Dog Park Media, who helped us out with the video. If anyone needs a hand with video production, print design or communications strategy work, contact leighton at dogparkmedia dot com.