Pickup Truck Visibility Campaign: A Modest Proposal (and report from the field)
by QWQ
Sun Oct 24, 2004 at 01:54:07 PM PDT
The Hotline reported this week on a new study about the most effective last-minute campaign strategies in saturated information markets. Four specific techniques were suggested, including: "producing messages that get noticed because of unusual features or size."
To that end, I offer up the following proposal to those in the Daily Kos community who are looking for a way to help build momentum, sway emotions, and reach thousands of voters in the final days before the election.
Here's the basic idea: If you own a pickup truck; if you can borrow one from a friend; or if you can spare $40-60 to rent one, set aside next Saturday and/or Sunday. Attach three Kerry/Edwards signs to your pickup - two so they sit above the sides of the truck bed (simple assembly details below the fold - I did this yesterday); one on the tailgate. Find some heavily traveled state and local roads with lots of stoplights (traffic is your friend). . . .
Roll down the windows and put on some Springsteen (No Surrender; Born to Run; Badlands; Born in the USA; The Promised Land; etc.) and/or other up-tempo songs (country songs could be particularly helpful in some battlegrounds).
When you take a break to eat, park your truck near the entrance to a big shopping center, eat in back, and hand out Kerry/Edwards stuff to people who come by. (In just the short time I was attaching my signs in the Home Depot parking lot yesterday, several people came by to ask for Kerry/Edwards buttons, stickers, and signs.)
DKos has over 300,000 readers. If just 100 committed to a single day for this effort next weekend, we could reach nearly a million people in a unique way. (Based on my experience yesterday, you can easily average 20 "sign views" a minute if you stick to crowded roads and shopping centers. 20 views x 60 minutes x 8 hours x 100 trucks = 960,000 sign views).
Okay, that's my proposal. A little odd - some would say silly. But based on the reaction I got yesterday in Northern Virginia (one guy jumped out of his car at a stop light to ask for a sign; another woman called across three lanes of traffic just to yell thank you; many people honked their horns and gave the thumbs up or pumped their arms), I think it's worth the effort. Plus, it's not a bad way to spend a day.
So let's go beat Karl Rove at his own game. Let's help build momentum and send the message that there is a groundswell of support in the country for a new direction, a stronger America, and a better future for workers, families, and our children. (Assembly instructions below the fold.)
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