According to the Dallas lifestyle magazine The Advocate, the Clinton campaign has hired Southern Fried Marketing to help get out the vote next Tuesday in Texas. How, you ask?
Southern Fried Marketing provides "innovative guerilla marketing opportunities" to its clients:
Over the years our company has worked with some of the top companies and record labels in the country such as Sony Urban Music, J Records, Capitol Records, Atlantic Records, Interscope Records, Universal/Motown, Ebony Magazine, Proctor & Gamble and BET Network.
How is the campaign reaching out to the Dallas black community? Perhaps organizing an event with hip-hop talent affiliated with Southern Fried Marketing, such as Lil Jon or the Ying Yang Twins?
Well, not exactly. According to the The Advocate:
I stopped at the intersection of Lovers Lane and Greenville this afternoon, and immediately noticed people standing on each corner (and on a couple of the medians) holding Hillary Clinton signs.
Enthusiastic volunteers???
Another thing immediately apparent, especially because of the race and gender issues in this presidential election, was that each person holding a sign was black.
Enthusiastic African-American volunteers???
I rolled down the window to ask one of the men what group the sign-holders belonged to, and he told me Southern Fried Marketing. I asked if they supported Hillary Clinton for president, and he replied: "Paid for."
Quite simply, it appears that the campaign's idea of reaching black voters is by paying African-Americans to hold signs on street corners.