Create your own political ad

Posted August 29th, 2007 at 4:14 pm by Kathie Legg, Yahoo! Elections

 2 Comments / Filed in: Trends & News

As political producer for the Election team at Yahoo!, my job is to help political campaigns and organizations of all sizes and parties understand (and hopefully use) the social media platforms on Yahoo!.

This morning, Mitt Romney’s campaign launched a contest on Jumpcut in which users can create their own Romney campaign commercials. The winning entry will be used as a TV spot by the Romney campaign.

This highly unusual contest shows how much the American political process has been changed by the social networking capabilities of the Web.

Mitt Romney is not the only presidential candidate tapping into the Yahoo! network. In fact, all the major candidates are using Yahoo!’s social platforms to strengthen their relationships with citizens and to find new supporters. Candidates and their teams are actively posting to Flickr, uploading videos, and participating in Answers.

Perhaps more important are the grassroots activities that are thriving across the network. Citizens across the country are participating in the political process by joining Yahoo! Groups (there are thousands of active political groups), uploading photos of candidates to Flickr, or simply stating their political preference with an election-themed Avatar.

In previous elections, Yahoo! has helped millions of people with straightforward tasks such as registering to vote or finding their local polling places. We hope to help even more people during the 2008 election cycle.

With the Jumpcut contest, we’re offering users a new level of participation — taking the promise of the democratic process up a notch. It’s an amazing change from the old-boy networks and smoke-filled rooms of politics past.

Kathie Legg
Political Producer, Yahoo! Elections

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2 Comments Add your own

Eggdroid | September 4th, 2007 at 11:50 pm

I made a political ad for Ron Paul, but no bites. Where would be good to post so people can enjoy?

Chris

Cecil Jones | August 4th, 2008 at 4:31 pm

I’m the Political “Gen-yi” that forced all political candidates to take responsibility for their political attack ads. I’m the Bush Fly. Attorney General John Ashcroft said, “A Phantom Seeking A Lost Justice is Hurting America.” John McCain said, “I lost control of my main campaign issue-Campaign Finance Reform.” I am the Democratic Karl Rove. In this year’s election, I’d offer an ad called “What?” I’d feature Dave Chappelle and Little John’s famous conversation as they discuss John McCain’s ideas. What? Bomb, Bomb, Bomb…What? Obama is like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton? What? I’d like to keep our troops in Iraq for the next 100 years? What? The gas tax holiday is a gimmick. What? American Generals set our foreign policy? What? We need more nukes? What? Is John McCain offering Arizona as America’s Nuclear Waste Dump? That’s not Okay? What is John McCain thinking? I don’t think he is thinking at all? Little John: Wouldn’t it be nice for us to focus on issues other than race?

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