Fourth Draft of USA Today Ad -- Almost final!!

[Bryan]

This is the fourth draft of the ad being commissioned by llepard. Obviously the final result will be just one pic. Post your thoughts.

Detailed view - top half:
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/4836/ad4tophz1.jpg
Lower half:
http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/2264/ad4bottomdw6.jpg

Full view:
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/8789/ad4fullfj2.jpg

[Ethek]

Can we get the founders images shifted to center. I thought it was a good suggestion. I think opposed to preemtive war needs to come out or replace the point on IRAN. Its redundant. Maybe a nice opening for some the pro small business community.

[Menthol Patch]

For the record, I support the FIRST draft of the ad.

However, I realize everyone wants a watered down version so this will have to do.

[piotr1]

can i get a copy of the final document so i can run it in my local paper?

[fletcher]

Can we get the founders images shifted to center. I thought it was a good suggestion.

Seconded

[castor]

My sister is in advertising and I thought I would show everyone the communication we had about the 1st draft of the ad. I think there are some very crucial points to take out of this. Let me know what you think.



Hey sis,

In regards to the USA today ad:
My thoughts are this .... The goal of the ad is to foster name recognition. Yet his name is pretty small on the graphic and doesn't really pop. On top of that, the first few things they list on the ad are about eliminating the IRS, income tax, and federal reserve. (things that conditioned americans will probably see as "fringe") I also dont like how they keep saying "We the founders". While I agree they would support Ron Paul, you can't know for certain so it almost comes off as arrogant to me. And as much as I like the idea of it being a revolution, I don't think they should use the word in the advertisement. The masses resist change and revolution is the epitome of change. (even if it is their heritage haha)



Hey brother bear,
I love both of those ads. And I agree with your sentiments on the changes
for the USA Today one and it seems like he made them on the second draft of
the advertisement.

I addition to your changes, I'd advise him to slightly scale down the image
size of the founding fathers and slightly enlarge the name/image of Ron
Paul--always keep the focus of the ad in mind.

It's also important to keep in mind that there are three types of readers
that will be viewing this: "the 30-second reader" who just looks at graphics
and headlines, "the 3-minute reader" who reads a couple paragraphs here and
there, and "the 30-minute reader" who actually reads everything on the page.
To get the word out and utilize the immense reach of a medium like USA Today
you MUST tailor to all of these types.

-For the statements about Ron Paul after "...warned:" in addition to bold
face, I might try bumping up the size of the font by one point or half a
point, if possible, for those "30-second readers" who will only be reading
the bold face. (Although I know it's tricky trying to fit everything onto
one page.)

-Most importantly, he needs to introduce Ron Paul before giving the warnings
from the founding fathers. Right now, to people that have never heard of
Ron Paul, it reads more like "Some guy that you've never heard of and won't
remember after reading this list will reduce taxes and phase out the IRS."
You have to introduce him/his name before handing out promises or else
people will read through that entire list without associating the name with
the fact that he's running for president. It could just be a short line
above the warnings that will tell the readers the subject of what they're
about to read (Ron Paul running for president). It's much like a lead in a
newspaper story.
****When people know the subject of what they're about to read, it is
much easier to make associations throughout and they will, therefore,
be much more likely to remember.****

-If I have understood the man correctly, Ron Paul seems to carry the theme
of restoring power to the American people by reducing powers of the federal
government. I think this is a very strong point to reiterate. It is a basic
human need for people to feel in control of their lives. A problem that I
have seen for many young voters, especially, is that they think that they're
just one, weak person that can't change anything within the government. This
is sad and is why many people have lost hope and given up on U.S.
government. I think he should stress the notion of "power to the people," if
I may quote the late, great John Lennon. The U.S. is a very low context
society and while power has been stated a few times in the ad, indirectly
(i.e. restoring our constitutional rights), I think that the notion of
giving the citizens more power needs to be explicitly expressed. Maybe
something like: "Ron Paul wants to hand over the decision-making power to
you, the people."

-In the little black box at the bottom about the fund-raising: "When Ron
Paul supporters raised $4.3 million in one day...that got their attention."
Who is "they" in that statement? Presently, it's very unclear to me.

-Finally, a technical error at the bottom left: "Will restore our
constitutional rights" should have it's own line (separate from the habeas
corpus line).


As for the second ad you sent: beautifully done, but I don't think that ad
is ready for the masses yet. They must be educated about Ron Paul first for
that ad to make a serious impact. I think the ad that is going in USA Today
will be a great way to educate people on his platform. Connecting Ron Paul
with the founding fathers is also a great persuasive element.

Let me know if there's anything else you'd like me to help with.
:)

[Mark]

For the record, I support the FIRST draft of the ad.

However, I realize everyone wants a watered down version so this will have to do.

You support condemning mothers to hell for feeding their children,
via methods you don't agree with. I'm not surprised.

[Mark]

I'll put up a page for people without 19 inch monitors.. :D

[Tidewise]

For the record, I support the FIRST draft of the ad.

However, I realize everyone wants a watered down version so this will have to do.

Except for any typos, I am with you Menthol.

[rockwell]

I think it's way too busy. I appreciate detail and content, but you're putting it in a newspaper that helps it's readers differentiate the contents by blue, purple, red and green sections.

Not the best idea.

[JoeTB]

Ok it changed threads on me. But..

I think the whole thing should just look less like an advertisement.

Remember that this will be the message that saved the world. Less is more.

Dr. Paul gives his own message better than anyone.

Was ANYONE sold by reading statistics on him? It seems like everyone is convinced by hearing him speak his message.

Something like this would get ANYONES attention and would require them to investigate further.



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Underneath
Open Letter to Americans
Pictures of founders etc.....

We were warned:



“The democracy will cease to exist
when you take away from those who are willing to work
and give to those who would not.”

“Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies;
The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity
is but swindling futurity on a large scale.”

“Do good to your friends to keep them,
to your enemies to win them.”

“The less we use our power, the greater it will be.”

“Leave no authority existing
not responsible to the people.”

“Experience hath shown that
even under the best forms of government,
those entrusted with power have,
in time, and by slow operations,
perverted it into tyranny.”

“The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield
and government to gain ground.”

"To take a single step beyond the boundaries
thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress,
is to take possession of a boundless field of power,
no longer susceptible of any definition."

“One of the qualities of liberty is that
As long as it is being striven after, it goes on expanding.
The man who stands in the midst of the struggle and says, ‘I have it,’
Merely shows by doing so that he has just lost it.”

“I am not concerned that you have fallen;
I am concerned that you
rise.

"In matters of style, swim with the current;
in matters of principle,
stand like a rock.”


-----------------------------------------------------------------------


It's time for
another
Tea Party.


www.teaparty07.com
www.ronpaul2008.com
December 16, 2007

“One man with courage is a majority."
.

[crhoades]

I addition to your changes, I'd advise him to slightly scale down the image
size of the founding fathers and slightly enlarge the name/image of Ron
Paul--always keep the focus of the ad in mind.


Ditto to this

[castor]

Please read my post on the first page. Its long but very important IMHO.

[Menthol Patch]

Except for any typos, I am with you Menthol.

Thank you.

[Ethek]

I think castor posted some good Points. Work in an introduction to Ron Paul


Perhaps


An Open Letter to the American People
Concerning RON PAUL for President:

[Falseflagop]

I thought the term DEBT SLAVE was powerful as many people can relate to that at the present time!

Keep the word L "DEBT SLAVE"

[tonyr1988]

My two thoughts:

-I would love centered Founders. Is there a particular reason they aren't centered now?

-I think it would look better with a small thing on the left side of Ron's picture to match what is on the right side.

I'm being nitpicky, though. I love this.

[joenaab]

Typo: "Ron Paul will restore the Founder's vision..." (needs possessive apostrophe)

Typo: 3rd checked item on left side, - there needs to be a comma after "Instead" and a period at the end of the sentence to be consistent with the other sentences.

[Menthol Patch]

I also liked the term debt slave.

[joenaab]

I'd like to say that, although I'm joining this process near the end, I like the earlier versions much better and find this one confusing. I'll go back and read the others before getting specific.

[joenaab]

I also liked the term debt slave.

I very much liked the term "debt slave" from an earlier draft, too.

[spiteface]

I think castor's post on page one has some good points to think about.

[Mark]

I'll put up a page for people without 19 inch monitors.. :D

Draft 4:

http://www.revmark.org/forumfiles/d4.htm

.

[RobotJaxxon]

It's also important to keep in mind that there are three types of readers
that will be viewing this: "the 30-second reader" who just looks at graphics
and headlines, "the 3-minute reader" who reads a couple paragraphs here and
there, and "the 30-minute reader" who actually reads everything on the page.
To get the word out and utilize the immense reach of a medium like USA Today
you MUST tailor to all of these types.

-For the statements about Ron Paul after "...warned:" in addition to bold
face, I might try bumping up the size of the font by one point or half a
point, if possible, for those "30-second readers" who will only be reading
the bold face. (Although I know it's tricky trying to fit everything onto
one page.)

Agreed. I posted a couple comments in the 3rd draft thread regarding this, but the changes made don't address this enough IMO.

Ron Paul's stances on the issues should stand out much more from the rest of the text in order to reach the 30-second reader.

An example of what I mean is here, post #90:

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=37186&page=9

[tsetsefly]

I like this one much better than the first, lets not forget the target audience....

[Mark]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Menthol Patch http://www.ronpaulforums.com/gfx_RedWhiteBlue/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?p=416495#post416495)
I also liked the term debt slave.




I very much liked the term "debt slave" from an earlier draft, too.

Thank God, that was taken out.

[paradoxalist]

The bottom of the ad looks very good, less cluttered.

I also agree with others to scale down the images of the Founders, and enlarge Ron Paul's image.

Having "Ron Paul will..." in parenthesis looks weird to me. I think one of the dissenters on changing the add noted this is implied anyways, why have it in there?

Oh well, this is going to be awesome no matter what!

Adam

[SgtBulldog]

I love it. The only thing that might make it look visually more cohesive is changing the portraits to either all look inward or outward as mentioned previously.

Great job and thanks so much for your dedication and generosity to freedom llepard!

[JoeTB]

Draft 4:

http://www.revmark.org/forumfiles/d4.htm

.

some of the extreme comments could rightfully subtract from the credibility, such as "Ron Paul will end illegal immigration"... something about get us out of all alliances?

[JMO]

You still have the words Ron Paul never takes money from special interest groups. someone on here earlier showed money given to each candidate via PACS and the leader for Ron Paul was google who had given 22k. I wouldn't suggest putting something in the add that can be proven to be false.

[blamx8]

Help us make December 16th, the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, the largest....

We don't want people to think this is some alice in wonderland gathering.

Please notice this. If you didn't know what the tea party referred to and simply saw a link named teaparty.com what would you think it would be about? Little girls, dolls, and teddybears. Help people who see it make the connection.

[mkrfctr]

Haven't bothered to comment on those giant threads but since im in early here you are:

More minors stuff on layout and such, no comments on overall theme or layout - though I do feel it to be cluttered and a big mishmash of inconsisitency and repetition.

I would like a larger pic of ron
Are we going with "in 1776" because that's a date people recognize knowing it's not particularly accurate historically as to when they "risked their lives fortunes and sacred honor" and that fighting had already begun... ?
Eliminate the "we" from "We the founding fathers" - the format has changed, and that no longer fits as a first-person theme, when the rest is isn't now.
I don't like the () around what RP will do - keep with the theme and use the stars instead
Isn't the 877 number now 1-877-Ron-Paul ?
Typos: extra space before " a concerned American." appears as if missing spaces right side lower "never receives money_from lobyists or_special interest groups"
Does the very bottom gfx design and original concept credits need to be in there? - Cannot we just get permission to run it without that?

[Drknows]

The more and more i look at..... is the background suppose to look like a headstone/gravestone ?


Yeah looks good though id like to see Ron Paul stand out more.

Really anything is ok with me. Its getting Ron Pauls name out in the main stream and that's what matters , thanks again llepard!

[joenaab]

Of Castor's comments, I particularly agree that:

1. Ron Paul's name and image need to be much larger, larger than those of the founding fathers.

2. The perspective of the Founding Fathers talking to us doesn't work with me. I think it can be easily modified to read "The Founding Fathers" instead of "We The Founding Fathers", and then change the beginning of each sentence to correspond with the change, such as changing "warned you" to "warned us". The use of "Warned You" comes off as an attack on the reader.

3. That Ron Paul should be mentioned somehow further up in the ad.

[bolidew]

Typo: "Ron Paul will restore the Founder's vision..." (needs possessive apostrophe)

Typo: 3rd checked item on left side, - there needs to be a comma after "Instead" and a period at the end of the sentence to be consistent with the other sentences.

Bold for you.

[krott5333]

make all the founders face front and center

[speciallyblend]

Looks Great overall,always hard to take everyones suggestions,but some do make sense;) GREAT WORK PEOPLE:) LOOKS GREAT and will get alot of attention by average americans.

[bolidew]

"RonPaul will put America and Americans first" appears TWICE closely.
That is simply redundant.

[LibertyEagle]

Llepard,

There is a period missing at the end of the 3rd check-marked line. The one that ends with 9/11.

[Ron Paul Fan]

Run it. Hurry! We're running out of time and you'll never please everyone! It isn't the people on here we want to convince, it's the millions of USA Today readers who will see this ad and be convinced that Ron Paul is their man. I agree with the faces thing so that the eyes are looking right at you. People like eye contact, even from dead people. Just think how big of a smash The Sixth Sense was, so get that done and run it already!

[adam1mc]

Castor has good suggestions above.

I agree that Preemptive war and No Iran war is redundant.

Are we not going to remove the "Please Donate" statement from the bottom half?

[scottymac]

I just saw this lined from Reddit and joined the forums -- glad to be here! This is the first time in my life I've really be excited about candidate and am looking to help in anyway I can.

I realize I risk of alienating everyone on the forums in my first post, but I suppose it's better to speak up when I feel there's a need.

Some Background
I've been watching the RP campaign progress, and, indeed, all the campaigns, primarily with the eyes of a designer--something that can't be helped when you're in that field. So far (and it's a little early now) no one candidate has really stood out from the pack with superior identity and print design. (TV spots are another matter; the Giuliani spot that just came out it is excellent and unfortunately much better than the RP spots I've seen. Bummer.)

All-in-all the Ron Paul branding I've seen--and I use branding here to encompass Paul's identity design (the logotype you see on the gear at the official RP store) and all associated collateral and print design--has been mediocre. The identity seen is inconsistent, even on products found in the official RP store. Contrast that to say Clinton, Obama, Ruby, and McCain and the RP collateral looks amateur. The slim jims were obviously (and unforunately) designed by an amateur.

The good news, of course, is that the Ron Paul's story and message, as we all know, is better than anyone else's. The key is to communicate the essence of that message in the most effective and impactful manner possible. Let's not forget that purpose of design is first and foremost communication.

The USA Today Ad
The biggest problem right off the bat is that there is too much--way too much--information and so much noise, the signal is lost. The designer has done her best with the information design, but it feels like "we've got this one chance, we must throw in the kitchen sink." I feel like I've opened up a page in a high school history book and can imagine the millions of people turning to this page and yawning over their morning coffee and passing it by. At first glance it looks like an open letter from the Founding Fathers. Conceptually I understand the reasoning behind the choices made, and the desire to explicitly connect RP to the Framers and the Constitution, but the execution is a ineffective and, frankly, ham-fisted. And no one will read all of that copy.

There's enough information in this ROP for twenty ads. The most difficult part of this process, especially for Ron Paul' supporters who have so much to say that's different from every other candidate, is the choice of message for this single ad. It must be embody what RP stands for: it must be simple and concise and liberating and exciting. I don't know about y'all, but this campaign is f*ing exciting!

The wonderful thing about advertising today is that you can always direct people to a Web site to find out more; and that should be the goal of this ad. Convert people to find out more about Ron Paul. Direct them to one Web site where they can find out more information. And that Web site should definitely be the Web site where they can contribute money. There are 5 Web sites listed in this current ad. Don't make people hesitate over which one to go to. One concept, one message, one site.

Moving Forward
I hate to say it, but this ad must be re-designed to be effective, and by re-designed I don't just mean graphically, but conceptually. It begs for strong creative direction and a strong concept. I would even suggest 4 quarter page ads with each focused on a single message that's relevant right now and separates Ron Paul from all the other candidates (Iraq/Iran/Taxes are good bets).

A little off topic, but: I love the Tea Party concept, kudos to whomever came up with that (the 5th of November was fantastic as well). It's too bad we can't build a small (ad) campaign around Tea Party '07: print + web. Right now the Tea Party site needs a smidge of work (moving the videos to a separate page, providing links for further information on RP's platform; right now it's geared a little too much to, us, the already converted). The great thing about the Tea Party is that it's the perfect representation of a grassroots effort to change the policy of a large government. Brilliant.

Hope this helps,
Scott

[bolidew]

Nice 1st post, Scott.

Welcome to the forum!

[Arklatex]

I say it's gold.

Suggestion: Take the parenthesis off the bolded ron paul talk.

PS: I was looking forward to a feather pen and ink blotches.

[ronpaulitician]

Increase size of Paul's pic (to subliminally suggest that he is like a Founding Father)

Agree that the ad is very busy, but I think at this point, the core design is not gonna change, so...

[Menthol Patch]

This one is indeed confusing and watered down.

[Naraku]

Very good, I actually like how you kept the bits in about Ron Paul while restoring the Founders perspective. I had thought of that myself. I think this is very good. I think it's dealt with most concerns brought up and all that's really left would be spell check and grammer basically.

Though, I also think rearranging the Founders images is still a good idea.

[RonPaulStreetTeam]

I still say bad ad.

There are no "American People" It is the sheep we need to get ahold of and wake up. People voting for Obama and Hillary cause they think they will end the war.

When they see some black print with a bunch of picutres of old fucks that may have written history they will assume its something they are not interested in and skip it.

I MYSELF A "9/11 truther" a Ron Paul Supporter, a small government man and anti war military commissions act and so on would not stop to read that if I did not know about Ron Paul. Meaning I am a patriot, awake and aware and not even I would stop when I saw some 1700 stuff with old white wiggs.
We want to ADVERTISE not have Ron Paul fans worship an ad.

That says skip me all over it.

and the major talking points facts are in a small box on the bottom left??
Why all the boring old men warned us junk in the middle? people simply wont read it.

Good idea and awesome efforts but maybe think like an advertiser or reader not like a die hard ron paul supporter that will read everything thrown his way.

[syborius]

The more and more i look at..... is the background suppose to look like a headstone/gravestone ?


Yeah looks good though id like to see Ron Paul stand out more.

Really anything is ok with me. Its getting Ron Pauls name out in the main stream and that's what matters , thanks again llepard!

Good point,

something bothered me about the ad, and I think you hit the nail on the head. Something very gloom and doom about it. I think it's the gravestone. That can play on peoples psyches in a very subconscious way the creators of this ad are not putting into consideration.

[musicmax]

Typo: "Ron Paul will restore the Founder's vision..." (needs possessive apostrophe)

Founders'

not Founder's

[Mithridates]

I love these threads on the ad, very reminiscent of Wikipedia. Everybody offering their perspective but still focused on the goal and very excited about what's going to happen when the ad is run.

My suggestion isn't regarding the ad but rather that it would be a good idea to persuade the campaign to make information regarding changing affiliation more prominent on the day the ad is run, considering the "vote for Ron Paul in your upcoming Republican primary election" part. People will want to see how they can do that, so the info should be up and in front.

[RonPaulStreetTeam]

Good point,

something bothered me about the ad, and I think you hit the nail on the head. Something very gloom and doom about it. I think it's the gravestone. That can play on peoples psyches in a very subconscious way the creators of this ad are not putting into consideration.

who is this designor?
not the payer himself right?

maybe someone meant to make a bad ad took on the job....
we gotta be careful and not eat up everything thrown our way.

ad someone into marketing and advertising I say this is junk.

with an awesome idea behind it.

tune it up guys.
remake, hire a new designer. Make sure they are not trying to sabotage. Not saying he is, maybe he just doesnt know how to market.

[castor]

Is this supposed to be an advertisement for Ron Paul supporters, or for people that have no idea who he is? This is an amazing opportunity to boost his name recognition. PLEASE look at it objectively.

Check out my post on the first page and talk it through. Llepard spent a ton of money on this. Lets get it right.

[literatim]

I still think the websites need limited to only www.ronpaul2008.com

[joenaab]

On the checked items in the lower left:

1. the first one is a bit blah and can be removed.

2. I'd prefer the 2nd one to read, "Opposes the doctrine of preemptive war, including a preemptive strike on Iran.", and then the 5th one would say only, "Advocates a humble...".

3. On the 7th one, you need to either change "US" to "U.S.", or remove it. It works fine if you remove it since it is known by all that you are referring to our tax dollars.

4. I'd actually prefer the 7th one to read, "Will stop spending taxpayer dollars to destroy and then rebuild and police foreign nations." Though this is strong, it is more accurate.

I like all the others.

[joenaab]

On the check list in the lower right...

I love them all, but would suggest you verify if he doesn't receive money from lobbyists and special interest groups, as some people here say that he does. It might be as simple as changing the word "receive" to "solicit".

[RonPaulStreetTeam]

I just saw this lined from Reddit and joined the forums -- glad to be here! This is the first time in my life I've really be excited about candidate and am looking to help in anyway I can.

The USA Today Ad
The biggest problem right off the bat is that there is too much--way too much--information and so much noise, the signal is lost. The designer has done her best with the information design, but it feels like "we've got this one chance, we must throw in the kitchen sink." I feel like I've opened up a page in a high school history book and can imagine the millions of people turning to this page and yawning over their morning coffee and passing it by. At first glance it looks like an open letter from the Founding Fathers. Conceptually I understand the reasoning behind the choices made, and the desire to explicitly connect RP to the Framers and the Constitution, but the execution is a ineffective and, frankly, ham-fisted. And no one will read all of that copy.

There's enough information in this ROP for twenty ads. The most difficult part of this process, especially for Ron Paul' supporters who have so much to say that's different from every other candidate, is the choice of message for this single ad. It must be embody what RP stands for: it must be simple and concise and liberating and exciting. I don't know about y'all, but this campaign is f*ing exciting!

The wonderful thing about advertising today is that you can always direct people to a Web site to find out more; and that should be the goal of this ad. Convert people to find out more about Ron Paul. Direct them to one Web site where they can find out more information. And that Web site should definitely be the Web site where they can contribute money. There are 5 Web sites listed in this current ad. Don't make people hesitate over which one to go to. One concept, one message, one site.

Moving Forward
I hate to say it, but this ad must be re-designed to be effective, and by re-designed I don't just mean graphically, but conceptually. It begs for strong creative direction and a strong concept. I would even suggest 4 quarter page ads with each focused on a single message that's relevant right now and separates Ron Paul from all the other candidates (Iraq/Iran/Taxes are good bets).

A little off topic, but: I love the Tea Party concept, kudos to whomever came up with that (the 5th of November was fantastic as well). It's too bad we can't build a small (ad) campaign around Tea Party '07: print + web. Right now the Tea Party site needs a smidge of work (moving the videos to a separate page, providing links for further information on RP's platform; right now it's geared a little too much to, us, the already converted). The great thing about the Tea Party is that it's the perfect representation of a grassroots effort to change the policy of a large government. Brilliant.

Hope this helps,
Scott

LISTEN TO THIS MAN. HE knows.
I know, yet the others dont.

You gotta remember people join this site JUST TO STEER US IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.

I dont know of the designer is just poor at marketing and advertising or if he is steering us the wrong way and making an ad in all ways perfect to be ignored.


Total redo, new designer if you have to.
but this is very very bad and a huge waste of money and a great chance to gain hundreds of thousands of supporters being purposely thrown away by a bad design.

SINCERELY,
Gerry D
www.RonPaulStreetTeam.com

[goldenequity]

It NEEDS to say the word IRAQ....

you've edited it to a point where it is NOT effective.

my 2 cents:)

In fact..... the word Iraq does not even appear in the entire ad..... the ad is impotent (sorry).

[RonPaulStreetTeam]

I mean come on! it's longer then most stories in the paper and how often do people finish a story?

We're going for the, might vote, or never voted, or havent had a reason to vote people who wont friggen read a piece of that cause the first few lines says this is boring stuff you want to ignore. Not the people who will be RUNNING down to the stands to pick up the copy just to see the ad because they all support Ron paul already.
FOOOLS

ARGH!

sad thing is their gonna do it.
sabotages at its finest.

[syborius]

I still say bad ad.

There are no "American People" It is the sheep we need to get ahold of and wake up. People voting for Obama and Hillary cause they think they will end the war.

When they see some black print with a bunch of picutres of old fucks that may have written history they will assume its something they are not interested in and skip it.

I MYSELF A "9/11 truther" a Ron Paul Supporter, a small government man and anti war military commissions act and so on would not stop to read that if I did not know about Ron Paul. Meaning I am a patriot, awake and aware and not even I would stop when I saw some 1700 stuff with old white wiggs.
We want to ADVERTISE not have Ron Paul fans worship an ad.

That says skip me all over it.

and the major talking points facts are in a small box on the bottom left??
Why all the boring old men warned us junk in the middle? people simply wont read it.

Good idea and awesome efforts but maybe think like an advertiser or reader not like a die hard ron paul supporter that will read everything thrown his way.


That's what I said in earlier threads. The problem is, it was flawed from the start. So to make little changes here and there won't change the overall schema. My premise was to have a full page add filled with "headlines" because Americans want to be intrigued, not "sold" Most people will look at the small font, and look elsewhere.
The most striking ad would be to have "headlines", sort of like when you END A WAR. Extra Extra, read all about it...Extra Extra, The headlines would be so "in your face" you could not help to read, and research, and go WOW, what the hell is this.

RON PAUL WILL END THE WARS NOW
fine points.............
RON PAUL WILL REDUCE TAXES
fine points
RON PAUL REVOLUTION THE MEDIA IS AFRAID OF
fine point......
Etc. etc.


I think this approach would be much more effective,

The creators of this ad this not consider KISS!! Keep it simple stupid.
I would read a full page ad full of "headlines" and be much more intrigued to research. See, what is special about ron paul, what really does it for many, is "self discovery", people are so cynical these days. They don't want anymore sales pitches, Sales pitches are contrived, sales pitches make people say NEXT, it's the same old. But, Why not have an Add with nothing but "HEADLINES" on the page.
I guarantee you, people would be "HOOOKED" to read further

Someone should make another ad, Just to see if it will be better. Smarter, better conceived. I applaud the effort here, but the creators I believe lack the fundamentals of making an effective ad that will get the viewers attention.

[kipload]

1) The "Ron Paul will..." stuff needs to be removed. It clutters up the bullet points and takes away from the flow. Try reading it without them... Its like a story. The "Ron Paul will..." simply distracts the reader by forcing them to think about two things at once. (a History lesson and a prophecy) Keep the founders in the past. Keep Ron Paul in the present, and let the reader imagine the future. Think of it this way... I don't need to be told what he "will (attempt to) do". I need to imagine what he "could do". Please consider revising the voicing.

2) The founders pictures need to be rearranged as noted in Draft #2

3) The four statements between the "warned us..." section and "We the People" doesn't fit. Replace it with a quote from Ron Paul himself. That could be powerful!

[joenaab]

Typo: "Ron Paul will restore the Founder's vision..." (needs possessive apostrophe)

Typo: 3rd checked item on left side, - there needs to be a comma after "Instead" and a period at the end of the sentence to be consistent with the other sentences.

Actually, I have to correct the typo in my correction of the typo!

Since Founders is plural, the apostrophe should come after the "s", not before it.

"Ron Paul will restore the Founders' vision..."

[castor]

LISTEN TO THIS MAN. HE knows.
I know, yet the others dont.

You gotta remember people join this site JUST TO STEER US IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.

I dont know of the designer is just poor at marketing and advertising or if he is steering us the wrong way and making an ad in all ways perfect to be ignored.


Total redo, new designer if you have to.
but this is very very bad and a huge waste of money and a great chance to gain hundreds of thousands of supporters being purposely thrown away by a bad design.

SINCERELY,
Gerry D
www.RonPaulStreetTeam.com




I am in complete agreement. The ad can easily be made to be much more effective. In this thread there is advice from PRO'S who do advertising and design for a living. I think their advice should be given close attention.

I know most people here mean well, but there are many important things being overlooked.

[bolidew]

Very IMPORTANT - We need the person who actually did the modifications COME OUT and post in this forum so we can directly communicate with him/her.

[musicmax]

Can anyone explain why the most basic, universally-agreed upon changes have not been implemented:

Jefferson facing forward?
Founders' pictures rearranged to face center?
Millions replacing legions?
Ditching the websites except for RP08?

Also our schools have sucked for so long that I guarantee at least half the readers can't identify all the Founders just by picture. Put names on them the way we have their names on paper money.

[kipload]

Of Castor's comments, I particularly agree that:

1. Ron Paul's name and image need to be much larger, larger than those of the founding fathers.

2. The perspective of the Founding Fathers talking to us doesn't work with me. I think it can be easily modified to read "The Founding Fathers" instead of "We The Founding Fathers", and then change the beginning of each sentence to correspond with the change, such as changing "warned you" to "warned us". The use of "Warned You" comes off as an attack on the reader.

3. That Ron Paul should be mentioned somehow further up in the ad.

100% AGREE WITH #2!!! & possibly #3

[mkrfctr]

Re: Making a new ad, does anyone know the specs I.E. resolution and DPI and I presume CMYK, etc, and final output format ...

Edit: also what is the submission date deadline to the USA today to run it at the currently anticipated date? And is that set in stone or willing to push back to accommodate further changes?

[RonPaulStreetTeam]

Very IMPORTANT - We need the person who actually did the modifications COME OUT and post in this forum so we can directly communicate with him/her.

yes, this is CRAP.

as MANY have said pros, designers, marketrers, advertisers....

LISTEN UP

Get the man here and start over or fire him.
this is NOT an ad, this is a small story for some magazine no one reads.
The one all the Ron paul supporters that know nothing about advertising will go buy and try to push to the top of Amazon and be proud of.

However not a single new supporter will come of it.
know what I'm saying?

[adwads]

Put a period after the "hunt down the terrorists responsible for 9/11" sentence like the other sentences.

Great job! The ad keeps getting better. At some point you'll just have to run with it--you're never going to get everybody to agree on everything.

[paradoxalist]

I second the thoughts of scottymac, castor, syborius, RonPaulStreetTeam and others. For the money being invested in this by llepard, we would be better off going with the Iowa ad which was genius (http://ronpaulmosaic.com/ad/ames_ad_ron_paul_140dpi.jpg), or else let professionals collaborate on this. There is not a lot of time.

[syborius]

Increase size of Paul's pic (to subliminally suggest that he is like a Founding Father)

Agree that the ad is very busy, but I think at this point, the core design is not gonna change, so...

So many subtle mistakes here, its staggering.

[kipload]

I just saw this lined from Reddit and joined the forums -- glad to be here! This is the first time in my life I've really be excited about candidate and am looking to help in anyway I can.

I realize I risk of alienating everyone on the forums in my first post, but I suppose it's better to speak up when I feel there's a need.

Some Background
I've been watching the RP campaign progress, and, indeed, all the campaigns, primarily with the eyes of a designer--something that can't be helped when you're in that field. So far (and it's a little early now) no one candidate has really stood out from the pack with superior identity and print design. (TV spots are another matter; the Giuliani spot that just came out it is excellent and unfortunately much better than the RP spots I've seen. Bummer.)

All-in-all the Ron Paul branding I've seen--and I use branding here to encompass Paul's identity design (the logotype you see on the gear at the official RP store) and all associated collateral and print design--has been mediocre. The identity seen is inconsistent, even on products found in the official RP store. Contrast that to say Clinton, Obama, Ruby, and McCain and the RP collateral looks amateur. The slim jims were obviously (and unforunately) designed by an amateur.

The good news, of course, is that the Ron Paul's story and message, as we all know, is better than anyone else's. The key is to communicate the essence of that message in the most effective and impactful manner possible. Let's not forget that purpose of design is first and foremost communication.

The USA Today Ad
The biggest problem right off the bat is that there is too much--way too much--information and so much noise, the signal is lost. The designer has done her best with the information design, but it feels like "we've got this one chance, we must throw in the kitchen sink." I feel like I've opened up a page in a high school history book and can imagine the millions of people turning to this page and yawning over their morning coffee and passing it by. At first glance it looks like an open letter from the Founding Fathers. Conceptually I understand the reasoning behind the choices made, and the desire to explicitly connect RP to the Framers and the Constitution, but the execution is a ineffective and, frankly, ham-fisted. And no one will read all of that copy.

There's enough information in this ROP for twenty ads. The most difficult part of this process, especially for Ron Paul' supporters who have so much to say that's different from every other candidate, is the choice of message for this single ad. It must be embody what RP stands for: it must be simple and concise and liberating and exciting. I don't know about y'all, but this campaign is f*ing exciting!

The wonderful thing about advertising today is that you can always direct people to a Web site to find out more; and that should be the goal of this ad. Convert people to find out more about Ron Paul. Direct them to one Web site where they can find out more information. And that Web site should definitely be the Web site where they can contribute money. There are 5 Web sites listed in this current ad. Don't make people hesitate over which one to go to. One concept, one message, one site.

Moving Forward
I hate to say it, but this ad must be re-designed to be effective, and by re-designed I don't just mean graphically, but conceptually. It begs for strong creative direction and a strong concept. I would even suggest 4 quarter page ads with each focused on a single message that's relevant right now and separates Ron Paul from all the other candidates (Iraq/Iran/Taxes are good bets).

A little off topic, but: I love the Tea Party concept, kudos to whomever came up with that (the 5th of November was fantastic as well). It's too bad we can't build a small (ad) campaign around Tea Party '07: print + web. Right now the Tea Party site needs a smidge of work (moving the videos to a separate page, providing links for further information on RP's platform; right now it's geared a little too much to, us, the already converted). The great thing about the Tea Party is that it's the perfect representation of a grassroots effort to change the policy of a large government. Brilliant.

Hope this helps,
Scott

+1

[leglock]

Looks a bit like those steak ads in the magazines...

I like the idea of the founders facing the reader a lot.

Also, is there a way we can watermark an imagine of RP behind what Ron Paul is going to do?

We need to make the message very effective, the founders part stands out and Ron Paul.

[MsDoodahs]

Re: Making a new ad, does anyone know the specs I.E. resolution and DPI and I presume CMYK, etc, and final output format ...

I haven't read the whole thread, but from what is written above, it sounds as though we have yet ANOTHER patriot willing to spend over a hundred thousand of his OWN dollars to do yet ANOTHER ad in USATODAY!

I only have one question:

Who is it?

:)

[MadOdorMachine]

How in the heck did this manage to get 100 times worse than the 3rd draft? This is a freakin train wreck. Scrap this whole 4th draft. I can't even finish reading the first bullet in there. For the record anytime the word "You" is used in an ad like this, it sounds accusational. It's a complete turn off and if I had never heard of Ron Paul or only had a negative opinion of him, this ad would just reinforce that. The third draft was heading in the right direction, this is not.

[syborius]

+1

absolutely. look at my points. KISS has been totally lost.

scrap it, redesign it. REMOVE THE GRAVESTONE!

this isn't supposed to be a eulogy.

[UtahApocalypse]

Can we maybe make a revised version of the Ames Ad?? It shows who RP is. It covers the main points. Thing is amazing.

[mkrfctr]

I haven't read the whole thread, but from what is written above, it sounds as though we have yet ANOTHER patriot willing to spend over a hundred thousand of his OWN dollars to do yet ANOTHER ad in USATODAY!

I only have one question:

Who is it?

:)

Don't be a wise ass, this is not simply about this one ad in USA Today, many have said they would like to use it or the design or design style in smaller local papers, or as half or quarter page, or print as flyer etc.

And for those who would like to make a new design for the USA Today, why bash them, if they want to spend their own time on it acknowledging that their efforts likely will not be the USA Today ad, then why not?

[kipload]

Another option would be to use on of the "OperationNH" newspaper ads. They've been running them in New Hampshire and his numbers are moving quickly there. I'm sure they've had some kind of impact. Imagine the information they relay getting national coverage.

[Mithridates]

Just to add another perspective:

There's a segment of the population that knows a little bit about Ron Paul, but thinks Ron Paul = crazy loon and skips any ads that mention him. This ad with the Founders on the top provides a nice reintroduction to those that *think* they know Ron Paul but actually don't.

For example, on another forum I post on there's one poster who is really against Ron Paul, and always writes about how he doesn't like him. But then lo and behold, one day he made a comment to the effect of "I'd like the national pension system to change to allow people to decide on their own plan, but without depriving people that are already addicted to the system the benefits they've been promised" - in other words, pretty much no different from what Ron Paul's been saying all this time. So for people like this, I think this ad will actually be more effective in first bringing up a theme, and then bringing in Ron Paul's picture. People like him would be more likely to just turn the page if RP's picture were right at the top (oh look, it's that crazy loon again, roll eyes, turn the page).

[paradoxalist]

Yeah please consider revising the Ames ad (http://ronpaulmosaic.com/ad/ames_ad_ron_paul_140dpi.jpg). It definitely says everything, and could work in black & white.

[fight4liberty]

Yes, why is Thomas Jefferson not looking straight ahead? I liked the way they were in Draft #3.

[Mark]

Just another quick insert as the thread grows..

I created a page with the 4th draft so that those with 17 inch screens
can see it without scrolling back and forth..

http://www.revmark.org/forumfiles/d4.htm

.

[francisco]

PLEASE I BEG OF YOU LISTEN:

You put back the phrasing "We the Founders" that seems to put words in the mouths of the founders that MANY PEOPLE INDEPENDENTLY SAID WAS PRESUMPTUOUS! And these are died in the wool supporters! What will the average American learning about Dr. Paul for the first time think?

You are seriously risking the alienation of people more than their support!

The first draft response thread was absolutely littered with comments to this effect. You took it out by the third draft. Now you've put it back in? Why Why Why.

Putting in the "(Ron Paul would... phrasing) DOES NOT adequately seperate the principles of the founders from the presumption of what they would say about Dr. Paul.

I apologize for the Capitalization of some of my phrases here but I am extremely concerned that you are going to waste your money and hurt Dr. Paul in the bargain.

I recognize that time is getting short and I imagine that the copy is due at the newspaper soon. It is too late to quibble over broad conceptual issues like the overall format or the tombstone look or clutter; furthermore this is your project paid for with your own money and you have the right to express your own artistic / marketing vision. But you simply must correct this clearly identified error of putting words in the Founders' mouths that is so apparent to so many and has such a great potential for harm.

[MsDoodahs]

Don't be a wise ass, this is not simply about this one ad in USA Today, many have said they would like to use it or the design or design style in smaller local papers, or as half or quarter page, or print as flyer etc.

And for those who would like to make a new design for the USA Today, why bash them, if they want to spend their own time on it acknowledging that their efforts likely will not be the USA Today ad, then why not?

You mean those who are calling for a whole new ad ARE NOT funding another one themselves?

I'm shocked. Shocked I tell you.

:)

[bolidew]

From "We The Founding Fathers" to "We The People" is a change of subject in grammar sense. So there ought to be a separator between the two parts.

[bickelj]

I've heard of an old rule of thumb in presenting a message: KISS.

I also think there's a universal guideline in presenting a visual message: "the biggest element is the most important element" so whatever is biggest will be communicated as the most important. Is open letter important or is the goal to get people to know Ron Paul?
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#1: the name RON PAUL must be the biggest element of the page
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I totally agree with everyone who brings up whitespace. Where were your eyes drawn to in this post? Was it the mumbo jumbo I wrote above, this mumbo jumbo paragraph down here? Or was it the line surrounded by a buttload of whitespace? If Ron Paul is where the eyes are intended to be drawn, "Ron Paul" needs to be in the biggest lettering, and surrounded with the most whitespace. I think it was mentioned before that there are 3 types of readers, 30 second, 3 minute, and 30 minute readers. Whether or not that's true, I think it makes sense to break the page down into only 3 sizes of font (preferably all one type of font, 3 sizes). The biggest point you want to make needs to be significantly larger than the next biggest points. The next biggest point needs to be significantly larger than the 3rd biggest points. RON PAUL = 2843573925 pt font, Open Letter = 48 pt font, Everything else = 12 pt font. Plus lots of white space. Don't have scaling font sizes of 8-48 and everything between because it's just messy. Along the same lines of KISS, ONE web site is a good idea. Tea Party is for those who already support RP to donate. People who get involved will figure that out on their own. Major on the majors, minor on the minors. This is a major ad with a major audience so let's stick to the majors only and forget the minors.

[UtahApocalypse]

If anything the 1st draft was 1000000000000000000000000 times better then this cluttered nightmare.

[leglock]

Agreed about the white space

Remember the Ron Paul ad that was in a newspaper and on the other side was







THEY DONT HATE US BECAUSE WE'RE FREE








And then it said MikeGravel2008.com?


It's a good point.

[kipload]

PLEASE I BEG OF YOU LISTEN:

You put back the phrasing "We the Founders" that seems to put words in the mouths of the founders that MANY PEOPLE INDEPENDENTLY SAID WAS PRESUMPTUOUS! And these are died in the wool supporters! What will the average American learning about Dr. Paul for the first time think?

You are seriously risking the alienation of people more than their support!

The first draft response thread was absolutely littered with comments to this effect. You took it out by the third draft. Now you've put it back in? Why Why Why.

Putting in the "(Ron Paul would... phrasing) DOES NOT adequately seperate the principles of the founders from the presumption of what they would say about Dr. Paul.

I apologize for the Capitalization of some of my phrases here but I am extremely concerned that you are going to waste your money and hurt Dr. Paul in the bargain.

I recognize that time is getting short and I imagine that the copy is due at the newspaper soon. It is too late to quibble over broad conceptual issues like the overall format or the tombstone look or clutter; furthermore this is your project paid for with your own money and you have the right to express your own artistic / marketing vision. But you simply must correct this clearly identified error of putting words in the Founders' mouths that is so apparent to so many and has such a great potential for harm.

+500!!!

[FluxCapacitor]

Washington has his back to Jefferson, and Jefferson and Franklin have theri backs to each other. This looks very unproffessional. I've seen it mentioned in each thread, but it hasn't been fixed. Is there a reason for this?

Someone objected on the grounds that Washinton and Jefferson should be at the top.

Someone else rightfully pointed out that you can keep Washington and Franklin in the same place, just use a mirror image to get them facing the center of the page.

[fight4liberty]

Am I the only one that is bothered by the fact that one of the lines in the black box at the bottom says, "Help us make December 16 the largest ever, one day fundraiser for any political candidate in history!", but there is absolutely no mention of the Boston Tea Party happening on that date in 1773 so how many people reading this will know the significance of December 16th? Probably none of them, right? It's just another day like any other day.

And more importantly by not using the fact that this is the anniversary date of the Boston Tea Party (which according to Wikipedia "helped to spark the American Revolution") we are failing to use a powerful image that almost everybody knows about. In fact this is what makes Dec 16th such a brilliant choice for the biggest ever fundraiser event in history. But there's no use what-so-ever of this fantastic idea in this ad.

The ad gives all this good data about Ron Paul and then when it comes down to the part of the ad that is supposed to get the reader to do something there's no punch. It is very weak and unclear as to what the ad wants the reader to do and why. It would be so easy and powerful if we just used this Boston Tea Party concept in the copy in the black box. It could be done many different ways. My suggestion would be to use the existing copy with a few additions and have it say something like this:

"When Ron Paul's supporters raised a record 4.3 million dollars in one day (more than any other GOP candidate) it got everybody's attention.

"So now we have decided to set an even higher record!

"On December 16th, 1773, American colonists staged the Boston Tea Party to protest an oppressive tax by the British which helped to spark the American Revolution.

"Help us make this December 16th the largest ever, one day fundraiser for any political candidate in history!

"Pledge now to make your most generous donation this December 16th.

"Together we can change the world!

"Go to www.teaparty07.com or call 1-877-ronpaul."

Of course, this is more text than will fit in the current size of the black box so it would have to be made larger and the text would have to be layed out in a nice looking way (maybe make it a horizontal box along the bottom of the ad) but to neglect using this very brilliant concept is sort of like using a pistol when we have a cannon sitting there.

Anybody else think we're missing the boat on this one?

[RonPaulStreetTeam]

I second the thoughts of scottymac, castor, syborius, RonPaulStreetTeam and others. For the money being invested in this by llepard, we would be better off going with the Iowa ad which was genius (http://ronpaulmosaic.com/ad/ames_ad_ron_paul_140dpi.jpg), or else let professionals collaborate on this. There is not a lot of time.

then go to this thread.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=37401

OMG we are infested with disinfoers.
ignoring post and clutter fucking with things like, "move this period" "change his face this way" make more light here"

they are trying to drown out real concerns and ignore.

this place is INFESTED

no wonder the HUGE jump in membership

they are working from our insides to fail us.

DONT BUY IT.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=37401

[michaelwise]

FMNN article about his effort.

The graphic design work is provided by Ron Paul supporter and longtime graphic artist Linda Lagana from NH; the ad concept was the brain work of Max, Walt, Lord Zar, Torchbearer, and the team at www.ronpaulforums.com.

http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=51414

[max]

PLEASE I BEG OF YOU LISTEN:

You put back the phrasing "We the Founders" that seems to put words in the mouths of the founders that MANY PEOPLE INDEPENDENTLY SAID WAS PRESUMPTUOUS! And these are died in the wool supporters! What will the average American learning about Dr. Paul for the first time think?

You are seriously risking the alienation of people more than their support!

The first draft response thread was absolutely littered with comments to this effect. You took it out by the third draft. Now you've put it back in? Why Why Why.

Putting in the "(Ron Paul would... phrasing) DOES NOT adequately seperate the principles of the founders from the presumption of what they would say about Dr. Paul.

I apologize for the Capitalization of some of my phrases here but I am extremely concerned that you are going to waste your money and hurt Dr. Paul in the bargain.

I recognize that time is getting short and I imagine that the copy is due at the newspaper soon. It is too late to quibble over broad conceptual issues like the overall format or the tombstone look or clutter; furthermore this is your project paid for with your own money and you have the right to express your own artistic / marketing vision. But you simply must correct this clearly identified error of putting words in the Founders' mouths that is so apparent to so many and has such a great potential for harm.

its not presumptuos!

if the founders arent speaking in their voice then it becomes a watered down presidents day ad...

the founders voice is the whole "hook" of the ad that draws the reader in and compels him to keep reading

we are supposed to be leading the sheeple...not catering to them

[leglock]

RonPaulStreetTeam, you're being a bit paranoid.

We have a lot of members on this board (including myself) that usually don't speak up unless it's something that bothers us. I don't think anyone is trying to spread disinformation and trying to hurt Ron Paul.

The person who bought the ad obviously likes this format so we're trying to make suggestions to improve what he wants.

[kipload]

This is designed to be a quarter page add. If you contact "Operation NH" they may have a version that can be used for a full page add.

My question: What POPS in this ad? Does it spark your interest?

Even if it is quarter page... You can run this numerous times and reach an even larger audience. Hopefully we are trying to gain support. This ad makes me want to figure out who this Ron Paul guy is. You might be able to edit it to mention Nov. 5th and TeaParty07. Just a thought.

http://www.operationnh.com/newspaperad2.jpg

[krott5333]

PLEASE, make every founding father look to the middle!

[Ron Paul News]

Wow, why don't we spread this concept to every major newspaper in the country. It's be dramatic and effective.

[traitorist]

PLEASE, make every founding father look to the middle!

+1001 :)

[RonPaulStreetTeam]

RonPaulStreetTeam, you're being a bit paranoid.

We have a lot of members on this board (including myself) that usually don't speak up unless it's something that bothers us. I don't think anyone is trying to spread disinformation and trying to hurt Ron Paul.

The person who bought the ad obviously likes this format so we're trying to make suggestions to improve what he wants.

you are soooo missing the point or one of them.
This will NOT HURT Ron pual

it will od NOTHING FOR HIM

this ad is a terrible design and will be ignored and nothing will be learned or taken away from it.
No one will make it that far.

Dont you know what advertising is about?
if they wanted a documentary on the founding fathers i think they would go look for one, not open the USA Today.

this will NOT gain supporters as it is designed to be ignored and not read through.

read many others agree on tihs.

[RonPaulStreetTeam]

why waste the best opportunity we have with poor design and failed advertising.

[leglock]

lol, if you read what I said in my post in the thread I said this looks like one of those steak ads that are in magazines. My point is I think the person who paid for it likes this desgin because all four drafts are like this...

The biggiest thing is that the founders should be facing the reader not elsewhere.

[RobotJaxxon]

Ok, I was kinda feeling the need for a different approach to this ad as well... I just didn't have the guts before to say it! There are a lot of problems.

This ad and this is kind of a microcosm of RP's campaign difficulties... RP forced to explain all of his complicated stances in 2 minutes at a debates, and he ends up talking too fast and getting too small of chunks from too many topics.... the inability to play in the world of soundbites, and the difficulty of connecting with a wider audience as a result.

This ad will resound with RP supporters, but will lose a lot of the general public.

If I were making this ad, I would have focused on 4 topics:

--Integrity

--Bringing our troops home (but aggressively pursuing Bin Laden and co)

--Privacy/PATRIOT act/Habeas Corpus

--The Economy (and why sound money will fix the long term problems)

I would have had these topics large and in bold, and back up each of the claims with facts. Site the sources. Ask someone like Peter Schiff to write a short paragraph or two explaining why sound money is necessary to fix the economy, and include it like a news article under The Economy heading. Then at the top put Ron Paul's campain info in big letters....maybe not even have his picture.

The idea: Use the 30-second glance to educate readers about Ron Paul (I think the 4 items I listed above are the most persuasive arguments for him to the general public). Use the 3-minute and 30-minute content to educate and inform about Ron Paul's positions, why sound money is good, why he had integrity, why having ANY troops in the middle ease makes up sless save (Maybe ask Michael Scheuer to write a paragraph or two to explain this).

That's what I would have done.

[francisco]

its not presumptuos!

if the founders arent speaking in their voice then it becomes a watered down presidents day ad...

the founders voice is the whole "hook" of the ad that draws the reader in and compels him to keep reading

we are supposed to be leading the sheeple...not catering to them

This is an open letter from Mr. Lepard, not the Founders. He can speculate about what they would say, but he was not one of them and cannot use the word "We." The appearance of putting words in the mouths of the Founders is indeed presumptous, that is how it comes off, and it will hurt our cause, period.

I'm sorry but numerous commentators, all strong supporters, all independently saw this and voiced their concerns in the very first thread.

[mfoley1]

simple fix.. "Google Ron Paul" ..full page =D

[lew]

Please make the Founding Fathers face each other.


Just flip the two on the left to face the two on the right, and vice versa. It would look better that way.

[Aballistar]

I liked the version of the founding fathers portraits I saw earlier where there were all facing center and their eyes seemed to be staring at the reader. That was cool.

That's just a slight nitpick though, I love it!

[RobotJaxxon]

This is designed to be a quarter page add. If you contact "Operation NH" they may have a version that can be used for a full page add.

My question: What POPS in this ad? Does it spark your interest?

Even if it is quarter page... You can run this numerous times and reach an even larger audience. Hopefully we are trying to gain support. This ad makes me want to figure out who this Ron Paul guy is. You might be able to edit it to mention Nov. 5th and TeaParty07. Just a thought.

http://www.operationnh.com/newspaperad2.jpg

That's a great ad, particularly for the GOP primary.

[lew]

Also, I hate the wording of "It's time to remind Washington DC that government in the USA works for the People - NOT the other way around!"



I like this better "It's time to remind Washington DC that government in the American tradition works for the People - NOT the other way around!" or "It's time to remind Washington DC that the American government works for the People - NOT the other way around!" or something similar.


I hate how "government in the USA" sounds.

[Bryan]

Fifth draft is up!
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=37415

[paradoxalist]

simple fix.. "Google Ron Paul" ..full page =D

Ha! Blank page with:

"You've been pwned...

Google Ron Paul!"

:)

[lew]

Also, please use a BIGGER photo of Paul. People need to be able to recognize him when they see him on TV.

[syborius]

Ok, I was kinda feeling the need for a different approach to this ad as well... I just didn't have the guts before to say it! There are a lot of problems.

This ad and this is kind of a microcosm of RP's campaign difficulties... RP forced to explain all of his complicated stances in 2 minutes at a debates, and he ends up talking too fast and getting too small of chunks from too many topics.... the inability to play in the world of soundbites, and the difficulty of connecting with a wider audience as a result.

This ad will resound with RP supporters, but will lose a lot of the general public.

If I were making this ad, I would have focused on 4 topics:

--Integrity

--Bringing our troops home (but aggressively pursuing Bin Laden and co)

--Privacy/PATRIOT act/Habeas Corpus

--The Economy (and why sound money will fix the long term problems)

I would have had these topics large and in bold, and back up each of the claims with facts. Site the sources. Ask someone like Peter Schiff to write a short paragraph or two explaining why sound money is necessary to fix the economy, and include it like a news article under The Economy heading. Then at the top put Ron Paul's campain info in big letters....maybe not even have his picture.

The idea: Use the 30-second glance to educate readers about Ron Paul (I think the 4 items I listed above are the most persuasive arguments for him to the general public). Use the 3-minute and 30-minute content to educate and inform about Ron Paul's positions, why sound money is good, why he had integrity, why having ANY troops in the middle ease makes up sless save (Maybe ask Michael Scheuer to write a paragraph or two to explain this).

That's what I would have done.

Yes yes yes yes Over and over again. This is repeated.

The premise of this schematic is flawed from the start, does not take into account KISS. People bicker over dots, arrows, founding father is squinting, so on.

I say rehash the Iowa ad. Why invent the wheel when you have the best Ad already made. The Message is also very clear.

When you get into debating all his fine points, it will always never be enough. This format might only appeal to the RP base, for us to bicker over, but might get washed over the masses with a glazed look in peoples eyes.

Not saying that this was a bad effort, not questioning how patriotic these people are. I am questioning the lack of marketing/advertising fundamentals here.

We can sway the masses with Simplicity, KISS, Directness, Clarity, Strength.

Think about the overall message here. We have founding fathers on a "gravestone" they are all dead, then we have a picture of ron paul, on the "bottom" with a small picture.

I just don't know how that will play on peoples psyche. First impression was, TOO much INFO. Second impression was, this was somber, sad, gloomy. Black on TOP, Impending Gloom, to a gravestone of impending doom, warnings, doom, lectures, doom. Like a bad history lesson.

The ad would be 10000 times better if we just took 5 RP quotes in BOLD, BIG FONT, and took out a full page ad. Google RP, Youtube RP. Youtube : A new hope:

I think trying to explain everything he stands for, his whole platform like this, is just intrinsically a bad idea. Like I said previously, people don't want a sales men in their face. They want clean cut, simple, emotive, clarity. intrigue. Let them nibble and discover on their own what they've been missing.


My two cents. :rolleyes:

[dsentell]

It is a BEAUTIFUL AD -- unique, eye-catching and informative!

I have no doubt that it will wake up a lot of people to the message of Ron Paul!

Thank you llepard and everyone who has worked so hard on this project!

[syborius]

Can you IMAGINE

a ONE PAGE AD. as follows::::::::::::


(in big bold font)
YOUTUBE "A New Hope"

Restore the Constitution
Restore habeas Corpus
Restore Liberty
End the wars NOW!
End the Illegal Income Tax
Restore states rights

"for liberty" - RON PAUL 08

Why people are saying Ron Paul is the most honest man in congress?
Go here: www.ronpaul2008.com

-------------------------

vastly different approach. Sorry, I think simplicity in the end rules the day. The devil is in the details.
The fundamental question should be asked. Are you trying to sell RP through the ad? Or do we want
people to discover RP on their own? I think self discovery is much more powerful. SO hit them with bullet points
and get them going that way.

[Knightskye]

In my opinion, I really like the "We have a national ID card on our doorstep" quote, but it seems like this thing is set in stone.

Where'd the money come from anyway?