*If you only have six seconds of ideas to communicate, use five seconds.* ^That was 14 words and took 4.8 seconds to read aloud. I could read it faster, but I've had a martini. #### Ad platforms have tons of great inventory. It's not all 30 seconds. [Most of it isn't, actually.](https://megadigital.ai/en/blog/youtube-bumper-ads/) Bumper Ads (:06s) were hot for a bit ~five years ago, largely b/c they were novel, but it's time to revisit bumper ads for politics. And :15s, too. Most politicians are playing name ID games. "Hey, me, conservative, for you." If that's all the message needs to be, why not just say the thing? [[Voters don't read|People are busy and functionally illiterate.]] Even smart people don't read books. You read more before iPhones. Admit it. Post-Literacy is underdetermined in political advertising, advocacy and communication. [This is from 2010. It's prophetic. Read it.](https://www.amazon.com/Shallows-What-Internet-Doing-Brains/dp/0393339750) But we white collar practitioners get by. The average voter - with an average IQ of say 100 - is taking in too much information to juggle much any of it well. #### We need to stop making arguments and instead make assertions. The assertions shouldn't be bullshit. But they should be as simple as that sentence above^^. Subject, object. *Send illegal immigrants home.* *Drill for oil. Make gas less expensive.* Note the clarity of the verbs above. [[Copywriting Tips from Harry Dry|Everyone can picture, plainly, what drilling or sending mean and do.]] Bet you a beer when you focus on those sentences, you mentally picture an oil derrick or a bus. Contrast that with "supported legislation to stop illegal immigration" or some other pfaff everybody writes in press releases and expensive spots. What does it mean to support legislation, exactly? I support legislation deporting my mother-in-law. But if you think I'm doing more than that; you can be the one to tell her. [[ElmoreRules.jpg|Elmore Leonard]] was a great writer. He said "Leave out the parts people skip." Apply that logic to "I'm gonna stop the career politicians from representing special interests instead of [your state's] values." I've lived in both, and love them both, and cannot yet figure how Indiana values differ from Wisconsin values. Nobody in either place pays for good shoes or good haircuts. And everybody's nice. So take a cue from Elmore and just leave it out. Also: we work in visual media. Everyone is watching pictures. [[Every Image Matters (The Power of the Frame)|You don't have to say it, you can show it.]] Just like you don't have to *say* the candidate has a beautiful wife and a loving family. Campaign lawyers don't like that, though. Nor most candidates. They think nuance puts one hand over the ass when the shooting starts. Ask Forrest: nobody gets a million-dollar hand wound. Half-assed is always worse. So let's shoot at all the lawyers, yeah? Straight to the point.