How to win HS election swing vote with school news advertisement?

April 16, 2009 7:57 PM

Help me come up with a funny campaign ad targeted to high schoolers to clinch the Student Body President election.

I have a large chunk of support from friends, teachers, and administrators around the school, but the swing vote in the election is won or lost with an advertisement aired over the school news on CCTV.


Some ideas:

I was known for a YouTube video I recorded and have since deleted in freshman year with a lipdub to the Final Countdown. People have told me to incorporate said song into the campaign ad. It went microviral around the school, but it doesn't have as broad of an appeal I like.

Next idea that's really ringing a bell for me would be for me or others to voiceover softball questions regarding my candidacy and clip in celebrities answering these questions with a "Yes, that's right." or "Of course", etc. It'd be funny, but the availability of "celebrities saying yes to something" on Google or YouTube was little to none.

I found out from experience that appearing on the news and giving a serious address is a no-no. People judge your character and ability to do the job from your overall persona and not just one speech on the news, so this is the time to be silly. However, I can't do a Benny Hill-esque video with pratfalls and then just pop up in the end and be like "VOTE FOR ME!"; there needs to be an underlying message relating to the campaign although it could be humorous. An example of this was "Current President loves sports" which linked to a cut-in of an image of Michael Vick during his dogfighting scandal.

I wanted to ask the hive mind because you are all-mighty, all-knowing, and you have been here in one way or another before. I appreciate all MF has given me from an entertainment and a knowledge standpoint and I'd appreciate if you all would be able to help me out.

(Before anyone says anything, yes, I have one or two comments. I've been a member for ~ a week, didn't plan on asking AskMF until about 10 minutes ago, and plan on being an active member in the future.)

posted by seandq to education (17 comments total)

honestly, if the people want the final countdown you should give them the final countdown. student council is a popularity contest, so you should do what they want everyone wants you to do. the last thing you need to do is something unpopular.
posted by the aloha at 8:02 PM on April 16, 2009

The thing is the people who are requesting this, frankly, are people who I'm pretty sure are in my pocket to begin with.

I'm really trying to campaign to people I don't know or who don't know me who would be inspired by my ad to support me.
posted by seandq at 8:04 PM on April 16, 2009

What's the socioeconomic/diversity vibe of your school? What region of the country? I think we need more details before the hive mind can weigh in on the appropriateness of Final Countdown.

Could you co-opt one of the digital shorts from SNL? Not the gross ones, but the random ones like where Andy pops up randomly around the frame, or the one about being on a boat. Parodies of that with a hint of "message" built in could work well.
posted by parkerjackson at 8:35 PM on April 16, 2009

You're talking about people that don't normally bother to vote in student elections, right? In that case, forgetting real messages and doing pratfalls, or really anything not having to do with student politics, is the way to go.

In my senior year of college, my friends and I ran campaign to get one of us, a guy we wrote a fake religion around in years previous, elected student government president. He was a senior, too, so it didn't really make sense for him to run because he'd only be able to serve half his term. (The election is held in the middle of the academic year.)

Our campaign flyers didn't have anything to do whatsoever with whatever the student government issues were. They were all either pop culture references or bizarre citations from our fake religions. His speeches were about the oppression of a merfolk-type people that we said had formerly inhabited the part of the lake that the college had filled in to expand the campus. At the debates, a stunt was staged in which our candidate got thrown through a table.

At this school, and probably most schools, the percentage of students that care about student government issues or offices is tiny. The vast majority wasn't going to vote, but our antics caught their attention and amused them. And so, we won.

Just get their attention and be funny in your video. You'll have an easier time convincing the typical student that they should vote for you because you're purely amusing than you will convincing them that this is a choice that affects their future.
posted by ignignokt at 8:38 PM on April 16, 2009

i am sure other people will chime in later, and i am also only going on what you have told me but i really do not know if there is anything that you can do to get the other kids to vote for you or even if it matters...
I have a large chunk of support from friends, teachers, and administrators around the school
if this is true, and i have no reason to doubt you, the large chunk of students should grant you more votes than the opposition. if you have a competitor who is running as a joke and they get more votes than you, administration will put you in as president anyway (this happened three years in a row at my high school). in talking about this subject with other americans that i have known over the years, their student council elections also ran this way.

i feel that it is safe to say that for all intents and purposes, you have either won or lost the election already based on how many friends at school you have. you may also have the swing vote based on how well you treat the people who are not your friends. unless you make a truly offensive ad, which admin won't let you run, or insult your friends, which you woudn't do anyway, you are assured of whatever result is coming. to quote cool hand luke, "there are some people you just can't reach". no matter what you do, you will almost certainly not reach 100%. if 50%-66% is what you need than be fine with the office and add that checkmark to your college app.

plus, worrying about video ads is quite a few steps up the political ladder for you to have to worry about. you seem to have the killer instinct which will help you in later political life. i hope that you will be able to resist corruption.
posted by the aloha at 8:38 PM on April 16, 2009

ignignokt speaks the truth.

here is another anecdote along the line of his point: at my undergrad college homecoming court election, one of my co-workers unleashed a campaign which revolved around the fact that he had a boombox. the fliers had a picture of him with a boombox on his shoulder and his name. he came within something in the lower double digits of being elected homecoming king. he was the highest vote-getter of the homecoming court, though, and was also individually congratulated on the front page of the student paper.
posted by the aloha at 8:58 PM on April 16, 2009

Do two videos.

The first: a great video in the style of OK GO! with treadmills and the entire basketball team.

The second: The Final Countdown, but as a fan-made video where you get people at school to do lipsync and air guitar for the song and then dub the music on top. Then end with the words "Sean... Bringing People Together for Awesome!"
posted by parmanparman at 9:11 PM on April 16, 2009

Hm, that's actually a great idea. An adaptation of "Like a Boss" would be really apt in this scenario. Minus the sexual and violent references, it could work.

The socioeconomic status of the school is odd - it's in one of the poorest towns in one of the most affluent counties in Florida, so there's a mix of people from all socioeconomic backgrounds. I'd be inclined to say, from past trends, those who are actually able to vote and those who do are usually of a higher socioeconomic status than the majority of the school.

I'm in Central Florida, campaigning to a school with roughly 3500 kids. I can't see vote totals exceeding 1000.
posted by seandq at 9:21 PM on April 16, 2009

I took Russian in college and I always wanted to do a Communism-themed student government campaign, with soaring revolutionary language, dressed up like Khrushchev, who I look a little bit like, in an ushanka. "The wheels of the academic machine are oiled with the blood of the students!" and all that. You can pretty easily work in any campaign themes you want, peppered with accusations that your opponent supports the tyranny of the bourgeoisie.

Here is the Soviet National Anthem for a sound track.

And for the low-brow members of the audience you could throw in some Borat-esque comedy.
posted by XMLicious at 9:28 PM on April 16, 2009 [2 favorites]

Haven't gotten the reply system down just yet, sorry guys.

@ignignokt: I agree with you, more than not. I think the context is more just to satisfy teachers and administration here more than anything, and I realize that it's more of an afterthought in relation to the video that anything else. Realize that less than 33% of the school will be voting, but I want the voices of those who do to count.

@the aloha: I appreciate the compliments. I could only wish I'm running against a joke candidate, my competitor's actually one of my closest friends and she's more than deserving. It's really an issue of GOTV more than anything now. The swing vote I'm targeting are more people who are both acquaintances of she and myself, and hoping my ad could swing them from either not voting at all or voting for her over to me.

@parman: The basketball team might be a bit far-fetched, they're not exactly the kind of kids who would vote in an SGA election or be seen in "High School Musical". Potentially another sports team though, that's a very good idea, and I might definitely use the Final Countdown lip syncing idea.
posted by seandq at 9:30 PM on April 16, 2009

@XMlicious: That's great. In fact, some friends and I of a bit more worldly bend get together and often recite the Soviet National Anthem at attention for fun. Some more wholeheartedly than others, but it's a good activity. If that core group of friends was the whole school, it'd make a bit more sense for this election. But definitely for a future one, it's possible.
posted by seandq at 9:31 PM on April 16, 2009

seandq, i see. this actually is closer than most student elections usually are. in that case, i think the hive has est idea with being entertaining. not only will this probably push you over in the vote count from the unexpected, but if you get too cut-throat you might make it harder to be as friendly after the election with your opponent. student council president is *not* worth losing a friend over.

the more than deserving line will also serve you well if you persue politics in the future.
posted by the aloha at 10:05 PM on April 16, 2009

Take out shoes and insert in "Sean" (if that's your real name)
I have 2 teenagers, the youngest is a senior in HS, and they crack up over this. It's not entirely lost on me either.
Some creative replacement for the naughty words will be in order, and you can gear the lyrics for the campaign.
posted by Acacia at 12:12 AM on April 17, 2009

@the aloha: Well said, and I completely agree. We've spoken about not letting it grow too fierce during election week, but there's been little tests already.

@Acacia: ah, I like that! The only problem I can foresee is that some misinformation has been circulating about my sexual orientation since freshman year and that video might circulate the wrong kind of attention.
posted by seandq at 2:36 AM on April 17, 2009

Ha, I like the celebrity interview idea. Don't look for just "Yes" or "Of course" answers, though. Just try to find any interview with a celebrity, pick out any string of words, and then craft some sort of question for which those words are a mildly appropriate answer. E.g. Some football player says "we just went out there and gave 110%" or whatever, ask, "How much do you think Sean will give in this position?" "110%". There's a wealth of celebrity interviews on Youtube, I'm sure you could find something.

I'm assuming you have something like this in mind?
posted by losvedir at 3:37 AM on April 17, 2009

I agree that a joke commercial is probably the best strategy. The problem with making the whole commercial hinge on a central joke, though, is that if the joke isn't actually very funny to most people you've lost your only opportunity. My suggestion would be to go the YouTube/Robot Chicken/Tim and Eric's Awesome Show Great Job route and make the commercial a series of rapid fire jokes. If some of them aren't funny, oh well, but if you manage to get a couple of good ones in there then there's a good chance you'll end up getting the attention of most of the people who watch it.

Think of it like a trailer for a comedy movie, they don't just put one joke in there, they put all of the best lines in and come up with some way of stringing them all together. In fact, looking at some good comedy trailers like the one for Superbad would probably be a good idea. Put together some funny clips, such as part of your Final Countdown video, and anything else you can think of (doing re-enactments of popular music, films, etc. is an easy way to get laughs), come up with some voiceover to give it some context (or don't give it any context, it's up to you), add funny or cool music, etc.
posted by burnmp3s at 8:03 AM on April 17, 2009

@losvedir I like it too, and that's exactly what I have in mind. It's just a bit time consuming, and it seems from the past that the best ads are funny because they're under budget and look like they are made in about 5 minutes.

@burnmp3s: That's a great point. I was really leaning towards "Like a Boss" from SNL, but for those who've not yet seen it, it'd be passed on them, so I would throw in Final Countdown or something else.

@ALL: With that said, after talking to a few people yesterday, it seems like due to the massive candidate numbers, we're just doing speeches instead of advertisements. I'm a strong speaker, so I'm satisfied with that, but if any candidates do drop out the ad idea might be viable again. So thanks so much for all your help, and I appreciate the power of the hive mind!
posted by seandq at 7:49 AM on April 18, 2009