As the California Supreme Court hears oral arguments today on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, a debate is growing in our community about the effectiveness of the recent advertising and public outreach conducted by LGBT advocacy organizations in opposition to Proposition 8.
One of the tools generating the most heat is a television commercial produced by Equality California. The ad is simple and straightforward, but some in the community feel it’s not strong enough pointing out that it doesn’t use the words gay or lesbian (or bisexual or transgender for that matter) and it seems too mild to effectively counter the incorrect, harmful charges being leveled by opponents of LGBT equality.
Here’s the ad:
I’m not sure how I feel about this ad, and perhaps that’s the problem. It doesn’t immediately grab me as a "must view" (the way some other ads, produced by others, have in the past), but it doesn’t seem so obviously ineffective as to be a total waste of time. I think my middle of the road reaction means the ad misses the mark.
While I don't agree with those who say that this and other ads should be angry – that’s not generally an effective tool in winning over those folks who are in the middle and looking to be convinced – I do think that advertising and other outreach in opposition to Prop. 8 needs to be strong and direct to be effective. And that leads me to what the ads and other outreach efforts say. The messaging is the most important thing here: Why is Prop. 8 wrong? What impact has it had (and will it have)? Who shares the view that it’s wrong? How can individuals have an impact in overturning it?
I don’t live in California, so I’m not necessarily aware of all that is being done on the local level to engage the public in the fight against Prop. 8, but I hope that our community is thinking about this battle as a multi faceted communications and outreach effort employing advertising, direct outreach, digital engagement and all of the tools in the communications toolbox – all wrapped around the right message.
What do you think?
UPDATE: Here's a viral video that I love that provides an example of what I think is effective messaging. It's obviously too long to be used as a traditional "advertisement," but it's been posted on numerous blogs (it's up on AMERICAblog again today) and circulated via e-mail and word of mouth as well.
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there are also some amazing ads here. they have been airing in CA markets for a while – they are not specifically marriage focused but speak to the need for our families and our stories to be told
http://www.gettoknowusfirst.org