02:00 AM Aug. 20, 2004 PT
Errol Morris, the documentary filmmaker who produced Apple Computer's well-known series of ads about discontented PC users who switched to Macs, had a similar idea on how to reach undecided voters. His new advertising campaign features Republicans who voted for President Bush in 2000 explaining why they now intend to vote for Sen. John Kerry.
Scheduled to run during the Republican National Convention later this month, MoveOn.org's political action committee, MoveOnPAC, will air Morris' aesthetically stark 30-second interviews with ordinary citizens about why they won't vote for Bush again in November.
"There's a principle of advertising that if you want to talk to a certain group, it's best to pick someone from that group," said Morris, whose documentary on former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, The Fog of War, won a 2003 Oscar. "If you want to talk to Republicans on the fence, then it's best to talk to Republicans who are on the fence. These are real people who are expressing themselves in their own words."
Morris' "Real People" ads may rely on traditional Madison Avenue dogma, but they are also a rare example of how the internet can play an integral role in producing a political ad campaign. With a tight schedule and limited funds, Morris said it would have been difficult to locate appropriate voters without MoveOn's extensive e-mail list. (Morris isn't charging MoveOn for his work.)
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