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* Several voters in the 11th Congressional District received this mailer from Republican candidate Martin Ozinga the other day…
* Trouble is, the members of that attractive “family” have probably never heard of Ozinga. They’re paid models…
One Democratic operative has called the advertisement “Ozingaweis,” arguing that it’s eerily reminiscent of a tactic Republican Jim Oberweis used in an unsuccessful bid during a special election this spring in the 14th District.
Oberweis’ mailer, which was trashed by the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board, used actors and gave them fake names and situations to argue against his opponent’s tax policies.
Ozinga’s mailer doesn’t go that far, and only includes a quote but no names.
“It’s a symbol of the fact that families are supporting Marty Ozinga,” Andy Sere, Ozinga’s campaign manager, said.
Sere also points out that the DCCC’s television ad also appears to use stock video.
“It’s a common campaign procedure,” he said. Such images and videos can be purchased more easily and cheaply than assembling local families for such situations.
“I’m shocked that (Democrats) think this is important to the voters of the 11th District,” Sere added. “It shows just how bankrupt they are of ideas and that they would go to any lengths not to talk about Debbie Halvorson’s record.”
A previous Ozinga mailer prominently featured one of his employees. This new one uses paid spokesmodels. You’d think the Ozinga campaign could find a good looking family in the district that is voting for the man.
* Speaking of Oberweis…
…the National Republican Congressional Committee launches near daily attacks on Foster’s early record on Capitol Hill.
“Where’s Bill Foster?” read the title of a recent NRCC e-mail blast to the media.
In it, the committee — which spent close to $1.3 million in support of Oberweis leading into March’s contest — targets Foster for voting to recess instead of staying in Washington to debate energy policy. Last week, the NRCC released an “energy report card” that painted Foster as unwilling to get behind solutions to energy issues.
“Bill Foster has used his brief stint in office to define himself as an out-of-touch obstructionist, but this report card paints an alarming picture of a member of Congress who will do anything he can to side with Democrat leadership instead of the people of Illinois,” NRCC spokesman Ken Spain stated in one release.
* Other congressional stuff…
* Hinz: Pregnant women will have to deliver in back seats. Whole subdivisions will burn. Productivity will plummet as firetrucks and cars alike are stuck in traffic. That’s the story that opponents of a pending big railroad merger in the Chicago area have peddled in recent weeks in a highly effective media blitz to pressure federal authorities to reject the deal. As that great liberal populist U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Wood Dale, thundered in a press release last week, “In CN’s eyes, we are nothing more than speed-bumps on the way to an enhanced bottom line.”
* Takes a train to cry
* Rep. Weller quietly slipping into the background
* Role matures for Obama adviser
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 8:06 am
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Ozinga has the support of his employees and paid models, what more of an endorsement do you need.
For somone touted as a successful business man he does not seem to be very good at marketing. Apparently it was not his marketing skills which got him all those lucartaive city contracts. The choice of using employees and paid models, particuarly after the Oberweiss fiasco, also calls into question his judgment. Firt he uses shill compnaies with pretend minority owners, and now this.
Comment by Ghost Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 8:41 am
Oh come on! Celebrities endorse candidates all the time and nobody says a thing.
It’s the message that counts. Not the messenger.
Comment by Lee Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 8:46 am
The CN deal is a long term winner for the congestion in the region. Nice sound bite Roskam and totally disingenous…if you like more traffic please rally against this Dupagers…
Comment by Anonymous45 Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 8:52 am
===Celebrities endorse candidates all the time and nobody says a thing.===
Huh?
The family above did not endorse Ozinga. It’s a stock photo.
And celebrities usually don’t work for the politicians they endorse.
I’m not sure what you’re talking about.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 8:53 am
The wailing about the CN acquisition of right of way is approaching comical proportions.
RR crossings have been obstructed for decades all over the south and west sides with little or no concern over the welfare of the residents. But when the well heeled are going to affected it becomes a big story.
Communities over the preceding decades have solved their problems by having multiple fire departments and even building their own over/underpass systems into place.
The CN deal is an improvement for the entire national rail transport system. Get the best deal possible from the CN and move on to something more important.
Comment by Plutocrat03 Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 8:58 am
Maybe Ozinga should feature Blagojevich. The Gov can thank Marty for all the campaign contributions over the years.
Comment by I'm just sayin' Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 8:59 am
At least the models are not running for a seat, which has worked surprisingly well for the dems the past couple years.
Comment by Wumpus Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 9:04 am
Perhaps Rich has a point regarding the advertisement.
Campaign materials have evolved into advertisements. With that, the use of stock photos, Photoshopping, and staging of images have become the norm. Should the political advertisements, be prepared as news articles?
On the other hand, does anyone really believe that the Ozinga camp could not have found a photogenic family of supporters to pose for their piece? Adding that ‘factual’ standard would just make the advertisement more expensive.
Seems like a non-issue to me.
Comment by Plutocrat03 Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 9:16 am
===Adding that ‘factual’ standard would just make the advertisement more expensive.===
That’s what we’ve come to? A few bucks extra so that a “real” family of supporters appears in a candidate’s mailer is now a deal-killer?
Direct mail should be judged on its truthfulness. The front page of this mailer is not true in any way.
A Repub sent me an email a few minutes ago asking what the difference was between the Ozinga mailer and the use of stock photos in the DCCC TV ad.
The difference is that none of those people in the DCCC ad are listed as campaign supporters.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 9:24 am
Thousands of advertisements are constructed of images of anonymous people ‘endorsing’ a product. Political campaigns have evolved into a Madison Avenue style advertising regimen which treats the candidates as another commodity to market. This is not new.
I would not be opposed to raising the standards of what can be placed on a piece of campaign literature. Unfortunately, that would require a campaign material police. Should a candidate disclose whether stock images are used, is a campaign event a stunt, is a particular statement in a campaign piece correct? It would get really messy.
If we are to hold candidates to an ethical standard of any kind, then perhaps a voluntary “Responsible Candidate Code of Conduct” could be created. Campaigns would sign on and all could be held to the same standard.
When we created campaign materials for ourselves and other candidates, we used campaign volunteers because that was more accessible than stock photos. I do not believe the campaign pieces would have been less credible if we had used stock photos.
In the case of the Ozinga piece, because the individuals are anonymous, the veracity of the piece remains unchanged in my mind. In his previous piece where an employee’s image was used, there was criticism because the employment status of the individual was not disclosed. Is it not possible that that person was a real supporter? The use of the stock photo may have been a response to the criticism of the employee photo. Would you criticize a campaign piece if an unattributed picture of a spouse, child family member were used as well?
Comment by Plutocrat03 Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 9:52 am
FTC product endorsement rules…
The FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements offer practical advice on endorsements by consumers, celebrities, and experts. All endorsements must reflect the honest experience or opinion of the endorser. Endorsements may not contain representations that would be deceptive, or could not be substantiated, if the advertiser made them directly.
* Endorsements by consumers must reflect the typical experience of consumers who use the product, not the experience of just a few satisfied customers. If an endorsement doesn’t reflect users’ typical experience, the ad must clearly disclose either what consumers can expect their results to be or the limited applicability of the endorser’s experience. Saying “Not all consumers will get these results” or “Your results may vary” is not enough.
* Endorsements by celebrities must reflect the celebrity’s honest experience or opinion. If the endorsement represents that the celebrity uses the product, that celebrity actually must use the product. Once a celebrity (or expert) has endorsed a product, the advertiser has an obligation to make sure the endorsement continues to reflect the endorser’s opinion.
* To give an expert endorsement, a person must have sufficient qualifications to be considered an expert in the field. But just being an expert isn’t enough. Expert endorsements must be supported by an actual evaluation, examination, or testing of the product that other experts in the field normally would conduct to support the conclusions in the endorsement.
* Advertisers also must disclose any material connection between a person endorsing a product and the company selling the product. A “material connection” is defined as a relationship that might affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement. For example, if an endorser is an employee or relative of the advertiser, that fact must be disclosed because it is relevant to how much weight a consumer would give to the endorsement. Similarly, an advertiser must disclose if a consumer has been paid for giving an endorsement.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 9:55 am
If I were a political candidate, I would fire any consultant that brought me direct mail or ads using stock images or actors represented as supporters. It’s just laziness. The whole point of testimonials is sincerity and shared experiences and values. When it’s phony, it actually does harm to your message.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 10:07 am
as for the bit about “deliver babies in the back seats of cars” glad he has been on top of this same issue in the south suburbs and along the bnsf line. I likely live closer to the Ej&E line than any commentor and I see this as bs
Comment by oneman Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 10:08 am
How come the point that more towns will see a reduction in train traffic than towns that will see an increase. I hate sitting at a train crossing waiting for trains and completley agree that as part of a capital plan more RR crossings need to be turned into bridges and flyways/tunnels but improvment in the bottleneck that is cargo transport in chicaoland is needed or we will lose many more jobs.
Comment by fed up Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 10:19 am
the stock photos is BS by Ozinga get real supporters. I hope to see Halvorson’s direct mail with her, Emil Jones and Blago proudly proclaiming we stopped ethics reform and increased our pay.
Comment by fed up Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 10:22 am
Hmmm, the story from the newspaper says that Halvorson’s TV ad appears to use stock footage as well. Is that true? I haven’t seen the commercial, but if it is ture, then that usage should be part of the discussion, too.
Comment by Captain Flume Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 10:23 am
===I haven’t seen the commercial, but if it is ture, then that usage should be part of the discussion, too.===
I posted the video last week.
None of the stock images in that ad are of people specifically endorsing Halvorson.
Apples and oranges.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 10:24 am
Apples and oranges, and maybe bananas, too. But the people in the photo are not identified, so they are not making a specific endorsement either. It’s just a representation. The campaign should have used eligible voters from the district, but this is really a tempest in a teapot.
Comment by Captain Flume Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 10:34 am
Flume, as I noted above, if this was a product endorsement ad, the FTC might very well order it pulled.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 10:39 am
Ozinga ad:
Probably “legal” (since Marty wasn’t advertising a happy concrete customer), and probably will go unnoticed by 90% of the voters in the 11th, but bad form nonetheless.
EJ&E/CN sale: why is there such a disconnect between Cap Fax posters (probably 90% of whom think this is a good deal and call the politicians out on their pandering bluster) and the emerging political stance of strong opposition?
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 11:02 am
Seems silly to use models when an actual family that actually endorses Ozinga likely could be found.
Good-looking family, though.
Comment by Fan of the Game Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 11:43 am
Rich, to be slightly contrarian here:
We live in a world with more and more nutcases. I’m not at all sure if I volunteer to put my real family, especially minor children, in a mass mailer that would reach across a Congressional District. One could be setting themselves up for at the least prank phone calls and a batch of junk mail.
At my day job, we once used employee photos in a major PR piece. Subsequently received legal advice that this was a bad idea for several reasons, including potential harassment.
We now use stock or “model” photos across the board. No misrepresentation of anything is involved.
I agree that Oberweis went way over the line last year. I don’t agree that this piece rises to that level of offense, though I might have designed the front page differently.
Seems to old AA that Halvorson & Co. are desperate to change the conversation from all about Debbie’s friends Rod & Emil that they grabbed this and gave it a spin. I don’t buy it, but reasonable people could disagree.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 12:25 pm
==change the conversation from all about Debbie’s friends Rod & Emil===
We’ve talked about that subject more times than I can count. So today is a bit different.
Earth-shattering? No. Disengenuous? Yes.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 12:27 pm
=Earth-shattering? No. Disengenuous? Yes.=
I’ll agree with you there.
It’s also too nice outside to be inside doing anything remotely productive.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 1:33 pm
===It’s also too nice outside to be inside doing anything remotely productive.===
Just waiting for a report from the City Club, and then I think I’m heading to the fair.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 1:35 pm
Maybe Marty couldn’t find a real family that supports him.
Comment by Bill Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 1:37 pm
Yet we still have no Capital Fax day at the fair…
Comment by Ghost Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 1:42 pm
===Yet we still have no Capital Fax day at the fair…===
It’s every day.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 1:46 pm
How do we know those people aren’t supporting Ozinga? (If he pays well, of course they’ll support him.) Just because they (might) live outside the district doesn’t mean they can’t support him! Plus, Ozinga doesn’t live in the district, why should his supporters?
I do not know what the back side of the piece says about these folks, but the front looks OK to me. It just reinforces the last mailer, Marty’s employees support him. If he wins, these people might become his official spokesmodel family.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 2:14 pm
*EJ&E/CN sale: why is there such a disconnect between Cap Fax posters (probably 90% of whom think this is a good deal and call the politicians out on their pandering bluster) and the emerging political stance of strong opposition?*
SDS, for the same reason folks like Blago, Stroger, Daley, Jones, and Hendon et al continue to be elected year after year. Change is scary, and the uninformed massses will acquiesce to the status quo, barring some politically catastrophic event. The readers of this blog make a concerted effort to stay abreast of local and statewide politics, and thus realize the advantages of, say, the CN purchase.
Comment by The Doc Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 4:08 pm
In the ‘96 US Senate primary, Peter Fitzgerald attacked Loleta Didrickson for renting pricey office furniture while she was Director of Employment Security.
The picture of fancy office furniture was from a catalog–not a depiction of the actual office she inhabited years earlier.
I think it is similar to the Ozinga ad; and I agree with Rich.
Stock footage of “people” for illustrative or background pictures is one thing, but to state that these cyphers are supporters crosses the line.
Back to Fitz: The fact that the catalog page number was clearly visible in his ad obviously did not hurt him in that race.
Comment by Nelson Brothers Loves Me... Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 6:12 pm
The Ozinga ad seems to cross the line because of the caption. Since models were used something like “Families across the District are supporting Marty Ozinga” would have been more appropriate.
AA brings up a good point about Candidates’ needs to consider use of their families in ads.
To take that a step further, however: If for some reason, they feel they shouldn’t use THEIR families in an ad, they should also be unwilling to use supporters without fully disclosing potential consequences–especially in instances where there could very well be consequences…like waking up one day and finding your face associated with a scandal.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 8:25 pm
Solution: Have a picnic fundraiser for supporters and their families, take a big group shot.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Monday, Aug 11, 08 @ 8:29 pm