PSA

Small business owner Kevin and plumber Mari give you loads of options for election day. Vote early, avoid the wait and check out declareyourself.com/whywait.

You all know I'm skeptical about celebrity outreach in politics. Celebs can be very useful, but it all depends on how you use them. Generally speaking, putting them in PSAs on cable or network television is the least effective use of a celebrity spokesperson. There's no evidence that these types of PSAs drive voter turnout, and more often than not it results in a media narrative more focused on the celebrity than on the reasons behind higher youth political participation.

At the same time, celebrity involvement is hugely helpful in building a brand name for an organization, and organization can cash in on that higher level of brand recognition to register larger numbers of voters. That's certainly part of what lies behind the huge voter reg numbers that Rock the Vote and Declare Yourself have racked up this cycle.

This PSA from Why Tuesday cleverly highlights that tension between celebrity branding and effective messaging that I find so frustrating. I don't know that it will be any more effective than a normal PSA, but it certainly stands out from the crowd:

Something I've been meaning to highlight further is Voto Latino, a non-partisn voter registration outfit targeting Latino voters. They are one of a number of organizations targeting Latino voters this election cycle.

In the 2006 midterms, young Latino voters were one of the least likely ethnic groups to go to the polls (along with Asian-Pacific Islanders). Yet they are also one of the fastest growing groups in the youth demographic, and thanks to the GOP's handling of immigration, they are increasingly leaning democratic.

Voto Latino has a fairly novel approach to reaching young Latinos. They are using a combination of MySpace outreach, and targeted PSAs satirizing the popular "telenovelas" that so many 1st and 2nd generation latinos grew up watching. Here's one staring Wilmer Valderama and Rosario Dawson:

This is actually a great segway to a post I read earlier this week about best practices for creating successful advertisements to reach young voters. A study by Survey U asked students to rate what they look for in an advertisement and these were their responses (h/t Ypulse):

Be truthful
60 percent said extremely important
30 percent said somewhat important
7 percent said important nor unimportant
2 percent said not very important
2 percent said not important at all

Show the functionality
41 percent said extremely important
43 percent said somewhat important
11 percent said important nor unimportant
3 percent said not very important
2 percent said not important at all

Show me the value
38 percent said extremely important
43 percent said somewhat important
13 percent said important nor unimportant
3 percent said not very important
3 percent said not important at all

Be current
30 percent said extremely important
49 percent said somewhat important
14 percent said important nor unimportant
4 percent said not very important
3 percent said not important at all

Be funny
32 percent said extremely important
46 percent said somewhat important
16 percent said important nor unimportant
3 percent said not very important
3 percent said not important at all

Speak to me in my own language
35 percent said extremely important
38 percent said somewhat important
19 percent said important nor unimportant
5 percent said not very important
4 percent said not important at all

Be cutting edge
20 percent said extremely important
43 percent said somewhat important
26 percent said important nor unimportant
6 percent said not very important
5 percent said not important at all

Be stylish
15 percent said extremely important
42 percent said somewhat important
27 percent said important nor unimportant
10 percent said not very important
6 percent said not important at all

Exude cool
8 percent said extremely important
26 percent said somewhat important
42 percent said important nor unimportant
15 percent said not very important
8 percent said not important at all

This seems like best practices for any advertising, not just youth targeted, but after this debacle of a PSA from Pizza Hut, I figure it is good advice for any organization looking to target young people. Applying it to Voto Latino, I can't say that the mock-telenovela really speaks to me (it feels super long), but I'm clearly not the target demographic, and I'd say it hits at least half of the guidelines above.

Happy Thanksgiving - now go register!

A new PSA from New Era Colorado advertising the Feb 5th Caucus, hey... sex sells.

Props to New Era Colorado for this funny PSA about vote-by-mail. Between this and the Pink Bunnies, young voter turnout should be high this year in the Mountain West. Feel the wrath . . .