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| Election tool gives Social Teeth to groups looking to foil Super Pac power | Election tool gives Social Teeth to groups looking to foil Super Pac power |
| (9 months later) | |
| Americans dismayed by the influence that a handful of billionaires are having on the 2012 presidential election cycle through Super Pacs are to be given a channel through which they can bite back – a crowdfunded website that will support alternative political advertising. | Americans dismayed by the influence that a handful of billionaires are having on the 2012 presidential election cycle through Super Pacs are to be given a channel through which they can bite back – a crowdfunded website that will support alternative political advertising. |
| Social Teeth is the brainchild of a Stanford graduate who watched with growing alarm the mushrooming of largely Republican-supporting Super Pacs in the wake of the Citizens United supreme court ruling. | Social Teeth is the brainchild of a Stanford graduate who watched with growing alarm the mushrooming of largely Republican-supporting Super Pacs in the wake of the Citizens United supreme court ruling. |
| Elaine Chang came up with the idea that social media could be used to counter the blitzkreig of negative attack ads funded by the Super Pacs by harnessing the aggregated power of the crowd. | Elaine Chang came up with the idea that social media could be used to counter the blitzkreig of negative attack ads funded by the Super Pacs by harnessing the aggregated power of the crowd. |
| "In an election season dominated by big money from small numbers of people, I wanted to give all of us the chance to get involved and fight against the influence of big money in politics," she said. | "In an election season dominated by big money from small numbers of people, I wanted to give all of us the chance to get involved and fight against the influence of big money in politics," she said. |
| Social Teeth, which is being launched a the Aspen Ideas Festival on Friday, invites individuals to shoot their own broadcast-quality adverts or compose artworks suitable for posting online or on billboards and upload them onto the site. | Social Teeth, which is being launched a the Aspen Ideas Festival on Friday, invites individuals to shoot their own broadcast-quality adverts or compose artworks suitable for posting online or on billboards and upload them onto the site. |
| Members of the public can then support the advert, either by liking it through Facebook or Twitter or, crucially, donating money to support that ad – an ad-world equivalent of signing a petition on the social media campaign site change.org. | Members of the public can then support the advert, either by liking it through Facebook or Twitter or, crucially, donating money to support that ad – an ad-world equivalent of signing a petition on the social media campaign site change.org. |
| When a target fundraising figure is reached, Social Teeth will then, with the help of the independent media buying group Aegis, facilitate the placing of that ad on TV, on websites or billboards, where it will go head-to-head with the Super Pac attack ads that are swamping key swing-states ahead of the November presidential election. | When a target fundraising figure is reached, Social Teeth will then, with the help of the independent media buying group Aegis, facilitate the placing of that ad on TV, on websites or billboards, where it will go head-to-head with the Super Pac attack ads that are swamping key swing-states ahead of the November presidential election. |
| Chang already has some high-powered backers. Her innovation was one of four winning entries in a contest staged by Stanford's d.school for new world-changing ideas to present to the Aspen Ideas Festival. She is being supervised by Steve Hilton, senior adviser to British prime minister David Cameron, who is currently on sabbatical at Stanford. | Chang already has some high-powered backers. Her innovation was one of four winning entries in a contest staged by Stanford's d.school for new world-changing ideas to present to the Aspen Ideas Festival. She is being supervised by Steve Hilton, senior adviser to British prime minister David Cameron, who is currently on sabbatical at Stanford. |
| Chang says she has no ambitions to match the financial firepower of the anti-Obama Super Pacs – which is just as well, as some estimates suggest that with the help of billionaires such as the Las Vegas casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson they may raise $1bn by election day. | Chang says she has no ambitions to match the financial firepower of the anti-Obama Super Pacs – which is just as well, as some estimates suggest that with the help of billionaires such as the Las Vegas casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson they may raise $1bn by election day. |
| The advertising output of those Super Pacs is overwhelmingly negative. A Washington Post analysis found that 100% of the adverts put out by Karl Rove's American Crossroads Super Pac, for instance, have been negative. | The advertising output of those Super Pacs is overwhelmingly negative. A Washington Post analysis found that 100% of the adverts put out by Karl Rove's American Crossroads Super Pac, for instance, have been negative. |
| "We don't need to match their billion dollars to be able to run effective and sticky campaigns," Chang said. "Our advantage is that we will have people supporting our ads – they will not be passive receivers so our dollars will be worth more than those of Super Pacs." | "We don't need to match their billion dollars to be able to run effective and sticky campaigns," Chang said. "Our advantage is that we will have people supporting our ads – they will not be passive receivers so our dollars will be worth more than those of Super Pacs." |
| On average, TV ads in swing states are costing about $500 for a 30-second slot, a fee that will rise substantially as the election approaches. Social Teeth has not put a figure on the donations it is seeking from individual users, but points to the $10 to $200 range that has been the norm at the crowdfunding platform for creative projects, Kickstarter. | On average, TV ads in swing states are costing about $500 for a 30-second slot, a fee that will rise substantially as the election approaches. Social Teeth has not put a figure on the donations it is seeking from individual users, but points to the $10 to $200 range that has been the norm at the crowdfunding platform for creative projects, Kickstarter. |
| The site is describing itself as "avowedly non-partisan", though given the heavy preponderance of conservative Super Pacs this year the progressive bent of the innovation is implicit. "We are looking for ads that have a fresh rhetoric and reframe the old ways we look at things." | The site is describing itself as "avowedly non-partisan", though given the heavy preponderance of conservative Super Pacs this year the progressive bent of the innovation is implicit. "We are looking for ads that have a fresh rhetoric and reframe the old ways we look at things." |
| That may be, Social Teeth suggests, an honest account of the difficult fiscal choices facing all political candidates this November; or an advert that addresses issues that affect the lives of young Americans that are rarely discussed; or a billboard that seeks to move beyond the partisan agenda often seen in adverts addressing parenting. | That may be, Social Teeth suggests, an honest account of the difficult fiscal choices facing all political candidates this November; or an advert that addresses issues that affect the lives of young Americans that are rarely discussed; or a billboard that seeks to move beyond the partisan agenda often seen in adverts addressing parenting. |
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