The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
Adam Freedman ·
Jun 29, 2010 at 8:59am
Riding in an over-crowded and under-airconditioned subway this morning, I realized that state and city budget cuts, combined with persistent high unemployment are making for an American version of Britain's 1978 "Winter of Discontent," which produced this brilliant, game-changing poster by Saatchi and Saatchi.
This poster helped propel the Tories to power (Claire: back me up here). It's hard to beat "Labor isn't working," but let's try. How about pictures of unemployed workers with the caption "Congress Isn't Working, Either." Or maybe Obama on a golf course ("Obama Isn't Working.") Or pictures of idled oil rigs with the caption "Your Tax Dollars At Work."
I'm sure the rest of you can do better - bring it on!
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Comments :
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
Maybe for an after-9 PM spot?
May '10
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
How about:
Unemployment Rate in Washington, DC: 5.9%
Unemployment Rate Nationwide: 9.7%
Inelegant but motivating?
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
Yes, yes, I back you up. A document strategists might want to think about is John Hoskyns' ”Stepping Stones,” which was the blueprint for the Thatcher Revolution. Some key lines:
As Hoskyns notes,
May '10
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
"Irrational Exuberance"
May '10
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
How about a shot of a long unemployment line that says, "They don't want change, they want a paycheck."
May '10
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
Stimulus isn't working.
May '10
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
Expanding on an earlier thought: How about a video spot that shows a sequence of still images of the White House and the Capitol, photoshopped to add graffiti, broken windows, and garbage. Each tag would refer to a different Democrat failure:
etc., etc. After a little while of this, the tag line(s) would come up:
Want your country back? Then take it back!
Vote for real change on November 2nd.
May '10
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
(I should clarify that by "tag", I meant the text of the graffiti photoshopped into the images.)
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
Now we're cooking - keep 'em coming!
Daniel: all terrifying, and true. So much material! To paraphrase one of Mr. Long's earlier posts, how can the GOP screw this up?
Jun '10
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
Big picture of Obama on the golf course.
"A laser like focus on jobs" or "Your Government working hard for you
Jun '10
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
More Tea, Less Kool-Aid
http://i47.tinypic.com/os6e83.jpg
Jun '10
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
See Rob's picture at top:
"How will we pull up the economy when we can barely pull up our pants?"
May '10
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
The President won't pay this debt.
Congress won't pay this debt.
You may not pay this debt.
<<INSERT PICTURE OF YOUNG CHILD>>
But she'll have to.
May '10
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
Golf ones:
"Putz putts."
"You want to thrive? I'd rather drive."
"Tar or par?"
"I only care about eagles on my scorecard."
(To Barney Frank) "No queens on the greens."
"The only flags I care to see are the ones on the course."
I could do this all day.
May '10
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
Movies:
Dawn of the Debt
Night of the Living Debt
Raiders of the Last Marque
Knight and Prey
Wreck Forever
Cloudy with a Chance of Downfall
A Czar is Born
I'll stop now.
May '10
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
This appears to be along the lines of Adam's thinking.
Congress isn't working
Obama isn't working
The Stimulus isn't working
I think the RNC needs to unclench a little, and run a youtube based ad contest....
May '10
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
Co-opt the Uncle Sam image with a variety of captions:
"I'm your uncle, not your mommy"
"I'm still not stimulated"
"Now I'm unemployed AND broke"
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
"I'm your uncle, not your mommy," is excellent.
May '10
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
"I want you to stop whining"
May '10
Re: The Summer of Discontent - A Caption Contest!
Soo, is this supposed to be about truth or power?
The oil rigs that were shut down number 25-33. Out of the nearly 4,000 there now? We're not doing anybody any favors with histrionics.
The Charles Allen ones look promising.