Apr.02

electoral-vote.com

Dem 47

   

GOP 53

Funny Business

We got hundreds and hundreds of e-mails about our April 1 posting, and we thought we'd pass along a few things that might be of interest to readers. In no particular order:

• There were some questions about how long it took us to create the five fake ads. Since web ads are pretty simple, and since we had a pretty good idea as to the layout for each of them in our heads, it took about an hour to do all five. The only layout that changed meaningfully from "mental image" to execution was the Trump Viagra ad. Initially, there was going to be a picture of the Washington Monument—i.e., the world's most famous presidential phallic symbol—but it just didn't work.
  
  
• Also, we did indeed know that www.trump-erectile.com redirects to the website for the movie Wicked.
  
  
• Some readers asked about the Earl Scheib ad. Earl Scheib was (and is) a low-cost body shop. In the early days, the eponymous founder served as spokesman, and promised to paint your car, any car, for $29.95. The price went up over the years, to $99.95 by the 1980s and $139.95 by the early 2000s. The corporate entity no longer exists, but individual franchises still do.
  
  
• Other readers asked about the J-Team ad. That was an homage to Mel Brooks, re-envisioning the fistfights-and-explosions 1980s show with a team of Jewish fellows (Art, Murray, Josh and Lenny) who instead battle criminals with law, accountancy and music. The quote on the ad "One lawyer with his briefcase is worth more than 50 men with guns" is a light paraphrase of a line from The Godfather.
  
  
• Many readers wrote in to ask if anyone else was fooled by the ads. As is implicit in that statement, we heard from many, many people who fell for the prank. Some did not pick up on it until the end. Others figured it out partway through. It seems that the ad that let the cat out of the bag, more than any other, was the third one, for How to Win Friends and Influence People with an intro by Ted Cruz. Obviously Ted Cruz is the absolute worst person possible to write an intro for that book. That means that quite a few people accepted that Donald Trump would sell Viagra with his face printed on it. Truth be told, we'd accept it, too.
  
  
• We most certainly did not intend the gag to work out as a fundraiser. It didn't even remotely occur to us that might happen. Still, quite a few folks saw the note about needing to accept ads, and signed up for Patreon. Thanks to everyone who supports the site, both new and long-time supporters!
  
  
• The real goal was to brighten people's days a bit, at a time when that is much needed. We got many e-mails saying we had done just that, so we consider the bit a rousing success.

There were many readers who enjoyed the prank well enough that they would like to see what fake ads other readers come up with. We are not sure how many folks have the requisite design skills, but we can at least give it a try. If you've got a fake political ad, send it to us at comments@electoral-vote.com. We make no promises, though! (Z)