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Two
Libertarians' "animated" work for liberty |
Doug Scribner & Mark Hilgenberg |
Two California Libertarians are taking an unorthodox approach to building the Libertarian Party: They're using their artistic skills to create cartoon advertisements for the LP and its candidates. Their goal: To craft Libertarian Party TV commercials that "should have the whole country talking like it was the latest Saturday Night Live skit." Doug Scribner and Mark Hilgenberg are the pair of self-described "hip Libertarian producers" from Orange County who say they want to bring Libertarian advertising into the 21st Century -- using "in-your-face, irreverent comedy," computerized animation, and a message that appeals to young voters. "We have fun framing the Libertarian message in funny, simple terms people will instantly understand," said Hilgenberg. "Just as the written word was once the best place for spreading political thought, television has become the new propaganda machine -- and it's time to get our message to the masses." |
| Their biggest success so far: Writing and animating the
"South Park" parody advertisement for the 1998 Steve Kubby for Governor campaign
in California. During the campaign, the ad created enough of a buzz that it was rebroadcast on the local six o'clock news in Fresno and Sacramento, and on the Fox Cable News Network's NewsHour with Brit Hume. |
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| It also went on to win a Pollie
Award from the American Association of Political Consultants for the best political
television commercial (longer than 30 seconds) of the 1997-1998 election cycle. The win
was the first for the Libertarian Party. The commercial was a challenge for Scribner and Hilgenberg because they had to take "on the task of learning a new computer animation program to create" it, said Scribner. The other big challenge: "Coming up with the right mix of humor and politics that could be squeezed into a 60-second commercial," said Hilgenberg. "We're Libertarians. We take 90 seconds just to clear our throats." |
| The ad that emerged from two months'
of work was a cutting-edge spoof of Comedy Central's foul-mouthed, crudely animated South
Park characters. It depicted Kubby's Republican and Democratic rivals as interchangeable
cartoon characters, and took a swipe at (losing) Republican candidate Dan Lundgren,
showing him killing a "Denny" character by depriving him of medical marijuana. The on-line version of the ad still gets between 100 and 150 hits per day, said Hilgenberg (see links at the the top of this page). |
