TIPA - Truth In Political Advertising

This is the fifth analysis of political advertising in the nationally-watched U.S. Senate race between Republican businessman Pete Coors and Democratic Attorney General Ken Salazar released by the nonpartisan Truth In Political Advertising Project -- www.TIPAP.org.

The report is part of a series of reports which are being released on a daily basis during the final days of the campaign. This report evaluates the accuracy, fairness, and relevance of the advertisement entitled, "Carrie." The advertisement was produced and sponsored by the Coors For Senate Campaign. The advertisement, itself, currently is available on the TIPA Web site.

“Carrie” was one of the few genuinely positive advertisements released by either campaign during this race. Rather than attacking his opponent either overtly or subtly, “Carrie” basically shows a portrait of Pete Coors as a father, husband, outdoorsman, and family man.

The advertisement is narrated entirely by Carrie, one of Pete Coors’ daughters. She begins by identifying herself as a schoolteacher and goes on to say “I’m proud of my dad. He’s worked hard to preserve our environment. Dad loves fishing.” The entire ad is set in scenic outdoor settings, giving the viewer a sense of Coors as down to earth and environmentally conscious.

The next scene shows Coors hugging his wife while Carrie continues, “Dad’s a loving husband. He says his best day was marrying my mom.” This is clearly intended to emotionally reach voters with strong family values. This family image is further reinforced by the next scene, “Then there are the six kids. Dad always taught us to follow our dreams. That’s why I teach school.” The ad then cuts to a classroom full of young children saying in unison “Yea Carrie!”. In reality, however, Carrie is a high school teacher. So the reason for her appearing in an elementary classroom is a clear attempt by the campaign to appeal to parents of young children. This is the only misleading content TIPA found in this advertisement.

The advertisement ends with the tagline, “I’m Pete Coors. Carrie and I approved this message. Thanks for listening.” This is a solid and personable closing scene to a solid and personable ad.

One Advisory Panel member commented that the ad effectively appeals directly to the audience most sought-after by both campaigns: suburban women who comprise a significant segment of the undecided voters in Colorado . In this regard, the ad could be considered extremely effective, even though its relevancy rating is quite low.

The TIPA uses a "1" to "10" rating scale for Accuracy (with greater accuracy reflected by a higher rating), Fairness (with a higher rating indicating a greater degree of fairness), and Relevancy (with a higher rating meaning the advertisement’s content was most relevant to the U.S. Senate campaign).

The Rating System is presented in detail on the TIPA Web site. The analysis for “Carrie” can be summarized as follows.

ACCURACY = 9.0 out of 10.0. This advertisement was almost 100% accurate and serves as an example for all campaigns.

FAIRNESS = 9.5 out of 10.0. This ad was rated as extraordinarily fair.

RELEVANCE = 5.3 out of 10.0 This advertisement was considered to include a nominal amount of relevant subject matter.

ACCURACY RATING DISCUSSION

A 9.0 Accuracy rating is described by the TIPA Rating System as follows: Almost 100% accurate, with some minor unintentional misinterpretation or misunderstanding of one or two facts possible but unlikely; an advertisement obviously created with the pursuit of truth in mind.

The ”Carrie” advertisement has the single highest accuracy rating of all the advertisements rated by the TIPA Project , and sets an example for how political advertising can and should be done. The only inaccuracy found by the TIPA staff is that Coors’ daughter actually is a high-school teacher, while the advertisement portrays her with very young children in an elementary school classroom setting, giving the misimpression she is an elementary-school teacher. In fact, Carrie Coors teaches freshman English at the high school level. The TIPA believes the use of much younger children is directed at the target demographic – women – who would be more likely to identify with and be sympathetic to those who help meet the needs of younger children (who are generally seen as more helpless and less challenging.—or maddening – than teenagers). The TIPA is disappointed at this deception but did not modify the rating given by Advisory Panel members.

ACCURACY RATING CONCLUSION. The “Carrie” advertisement is rated as highly accurate and gives voters a clear picture of the candidate. A slightly lower rating, however, may have been more appropriate in light of Carrie Coors’ actual teaching position.

FAIRNESS RATING DISCUSSION

There is no higher accomplishment than a 10.0 Fairness rating and that is the essentially perfect rating “Carrie” comes close to achieving. This is quite rare. This rating is described by the TIPA Project Rating System as follows: Extraordinarily fair to the point of being magnanimous to the other side; if every candidate were this generous, negative advertising would not exist; one might think the opposition developed and sponsored this advertisement.

A 9.0 Fairness rating is also quite high and is described as follows: Bends over backwards to be fair and kind to an opponent; intentionally portrays the opponent in a good light; makes no statements which could be unfairly construed.

The ”Carrie” advertisement’s rating of 9.5 was exactly between the two ratings and, compared to all other advertisements rated by the TIPA Project, is the single highest-rated ad broadcast by either campaign as far as fairness is concerned.

FAIRNESS RATING CONCLUSION. “Carrie” is a highly fair advertisement in all respects.

RELEVANCE RATING DISCUSSION

An 5.3 Relevance rating is indicative that the general opinion was the advertisement was only nominally relevant to the issues that matter most to voters.

According to the TPA Rating System, a 5.0 rating is defined as follows: A slight majority of the material is not relevant (e.g., +50%) and, instead, unintentionally obscures those issues which are on the minds of most voters; this advertisement may be sloppier in its construction than intentionally devious (although the ultimate ramification may involve voter confusion).

RELEVANCE RATING CONCLUSION. The advertisement is only barely relevant to the specific issues that Colorado voters are concerned about.

OVERALL TIPA RATING

The TIPA’s structure for calculating an overall rating is based on the following distribution:

Accuracy Rating: 45% of the Overall Score.

Fairness Rating: 35% of the Overall Score.

Relevance Rating: 20% of the Overall Score.

“Carrie” received an Overall Rating of 8.4.This is the highest overall rating on the 1 to 10 scale received by any ad reviewed by the TIPA. This indicates very widespread satisfaction with the advertisement’s accuracy, fairness, and relevance. With the minor exception of the misrepresentation of Coors’ daughter as an elementary school teacher, the advertisement meets all reasonable standards of practice the TIPA would like to see candidates adhere to on a consistent basis when campaigning.

(C) Copyright 2004 by the Democracy & Media Education Foundation. All rights reserved. Reproduction, duplication, transmission, or conveyance of this document – in whole or in part – without the express written consent of the DMEF is strictly prohibited. Bona fide print and electronic Press organizations, however, may quote this Report as long as proper attribution is given (i.e., “The Truth In Political Advertising Project”) and the quotation or reference accurately reflects the contents and conclusions of this Report. For questions, please call Zachary Adler at (303) 449-5043 or send an e-mail to Zachary@TIPAP.org. Thank you.