TIPA - Truth In Political Advertising

ACCURACY = 6.1 out of 10.0. This advertisement is nominally accurate, using one or more claims that are intentionally exaggerated or taken out of context.

FAIRNESS = 6.2 out of 10.0. This ad contains an unfounded or unjustified personal attack on a candidate which is patently unfair.

RELEVANCE = 7.3 out of 10.0. This ad touches on at least one key issue considered important to this Senate race.

OVERALL = 6.4 out of 10.0. This advertisement barely meets the standards of practice to which the TIPA would like to see candidates adhere.

“Won’t Fly” is a direct response by the DSCC to a similarly humorous ad released by the Coors campaign entitled “Newsreel”. The comic tone of the ad underlies sweeping generalizations of Coors’ position on important issues, while a black and white entertaining newsreel plays in the background.

An announcer booms that Coors has “some way out there ideas” that include lowering the drinking age to 18, and “gambling your retirement fund in the stock market”. It becomes obvious that the DSCC is purposefully exaggerating Coors’ platform, even if the ad is somewhat humorous.

Based on the ratings provided by Advisory Panel members and weighted so Democrats and Republicans were equal in number from a statistical averaging perspective, the TIPA has compiled a set of ratings for the advertisement “Won’t Fly”.

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 was most relevant to the U.S. Senate campaign). The Rating System is presented in detail on the TIPA Web site.

ACCURACY RATING. “Won’t Fly” received a poor Accuracy rating of 6.1. The advertisement appears fairly accurate on the surface. However, the gross exaggeration and oversimplification of Coors’ positions is unacceptable. One Republican Advisory Panel member pointed out, “Like so many others, it takes Pete’s comments out of context. He doesn’t want to raise current taxes 30%, but considers a national sales tax or flat tax instead of income tax. He doesn’t want to privatize ALL social security, but would allow you to put a small percentage in the stock market.”

Overall, Republicans rated the Accuracy of the advertisement (5.3), much lower than the rating given by Democrats (8.0) who thought the ad was quite accurate, while Independents gave it an average rating of (5.0).

FAIRNESS RATING. Because this advertisement attacks Coors’ character and issue positions unfairly, it received a nominal Fairness rating – 6.2 out of 10. However, the DSCC designed “Won’t Fly” to parody a Coors ad run against his Democratic opponent. Thus, this ad exhibits the political philosophy of “an eye for an eye”.

One Advisory Panel member noted, “The text doesn’t stray so far from the truth. Coors has been quoted widely as saying he’s interested in the idea of a national sales tax, through one paper indicates that the amount would be 23 cents on the dollar (the ad says up to 30 percent). He also has been quoted as saying that lowering the drinking age might encourage more responsible drinking, but has not embraced the idea to the extent the ad suggests.”

Again, the Democrats gave the rating a higher fairness score (7.0) than their Republican counterparts (6.0). Independents gave the ad the lowest fairness rating of all (5.7).

RELEVANCE RATING. This advertisement received a Relevance rating of 7.3. The DSCC points out several hot topics of the Senate race, even if the issues were unfairly addressed. Taxes, social security, and the drinking age were all covered, albeit briefly.

A Democratic panelist noted, “This is an effective ad. It illustrates some of Pete Coors beliefs that are out of the mainstream.”

The range of opinion about the Relevance of the advertisement is much narrower than the Accuracy and Fairness ratings. Republicans and Independents both rated the ad above average (7.0), and Democratic panelists gave it a high rating on Relevance (8.0). These ratings reflect high level of scores that TIPA would like to see candidates adhere to in the future.

OVERALL RATING. This advertisement was a humorous 30 seconds of campaign rhetoric. The ad received an overall score that was slightly above average (6.4), however, well below the overall standard TIPA would like campaigns to meet.

A Republican panel member expressed, “The ad leaps from unwarranted inference to generalizations that Pete is too extreme for Colorado.”

Another opinion of the ad given by a panel member was, “This commercial is actually funny. I would say however that there are a number of moderates who also support at least some of the concepts in the commercial and painting them all as wacky ideas is definitely an exaggeration.”

Although the advertisement against Coors was oversimplified, its approach was humorous, and that style works well with the public. It captures attention and takes the intense seriousness out of campaign rhetoric.

(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.