Patrick Hunt, CEO of Hunt Adkins

#164: Rare Story Sighting: Bigfoot in Brilliant Political Ad

#164: Rare Story Sighting: Bigfoot in Brilliant Political Ad

The primaries are approaching and we’re inundated with the typical screeching political attack ads. But a surprising thing happens when you replace vitriol with ingenious storytelling. People take notice. And in this rare case, laugh.

Patrick Hunt, partner in Minneapolis ad agency Hunt Adkins, shares how they created the viral Bigfoot ad for Dean Phillips for Congress Campaign. They married truth with brilliant brand storytelling to call out five-time incumbent Erik Paulsen, a Congressman with a strong aversion of interacting with voters.

“How can you have tens of thousands of people looking for you all the time and not one of them find you?” asks a clearly impressed Bigfoot. “I started to wonder, does Erik Paulsen really exist?”

Hunt reveals how his team managed to get their client to take a chance with Bigfoot and create this viral ad on a shoestring budget in just three and a half weeks. Get a peek into the nuances of ad production, where you can learn about different production aspects that went into making this virally successful campaign.

Patrick shares some interesting information about the Dean Phillips campaign. Did Dean’s progressive attitude encourage Patrick to try this radically different approach? Learn about Dean’s campaign strategy to create erikpaulsen.org, a creative website that highlights the competitor’s differences complete with a Pac Man game – with Erik as Pac Man, of course.

Tune in to discover how attributes like confidence and selflessness can help you design strategic and responsible brand storytelling.

In This Episode, You Will Learn

• The story strategy behind the Bigfoot ad for Dean Phillips
• Is this an attack ad or simply a more powerful way to present the truth?
• Why being safe in your advertising can kill you

Key Quotes

“The risk is really safety. Being safe – that is the ultimate risk and the most costly risk. Breaking through is the lower risk because you get noticed. You get your message across.”–Patrick Hunt

“If you tell people what to do and what not to do, often times they rebel against that.”–Patrick Hunt

“Responsible branding is assuming the brand voice of the client and not projecting an agency brand voice”–Patrick Hunt

Mentioned In This Episode

• Erik Paulsen – Congressman for sale
• Patrick Hunt’s Linkedin
• Patrick Hunt’s Twitter
• The Hunt Adkins Website

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