Before the Next Debate: Reach People Who Don't Know the Real McCain

Posted by Robert Greenwald, Brave New Films at 6:28 AM on October 6, 2008.

I was in a deep conversation with some Brave New Films supporters recently.  They were enthusiastic about the value of our videos in spreading the truth and motivating support, but they kept asking, “How do you reach people who don’t agree with you?”  Seems like a good time to explain why we ask you to forward the videos, Digg them, and encourage people to get their own free Brave New Films video subscription.  Before the attacks of the next debate, it is critical to get this information to as many people as possible.

Every day, our 20 videos on John McCain are seen by several hundred thousand people searching and browsing the Internet for information on McCain.  They are literally typing in “john mccain” into Google, where our video is the #4 result.  The same search on YouTube yields several more videos from The Real McCain series, which will only increase in the coming weeks.  So far, these videos have received over 11 million views.

Think about it, if you didn’t know much about John McCain, what would you do?  Probably two things.  Type “john mccain” into Google, and ask your friends what they think.

That’s where YOU come in.  When you get an e-mail from us with our latest video, what happens in the next 24 hours determines how far the video will reach outside the audience who would typically watch it. The more views on the video, the higher it goes on YouTube’s most viewed pages, seen by 60 million people a month.  The more people who Digg it–a critical tool to reach those outside the choir–the better chance we have of getting on the Digg homepage, which is seen by 20 million people a month.

Every time we get on these top pages, we get tens of thousands of additional views from people who might otherwise have watched a cat playing the piano, a magic ping pong ball, or a pretty woman falling in the shower.  We estimate that getting on the Digg homepage generates an additional 30,000-50,000 viewers.  The YouTube most viewed page alone can add another 100,000 views!

Anything you do that increases the number of views helps.  Posting on your blog, on Facebook, on MySpace, sending emails, leaving comments on other sites, and Digging it. The important thing to understand is it’s not just the people who view it that we reach, it’s the ripple effect those views have, pushing our videos higher up Google, YouTube, Digg, and all over the Internet.  And that ripple effect extends months and even years down the road.

That #4 result on Google is a video we put out in February of 2007!  70,000 people watched it last week.  Yes, it would be easier to spend millions of dollars on TV ads, but that is not what we do.  Think about the difference in watching a video that has been sent to you by someone you know, versus skipping through a TV ad.  What a difference in impact!

And when you get your friends to subscribe to the free Brave New Films video subscription, they become true force multipliers by sending to people who agree, who watch, who motivate, who send to others, and help us reach many people who don’t agree with us.

So, help us get the word out about McCain now before the next debate.  Below are four videos that explain McCain’s stances on four crucial issues: the environment, the economy, tax cuts, and abortion.  Let’s get that ripple effect going now by spreading these to everyone you know and getting them on blogs and sites like Digg.

1. McCain’s Green Economy: Drill, Baby, Drill:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3ecA2L-VuQ

2. John McCain: Economic Disaster:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4egXbhSOhk

3. Why the Rich Love McCain’s Tax Plan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwtayJCK5LY

4. The REAL McCain is anti-choice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAAYxCCT-Bg

Help increase the number who know the facts, and reach those who don’t.  Now is the time

Tagged as: anti-choice, environment, abortion, issues, economy, george bush, john mccain, tax cuts, recession, bailout

Robert Greenwald is the director/producer of "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" and "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism."