From the Mar 13 – Mar 19, 2003 issue

News

Not Ready for Prime Time

Seattle Antiwar Activists Wrongly Dismiss Using TV Ads

by Amy Jenniges

For the last two weeks, a slick television ad has been airing in Seattle, proclaiming "Saddam must go." The local pro-war ad--paid for by moveforward.org, a group started by conservative radio talk show hosts John Carlson and Kirby Wilbur, both at KVI-AM (570)--is getting a lot of attention. The television spot cleverly uses antiwar sound bites--like "All he wants is oil," "He's a warmonger," and "He's not letting the UN do its job"--before pulling the rug out from under conventional Seattle wisdom and showing an image of Saddam Hussein rather than George Bush. "Make real peace possible" by getting rid of the Iraqi leader, the ad ultimately urges. While a pro-war ad with Law & Order actor Fred Thompson ran earlier this month in Washington, D.C., to counter the earlier national antiwar ads featuring celebrities like Martin Sheen and Susan Sarandon, Carlson's ad is the first local pro-war television ad. The spot runs for two weeks on KING-TV, KIRO-TV, CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC; it's paid for by $130,000 Carlson says came almost entirely from KVI listeners.

Activists are talking about the ad--"Should we respond?"--but it seems like talking is all they're up to.

Activists chattering on an antiwar e-mail list raised several reasons not to do an ad of their own. The silliest comment simply dismissed the pro-war ad because the Carlson piece "could be [misconstrued as] an antiwar ad." (The ad doesn't swap Saddam for Bush until halfway through.) Meanwhile, some activists argued that countering the spot was unnecessary, since the ad proves that the antiwar movement has been successful. "The very existence of the ads shows that we are scoring big and they are reacting in a conventional, predictable manner," one activist wrote. "Even GW is admitting we exist." Other activists worried about money--"There is no way grassroots... movements can compete with pro-war mega bucks." But the real kicker was activists' ethical concerns about "funding corporate media" with advertising dollars.

That last concern showcases a serious problem with the antiwar activists. It's difficult to take activists' antiwar message seriously when they're busy staying pure by holding themselves above Joe Public and his dreaded corporate media. If they truly want to get their message out, peaceniks should get over themselves and get with the program: Start raising money, and put an equally slick antiwar ad on the local airwaves. Plus--now, hold your nose--getting on TV may convince local skeptics that the antiwar movement is serious.

Most importantly, even if the ad doesn't actually prevent war (if Bush won't listen to the majority of the UN Security Council, he's surely not going to listen to Seattle's KING-TV), the money would still be well spent: At this point, the battle isn't over Iraq, the battle is for the White House. Local antiwar activists have a perfect opportunity to shape public opinion about President Bush with an eye toward 2004.

amy@thestranger.com