FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Trevor FitzGibbon, Jessica Smith,

Wednesday, October 29, 2003 Fenton Communications

JACK BLACK, MOBY, VAN SANT & OTHERS

HELP MOVEON.ORG VOTER FUND KICK OFF
CONTEST FOR BEST ‘BUSH-IN-30-SECONDS’ AD
Grassroots Search for Creative New Approaches Will
Highlight Leadership Failures of the President
A cadre of organizers and artists affiliated with the MoveOn.org Voter Fund Wednesday
announced a nationwide search for a TV ad that tells the truth about George W. Bush’s
policy failures, and a prize for the person – whether professional or amateur first-time
producer – who creates it.
The winning 30-second ad will be the product of judging, first by visitors to the new
website www.bushin30seconds.org during December, and then by a panel of
entertainment and political experts. It will be aired the week of President Bush’s State of
the Union address, early next year.
MoveOn.org’s panel of judges include s the following entertainment personalities
and political leaders: Jack Black, Donna Brazile, James Carville, Margaret Cho,
Hector Elizondo, Janeane Garofalo, Stan Greenberg, Moby, Michael Moore, Mark
Pellington, Tony Shalhoub, Michael Stipe, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Gus Van Sant,
Eddie Vedder, and others.
The ad search is part of MoveOn.org Voter Fund’s ongoing campaign to use television
and print ads and other activities to get the message out of Washington and into
battleground states, exposing the failures of the Bush Administration at home and in Iraq.
“We know that the President is going to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in the next
year, mostly from wealthy donors and special interests,” said Eli Pariser, campaigns
director for the MoveOn.org Voter Fund. “A lot of that money will go toward ads that
will attempt to deceive and manipulate swing state voters about the President’s agenda.
“There are two key strengths that we have on our side. First, the truth is on our side.
Second, although we’ll never have the kind of money President Bush can raise from his
corporate friends, by bringing millions of ordinary Americans together, we can level the
playing ground with the special interests,” concluded Pariser.
Award-winning musician and performer Moby—one of the project’s organizers—
believes that President Bush has managed to hide behind a carefully constructed
“compassionate” image. “It is crucial that voters understand what President Bush's

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policies really mean for our country. And to do that, we need creative new ads that
clearly show what's at stake,” the artist said.
“The ‘Bush- in-30-Seconds’ ad contest has been developed by a small team of people.
We've come together because we believe that by tapping into the vast talent pool of
creative people beyond the Beltway, we'll find the right messages and ads to expose the
failure of President Bush's policies,” said Moby.
MoveOn and project organizers hope the ‘Bush- in-30-Seconds’ project will inspire the
electorate.
“This is pretty exciting stuff. I have to say that I can’t remember most of the political ads
that I've seen lately,” said Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile. “If nothing is
sticking out with someone like myself, then I worry what the average voter is taking from
these ads. We have to start thinking outside the box. So I fully support the idea of finding
ways to develop fresh, creative and inspiring ways to communicate in politics.”
The MoveOn.org Voter Fund is a Section 527 political organization affiliated with
MoveOn.org, which will create and run political ads in swing states to challenge
President Bush’s policies and his administration. MoveOn.org, the Voter Fund’s sister
organization, is an online grassroots advocacy organization with over 1.7 million
members nationwide.
Rules for the contest can be found on the website: www.bushin30seconds.org

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