Right-Wing Group Buys First Snapchat Political Ad Promoting Trade Promotion Authority
Right-leaning political group the American Action Network (A.A.N.) is using the popular social media app Snapchat to target young, hard-to-reach voters.
A.A.N., an advocacy group affiliated with House Republicans, bought the very first political ad on Snapchat. The 10-second ad urges citizens to call their congressional leaders and tell them to pass controversial legislation that would allow President Obama to negotiate trade agreements that cannot be changed by Congress.
The Snapchat ad is part of A.A.N.'s larger $900,000 outreach effort to urge Congress to approve the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation, which is notoriously known as "fast track." Once the bill is passed, it will empower President Obama to present trade deals that Congress can either ratify or reject, without making any changes, reports The Associated Press.
As a result, his trade bills will no longer be subjected to pass the 60-vote congressional hurdle. Instead, a massive trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could be presented to Congress for a simple up or down vote. In turn, this greatly increases President Obama's chances to get TPP approved by Congress, despite the outpouring of opposition coming from members of his own party.
The ad debuted on Saturday as part of a Snapchat-curated "live story," which also included photos and videos from Republican Sen. Joni Ernst's inaugural "Roast and Ride" event. The ad was then promoted to users in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Washington, D.C.
"We're excited to be the first in the political space to utilize the growing medium for advertising," said Dan Conston, communications director for the American Action Network, according to The New York Times. "A.A.N. is using Snapchat because its allowing us to deliver an engaging ad experience to an audience of influencers and younger, hard to reach voters."
According to RealClearPolitics, Conston also explained that advertising on Snapchat allowed the group to reach out to younger voters since 60 percent of its users range between 18 to 24 years old.
"Using Snapchat allowed us to deliver an engaging ad experience to an audience of influencers and younger, hard to reach voters," said Conston.
"Users watching the Roast and Ride story today are likely interested in politics but may be surprised to see our direct appeal to pass T.P.A. in the story," Conston added.
Moving forward, Snapchat spokesperson Mary Ritti told RCP that the company is optimistic that A.A.N.'s ad will be the first of many political-snap advertisements to come.
"We hope to see many candidates using the platform to connect with first-time voters," Ritti said.
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