by Steve Finefrock – [scriptwriter]

Remember those American Express travelers cheque ads years ago? A crisis was presented for a family away from home, their wallet stolen, the crisis overwhelming their vacation future, when stepped up Karl Malden. Like a fedora-donning yoda, Malden in his trench-coat – a la his recent TV detective role in “Streets of San Francisco” [with young co-star, Michael Douglas] – offered the audience a wise question, as he stared into the camera, coming into the viewers’ living rooms with an intimacy only a beloved TV character can generate:

What would YOU do?

The solution? American Express travelers’ cheques, of course! The on-screen logo coda insisted, “Don’t leave home without it” – and the next commercial racked up for viewing.  This piece of commercial thirty-second entertainment was a mainstay of primetime TV for years, subjecting Malden to many a skit parodying his ad by “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson in face putty to replicate Malden’s schnozz.

If the RNC were half as clever as it needs to be, some variation of this ad – or drawing on a more recent, salient version – would be generated in a commercial to ring true, asking Obama The One [OTO] the crucial question:

WHEN PUTIN HAPPENS, WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Or when “Ahmadinejad Happens” – WHAT WILL YOU DO?
Or when “Chavez Happens” – WHAT WILL YOU DO?

And more saliently, if OTO be our Oval Team Leader, what WILL WE DO?

The shame is there are oodles and boodles of talents of a conservative stripe to create such stunningly appealing and memorable TV ads, brimming with conservative energy, who’d be thrilled to put together such artistic expression of the conservative message. The RNC could match ad for ad all that OTO’s loyal legions are putting on TV – but they seem unable to realize such talent is there, or knowing of its availability, to effectively exploit it.

Some were employed for the convention, but little evidence since that the conservative creatives of Hollywood – the Pacific Palisades pals on the left coast – are finding an alliance with the Potomac pals in the capitol.

If those pals linked minds, that mind-meld could swamp OTO and his hopeful lefty legions. So far, RNC ads are pretty puny, as are most – though not all – of McCain’s efforts at communicating. It’s 44 years since DNC bashing of Goldwater orbited around the famous Daisy Ad – one stunning piece of work that was merely the centerpiece of a whole body of ad work that worked over the political body of the GOP nominee, Barry Goldwater.

Who was the senator from Arizona!  And who was painted mercilessly as a racist and nutcase. By the media masters of the left at the DNC. In the ensuing 44 years, it’s been assumed the ‘talent’ for such creative product of persuasion was exclusively on the left.

WRONG!

As this column keeps insisting, and starting to do so successfully, there is enough talent to make a “What would you do” commercial – even a series of them – to put the dems back on their derrieres.  Writers, directors, producers, camera operators, lighting specialists, make up artists, actors, executives – a full mix of the menu of talent, in Hollywood, with political leanings to the right, just itching to put to work their workday talents, on behalf of conservatism.

It takes time, and money, and leadership to bring that potential to fruition – “An American Carol” has had tepid boxoffice, mostly due to its rush to release in time for electoral influence. But it does show moxie and methodology that is ready to be energized to the next level, for the next time, as the next president either will be OTO the Impaler needing effective “loyal opposition” – or Mac the Hugger, eager to make-nice and sucky-face with the left in a manner replicating his earlier mavericky methods.

Either way, now and then, whoever is the Oval Leader, a lot of “What Would YOU Do?” ads are needed, with talent and the money to make it happen.

In the meantime, we do need to strive for the remaining week to force the media, and the voters, to ask:

If Putin Happens, WHAT WOULD OTO DO?

What price do we pay for political correctness and fashionability? ExileStreet

copyright 2008 Steve Finefrock

Finefrock is founder of Hollywood Forum, a speaker-bureau and panel-discussion vehicle to “Bring the Potomac to the Palisades” on issues that overlap politics and culture with the Hollywood film-TV influence on such national concerns. His scripts have addressed politics [including a TV series pilot/bible package about state political combat, called “A State of the Union”], hazardous materials [from twelve years in emergency management, including six years managing FEMA’s Superfund curriculum for hazmat], terrorism, equestrian reincarnation, serial murderer killing journalists in the nation’s capitol, and fantasy about time-wasters. Finefrock is proprietor of PhoneBooth: The Smallest Space in Hollywood…

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