This is a warning! Get ready for an onslaught of political advertising (TV, Radio, Print, Robo Calls, Social Media) that will be targeting the lowest common denominator in all of us. I call it the “Moron Factor.”

I’ve spent my entire adult life in some form of marketing and advertising and have seen and heard some moronic ads, none of which will measure up to what we’re about to witness from our candidates for President and their surrogates.

I marvel at ads and quite often ask myself, “Who’s buying into this?”

Perhaps you’re still getting emails from some foreign prince who wants to leave you his fortune. I know I still get them. What that tells me is that this scam is still working on a segment of the population or they wouldn’t be wasting their resources and efforts.

Are you a moron? The answer is “Yes” if you don’t probe this question: What button are they attempting to push in me with this ad?”

Earlier this year I deleted some people from my Facebook friends list. They were the ones who reposted obvious, unvetted information for or against a political figure. If they were stupid enough to buy into what they were reposting without any hint of investigation on their part, any future posts from them would be too moronic for me to read.

Most of the upcoming ads will pander to our prejudices. If you just said, “I’m not prejudiced,” you’re a moron. We all have prejudices and that’s what these ads will target.

O.J. Simpson was acquitted during his first trial. Was it due to how spectacularly the defense rebutted the factual case? No, it was how well they pandered to the prejudice of the jury. They knew exactly what they were doing and so do the marketers who will be crafting the ads you’ll know by heart by the time Election Day rolls around in November.

I, frankly, don’t care who you vote for; I just want you to avoid being a moron. Take the time to notice what “hot button” an ad is attempting to push and give yourself a choice before you decide to push it or not. It will be in that moment of clarity that you’ll separate yourself from the masses of morons.

All the best,

John