August 23, 2000

11:52 AM

Mastercard Wants to Silence NaderIf you thought Ralph Nader's views on too much corporate power were too far out -- click this one. The corporate thugs are trying to shut him down.
posted by snakey (6 comments total)

In case you haven't seen the ad -- click here (56k) or here (ISDN/DSL/Cable)
posted by snakey at 12:28 PM on August 23, 2000

It is obviously parody, it will be thrown out. I am sure Ralph is not bummed out by the attention.
posted by thirteen at 12:56 PM on August 23, 2000

You can also find the ad on Adcritic.
posted by alan at 1:08 PM on August 23, 2000

Nader doesn't even own a credit card, which makes it even more a parody in my book, plus he's done his fair share of slamming credit card companies already. This just gives him another chance to show them how silly they look.
posted by almostcool at 1:59 PM on August 23, 2000

There's no doubt in my mind that this stunt was designed to piss off MasterCard and thus get lots of free media coverage for Nader.

He runs on an anti-corporate agenda, so tweaking a corporation with his ads is perfect. Not only do they get his point across, but he also gets the bonus of being sued and thus having his ad aired repeatedly every time the talking heads on cable discuss the issue.

A brilliant media hack.
posted by rafeco at 8:25 PM on August 23, 2000

Nader's ad agency, I believe, are the same folks who did the ads for Jesse Ventura. They're very clever. The Ventura ads, for example, convinced Minnesotans that Mr. Ventura was a smart, modest, self-aware fellow who winked at his public persona, and would govern as a libertarian pragmatist.

Those were the days.
posted by lileks at 9:43 PM on August 23, 2000