Republican groups have owned the Promoted Trend ad spot on Twitter so far during the week of the Democratic National Convention.
On Tuesday, the Republican National Committee bought the marquee Twitter ad—which appears atop the trends section on the left-hand side of Twitter pages—and ran the copy “#AreYouBetterOff”? Then on Wednesday, the GOP-leaning organization Americans for Prosperity is running the copy “#FailedAgenda” for an ad slot that typically costs $120,000 per day.
When users click on the Mitt Romney-touting Promoted Trend ads, they are directed to a landing page, where they can click on either a “#DoingFine” or “#NotDoingFine” hashtag that will take them to dedicated copy for each scenario that’s designed to do President Barack Obama no favors.
Obama’s Agenda has brought us 43 straight months of unemployment over 8%. Are you #DoingFine or #NotDoingFine? Click to go on.
— AFP (@AFPhq) September 5, 2012
Did you know that even if you’re #DoingFine, 13 million Americans are currently unemployed? Learn more: bit.ly/failingagenda#failingagenda
— AFP (@AFPhq) September 5, 2012
Presidet Obama told us “the Private Sector is 'doing fine,'" but we're #NotDoingFine. SIGN our petition: bit.ly/failingagenda#failingagenda
— AFP (@AFPhq) September 5, 2012
Because Twitter continues to grow as a political conversation generator, the moves craftily pose an obstacle to the Democrats as they attempt to seize the national discussion around its convention while building toward Obama’s speech on Thursday. And the developments come on the heels of the Republican Mitt Romney last week becoming the first presidential candidate to purchase the pricey social ad.
Launched two years ago, advertisers taking advantage of the Promoted Trend unit have typically been Hollywood brands, electronics companies and financial firms. Before the Romney purchase, in the realm of politics, only groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have tested the ad unit.