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First, it's worth noting that this campaign was done in 2012, and during the election at this time, the mood toward politics was not nearly as negative as it is today. I do not believe a theme such as this, even a fun take on it, would be feasible at this time. With that said, the strategy here was based on a very real challenge for them: the fair's limited ad budget would be competing against all the national and local political ads, so how do they compete? It was even tough to get billboard locations. We took an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach.
Our solution was to go with the flow of political advertising at the moment—join the race, so to speak. We used old-timey and nostalgic art direction (which was perfect for the fair anyway) with visual political cues such as bunting, fireworks and stars. Messages came easy as you can see from these samples. Possibly a little punny thanks to a dad-joke expert copywriter. As we started pulling everything together, from the website, to sponsorship and contest appeals, to radio, to digital and billboard ads, the them really played out quite easily and organically. Our work for the fair won consistent awards, including a national best for small fairs, at the national trade group for fairs and amusement parks (yes, there is one!). Concept and writing, me; art direction and design, John Howard and Laura Knight Beebe.
We designed an interactive Flash-based game to run on the CMG ad network. The small ad expanded and a player could shoot fireworks at stars—patriotic and fun!
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