Colbert PAC Concentrates on Creative

By John Eggerton and Kent Gibbons -- Multichannel News, 2/6/2012 12:01:00 AM

Political ads produced by Steven Colbert’s Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow Super PAC are clearly all about the creative, though that is all that’s clear in the Colbert Super PAC world, which is now attacking Colbert’s own mock candidacy.

A handful of ads have been showcased on his show, The Colbert Report on Comedy Central, and on its website, colbertnation.com, but so far the PAC’s expenditures on the creative for the ads has far outstripped any media buys.

The idea all along was for Colbert to use the PAC, and the humorous ads, as a device to address the Super PAC issue on his show. Super PACs are the independent expenditure committees created by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which held that unlimited amounts of corporate and union money could be spent to elect or defeat federal candidates.

According to Federal Election Commission figures, Colbert’s PAC has raised more than $1 million and had more than $673,000 in the bank. Money has come in from bankers, factory workers, soldiers, doctors, computer programmers and a group identified as the “Sticky Fingers Band,” according to the Sunlight Foundation, which tracks PAC expenditures.

While Colbert Report airtime and production costs associated with segments about the PAC fall under a press exemption for inkind contributions, which would otherwise need to be reported, the PAC’s costs for producing and paying for any ads that the PAC actually buys media time to run on air must be reported.

According to the latest from the FEC, Colbert’s PAC has spent an estimated $50,000 on ad production costs in the past three weeks but only made $3,000 worth of media buys: a $750 buy opposing Mitt Romney, a similar sum on an ad opposing Newt Gingrich, and $1,500 for a new ad that supports Herman Cain, who is no longer running, by attacking Colbert, who at the time was pretending to run, sort of, in the South Carolina Republican primary.

Gators Find NYC Home In Chelsea, Not Sewers: Market Gets ‘Swamped’

Stars of the hit History series Swamp People were in New York’s Chelsea Market last Thursday (Feb. 2), helping the network open a veritable pop-up flooded forest promoting Louisiana tourism and the show’s return on Feb. 9 at 9 p.m.

By stars, The Wire means Bruce Mitchell, also known as The Alligator Man, who hunts gators in the show with the help of his dog, Tyler, as well as 10 live examples of Mitchell’s reptilian prey, including a cuddly fourfooter named Addie that he carried around (with its mouth bound shut) for some local P.S. 150 second-graders to pet and ask questions of, such as, “Is that real?”

History previously raised awareness of the show, which averaged 4.1 million viewers in season two, in the Big Apple by putting fake manhole covers on city sidewalks with fake gators crawling out of them.

After opting to up the ante with this 11-day exhibit, the network reached out to Louisiana Tourism, which would love to attract more visitors to the show’s Atchafalaya River Basin setting and other areas.

“Not all of Louisiana is a swamp,” Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne said at the “Swamp in the City” exhibit that opened Feb. 2, explaining that local cuisine, such as the gumbo that chef John Folse spooned out, and the Zydeco music that Sac Au Lait played in the background were other good reasons to visit.

Senior vice president of development and programming Dirk Hoogstra said History was “thankful to be there in frankly what I think is one of the most beautiful places in the world.”

Mitchell told The Wire his Atchafalaya home hasn’t been overrun with tourists, but said he and fellow castmates Trapper Joe, Troy Landry and the rest are enjoying newfound fame: “We never meet a stranger. Everywhere we go, everybody knows us. And we’re just having fun with it.”

Landry, featured in History’s “Swamper Bowl” ad Sunday (Feb. 5), will be at the Chelsea swamp Feb. 7-8; Trapper Joe and Tommy were slated to appear Feb. 5-6.

SUPER SAVE

WEAR-TV in Pensacola, Fla., reported last week that local Cox Communications technician John Cooley spotted something shiny on the ground during a service call. Turned out to be a 2011 Super Bowl championship ring belonging to Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Josh Sitton. Cooley returned it, and Sitton (who hadn’t noticed it was missing) gave thanks.