Progressive Media Makers Help Take Money Out of Politics

#MAYDAYin30 Video Contest

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Make a 30-second ad to wake up America to the crisis of big money in our politics.

Help reduce the corrupting influence of money in politics by creating a 30-second video ad that could run on national TV. Put on your creative hats and let’s win our democracy back!

Contest ends at 5:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, Oct. 16. The sooner you post your video, the more time you’ll have to get votes.

Inspired by MoveOn’s “Bush in 30 seconds” video ad contest from a decade ago, we’re asking citizens to create 30-second video ads that could be aired on national TV. Our all-star panel of judges – George Takei, Jason Alexander, Shepard Fairey, Zephyr Teachout, Marianne Williamson, Baratunde Thurston, Anna Galland and Cenk Uygur – will review the top entries and select the winners.

Your ads will be freely licensed (CC-BY), therefore anyone will be free to use or build on your ad (with attribution to you), so your creativity could inspire others too.

• Submit your video by uploading it on YouTube, and then paste the link into this form. Be sure to choose a Creative Commons license when you upload the video, and label the ad as either GENERAL (category #1) or SPECIFIC (category #2) in all caps in the description of your video. Please also add the hashtag: #MAYDAYin30
• Share with your friends and ask them to vote for your ad! See below for selection process details and contact info@mayday.us with any questions.

We will feature and promote the winning ads on our site and on the web, and if the data shows it makes sense for the campaigns, we may air the ads in the districts.

We’re excited to work on this contest in partnership with our friends atMoveOn.org, and with support from partners, such as PCCC.

Contest Categories

1. General issue ads

   Create a 30-second video ad that makes compelling the importance of money in politics, and why we need to fundamentally reform the way elections are funded. Show us why the issue is important to you and your community, how it relates to other issues you care about, or why everyone should care.

2. Candidate specific ads

   Create an ad that makes compelling voting for a MAYDAY.US reform candidate, based on the issue of money in politics. Your ad can be in support of the reform candidate as a champion on the issue, against their opponent, or a combination. MAYDAY.US candidates (so far!):

   • Staci Appel in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District
   • Walter Jones in North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District
   • Carol Shea-Porter in New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District

   Click here for more information for candidate specific ads. There’s no need to add any of the disclaimer language at the end of the ad. If you win, we’ll do it for you. But leave at least 3 seconds at the end if you want it aired on TV.