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National Organization For Marriage Ad Running In Vermont During The Rachel Maddow Show

Advertisement is about reaching the most people with the most effect. However, one has to question the effects of running an advertisement for the National Organization for Marriage during one of cable network’s most liberal two hour window. That is correct, NOM bought advertising during The Rachel Maddow Show. For those who are baffled by this, NOM is trying to influence the direction of New York and New Hampshire, the two states which border on Vermont. These advertisements are bought on the local market, and run across the whole zone. But, one has to question the wisdom of NOM buying advertising for an entire state which has already passed marriage equality legislation. They may have been hoping to influence the veto override in Vermont, but were unable to. The veto was overridden on Tuesday.

NOM’s stated intention is to prevent same-sex marriage from gaining any more ground in states like New York and New Hampshire. The advertisement did not originate from MSNBC, nor from the local carrier, but was bought for the regional market. The problem is, the New York and New Hampshire markets are pretty expensive since those originate out of Boston and New York City. The Burlington-Plattsburg district covers part of New York, namely around Plattsburg and part of New Hampshire, namely Lebanon. Now, here comes the whammy. Recently, Plattsburg was the scene of a ‘rally’ by the anti-homosexual Westboro Baptist Church in which a small group of fourteen were met by over two hundred counter-protesters. Those counter protesters staged a second rally the next day as well. Lebanon, NH is a college town and home to Dartmouth College and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

What makes matters worse is that the advertisement ran on 9 April at around 9:45 pm, after Dr. Maddow ran her story about the disastrous leak by NOM of the audition tapes of the people in the advertisement that they are currently running. It may seem strange, but, somehow, the advertisement loses its luster when you see those same actors standing there stumbling over lines completely. What follows is Dr. Maddow’s segment that includes the piece about NOM’s advertisement. It is about three minutes into that segment. Now, remember, this advertisement buy cost NOM almost half the money they raised in the last year and a half.

Bridget “Sei” McBride is a trans-lesbian who lives in Vermont and has a strong passion for LGBTI rights. She has a BA in History and her hobbies include sci-fi, anime, fantasy, action movies, video games, and more. Currently, she is working on her MA in Individualized Studies at Goddard College. Her specialization is in cultural history and cultural comparison.