Ringtones: Campaign Paraphernalia for the Digital Age
Politicians have long employed the use of paraphernalia to increase name recognition and get their message out to voters. In recent memory I can remember local campaigns distributing fly swatters (David Slavitt, Republican who ran against Rep. Tim Toomey in 2004) and ice scrapers (Elizabeth Moroney who lost the special Democratic primary to Rep. Denise Provost last year) on the streets and at events.
I was just doing some reading on the State Senate race in the Second Suffolk district (seat of the embattled Senator Dianne Wilkerson) and saw that Republican Samiyah Diaz is distributing a "Give Diaz a Chance" ringtone on her campaign website.
I admit that the tune is actually kinda catchy, but I wonder how much success such an effort would be in increasing positive name recognition for the candidate (or, hell, or for the other candidate in the race with the same last name). Though I am sometimes guilty of this myself, I find inappropriately timed ringtones one of the most annoying aspects of our modern society. I can imagine that with enough people blasting this tone around Boston, some voters may be tempted to vote against that damn candidate who's always disturbing their otherwise peaceful T ride, movies, meetings, religious services, nature hikes...
Contribute to Deval