Just in time for Pride, Minnesotans United for all Families posted the first commercial of the campaign. According to TPM, the commercial is funded by the Project 515 Education Campaign and will be a three-month campaign that will run on news sites and high-trafficked local websites.

The video, titled “We Believe,” intermixes quick snippets from couples on how they met and how long they’ve been together. Included in the ad is a lesbian couple that has been together 31 years (and counting). The final seven seconds of the ad share the message. Starting at 23s, the wife from the first couple introduced states:

None of us would want to be told that it’s illegal to marry the person that you love.

At 27s, the couple is replaced with a white background and the text, “join the conversation” and a link to www.GetTheConversationStarted.org

Two voiceovers conclude the commercial. A male states:

Marriage matters.

And then a female states:

For everyone.

And the 30 seconds are up.

I’m excited to see the first commercial come out against the amendment. Overall, it sends the message “love is love” regardless of the gender of the couple.

With this being the first foray into the campaign (and put on by Project 515’s Education Fund), it’s a very light commercial with no mention of the amendment, how to vote or even Minnesota for that matter. Instead, it seems to be designed to introduce viewers to couples from all walks of life.

Unfortunately, after viewing the commercial, I went to JoinTheConversation.org (that’s what I remembered from the ad) and I was educated about a computer history museum. Confused, I had to actually go back and watch the ad to get the actual URL. While the web site is not required for viewers to benefit from the overall “love is love” message, a major component of Project 515’s strategy is to get folks talking and the website provides more detail. I’m not sure that this ad in itself will get people talking. Folks have been exposed to gay and lesbian couples for years on tv and in the movies and this feels like more of that.

It will be interesting to see how additional commercials shape up in the campaign. Considering this was put on by Project 515’s Education Campaign, it’s not surprising that there wasn’t a blatant instruction on voting NO or an explanation as to why it would be damaging to the state of Minnesota. I would expect some of those messages to be delivered as we continue through the campaign. With that said, a couple tweaks to this ad would make it even better (perhaps displaying the URL the entire duration of the ad or finding a different way to have the URL stand out; I would also like to have heard the commercial make an ask of the viewer – whether that is to visit the web site, talk to friends, vote NO – it feels like an ask would have given more urgency to act).

So, there’s my quick analysis of the 30 seconds. I’d love to hear what you think?