A grassroots coalition of Portlanders who oppose the current direction of the Columbia River Crossing project are gearing up their communications strategies in advance of their rally on April 5th.
On Thursday they’ll formally launch the opening gambit in what organizers say will be “sustained campaign of opposition and alternatives to The CRC project.”
The group has put together a series of mock video ads that use comedic satire to drive their points home. The first one is titled, “Building Like It’s 1959” and will be set up as a spoof on the informercial/Home Shopping Network format.
In the video, a couple sitting on a couch does the hard and cheesy sell on the “Bridge Shopping Network”. The item up for bid is of a $4.2 billion dollar “Luxury Item”. As a salesman makes his pitch, the phrases, “Have we got a bridge to sell you!”, “Building like it’s 1959” and “$4 Billion dollars subject to increase without notice” roll by in ticker style at the bottom of the screen.
Another one-liner you’ll hear: “This bridge can be yours for just 1,000,000 payments of $4,000 each!”
One of the people involved with the effort is North Portland resident, author, and syndicated columnist Joe “Metal Cowboy” Kurmaskie. Kurmaskie wrote the scripts for the videos and he told me today that upcoming spots include one called, “CRC Bridge Cures Cancer” and another one that will sell the bridge as a “Win-Win for Sports Fans” because it will provide a marketing opportunity for the Portland Trailblazers and their fans when traffic backs up in front of their home court, the Rose Garden Arena (several miles south of the project area).
Starting Thursday, the videos will be released every five days until and after the rally.
The group behind these videos — who have partnered up with the Smarter Bridge coalition — have also confirmed a list of speakers for their upcoming rally to be held in Waterfront Park on April 5th.
So far, confirmed to speak are; former Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury (who is also a disciple of Al Gore and give’s Gore’s climate change presentation all over the country), Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz (the only person on the council who voted against moving forward on a 12-lane CRC bridge), and Metro Councilor Robert Liberty (another one of the very few elected politicians who have voted against this project in the past years).
When I spoke with Kurmaskie today he said the energy and enthusiasm about their effort and about the rally are, “really growing.”
Stay tuned for full videos and more information about this effort on Thursday.