Current TV recruited rapper turned actor Common for a new promotion highlighting the burgeoning network’s primetime lineup.
Describing the network and its viewers as “Politically Direct,” Common, aka Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr., recites a series of phrases to classify the Current viewer – “trailblazer,” “truth seeker” and “rule breaker” are three of the first.
From Common’s voice to the young people on screen, the ad continues Joel Hyatt and Al Gore’s mission of targeting a younger audience than the current cable news mainstays attract.
The campaign, created by Los Angeles-based ad agency Stun Creative, is not just for TV. It also consists of digital banners ads and a print promo, which debuted in Monday's New York Times and will appear in a number of major publications throughout the week.
Current set its prime time lineup – with "Young Turk" Cenk Uygur and former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm bookending Keith Olbermann – in advance of this year’s election, which Current hopes will establish its identity and grow its audience.
All three hosts appear in the video, but Olbermann, who was recently engaged in a public dispute with Current, is noticeably absent from the print advertisement.
Here's the video:
