Taxcathlon - Political Ad Fail

To whom it may concern at American Future Fund,

I'm writing to you regarding your "Taxcathlon" ad on YouTube...

Don't worry, I don't want to attack this ad for it's political content. I just want to get you to look more carefully at your marketing methods. This ad plays a lot. On pretty much every YouTube video that plays, from what I can tell. That sounds expensive to me, but if your message is targeted properly... perhaps it works for you.

Except... the way I first became aware of this ad was when my 13-year-old daughter complained about it. It's the one ad she or I have seen on YouTube that you can't skip after the first few seconds. Furthermore, let me underscore something. It's playing on my daughter's YouTube account, while she is logged in... On almost every single video she tries to watch (VlogBrothers, My Chemical Romance, Panic at the Disco, Dr. Who, etc.)...

If you don't see the problem yet, note that Google / YouTube know how old she is, and I'm guessing they know what she's interested in. Certainly in the account where you are placing the ad and paying for it, you should be able to control something about where and what age group it plays for. I don't have a degree in marketing, but even I know you don't pay to advertise your political message to someone who is not old enough to vote.

But keep on annoying the 13-year-olds if that's what you want to waste your money on.