- Bill Hillsman
William Gerard Hillsman, Jr. (born
August 14 ,1953 inChicago, Illinois ) is an American political consultant andadvertising executive best known for his offbeat, populist political ads. He works and lives inMinneapolis, Minnesota . A graduate ofCarleton College , Hillsman worked for various ad agencies until founding his own,North Woods Advertising , in 1985. After initially working only for commercial clients, he rose to prominence in 1990 when he became media director for DemocratPaul Wellstone 's campaign for theUnited States Senate .Career
Hillsman's work for Wellstone, whose total campaign budget was a comparatively-minuscule $1 million, earned him the Grand EFFIE Award from the
American Marketing Association . His ads, most noticeably "Fast Paul," in which Wellstone zipped across the screen from locale to locale while providing his résumé, and "Looking for Rudy," in which the candidate sought out incumbent SenatorRudy Boschwitz and attempted to debate him in apastiche of the film "Roger & Me ", were replayed dozens of times bynews shows, maximizing the value of the small amount Wellstone paid to air the ads. This would subsequently become Hillsman'strademark when handling political clients.After his success with Wellstone, Hillsman worked mainly with Minnesota candidates. In late 1992, however, he was contacted by representatives of Independent presidential candidate
Ross Perot . Hillsman authored copy for two Perot ads, which were never produced. In 1993, Hillsman became media director forSharon Sayles Belton in her then-struggling campaign to becomemayor ofMinneapolis, Minnesota . Sayles Belton's unexpected victory was partially attributed to Hillsman's work. However, the following year, Hillsman directed the media strategy of DemocratJohn Marty 's post-primary campaign for Governor (Hillsman has earlier worked for one of Marty's opponents), which lost to incumbentArne Carlson by a record-setting margin.In 1998, Hillsman again made headlines when, in mid-October, he was hired as media director for the third-party gubernatorial campaign of former pro wrestler
Jesse Ventura . Hillsman's ads for Ventura, which posed him as Rodin's "The Thinker ", hawked a Venturaaction figure , compared the candidate toAbraham Lincoln , and parodied the theme song to "Shaft", were seen as a major driving force behind Ventura's unexpected victory, in which the candidate carried almost everydemographic in the state.The following year, Hillsman briefly counseled Academy Award-winning actor/director
Warren Beatty , whom he advised to run for President as either a Democrat or a Reformer. In 2000, he joined his first campaign outside of Minnesota, creating ads for Green Party presidential nomineeRalph Nader . Both of the TV ads created for Nader were rated by many experts as the best of the campaign, and one led to added publicity whenMasterCard , whoseslogan had been parodied, filed alawsuit against the campaign.After the conclusion of Nader's campaign, Hillsman returned to Minnesota. In 2002, he was named a Resident Fellow at
Harvard University 'sKennedy School of Government . That fall, he served briefly as director of communications for interim SenatorDean Barkley , a former Ventura campaign manager who was appointed to fill Wellstone's seat upon his death.In 2003, Hillsman briefly worked for columnist and author
Arianna Huffington during the gubernatorial recall election, until she dropped out of the race. He then went to work forDenver, Colorado mayoral candidateJohn Hickenlooper , a political neophyte who eventually won by the biggest margin of victory ever in a Denver mayoral election.In 2004, Hillsman authored "Run The Other Way: Fixing theTwo-Party System, One Campaign at a Time", which was published by
Simon & Schuster . That year, he also worked briefly forIllinois Republican U.S. Senate nominee Jack Ryan, before the candidate left the race over asex scandal . The following year, duringVirginia 's off-year gubernatorial election, he created ads for State SenatorRuss Potts ' Independent campaign.During the 2006 election, Hillsman served as media director for
country music singer/mystery authorKinky Friedman 's Independent campaign forGovernor of Texas . He has also created advertisements for IndependentChristy Mihos , who ran forGovernor of Massachusetts , andConnecticut DemocratNed Lamont in his successful primary campaign against incumbent SenatorJoe Lieberman and unsuccessfulgeneral election campaign, also against Lieberman. In California, he produced an ad for proponents of Proposition 89, entitled "Pounding."Starting in August of 2007, the group
Physicians for a National Health Program began airing ads, created by Hillsman, in which ordinary citizens grillcardboard cutout s of SenatorsHillary Rodham Clinton ,John Edwards , andBarack Obama over their lack of leadership on the issue ofuniversal health care . The ads are entitled "Speechless."Other political clients of Northwoods Advertising have included St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman in his campaign for Congress, noted Minnesota attorney
Mike Ciresi in his 2000 campaign for the U.S. Senate, theWorking Assets telephone company , theCenter for a Sustainable Economy , former Minneapolis Chief of PoliceTony Bouza and Minnesota State Senator Doug Johnson in their 1994 and 1998 campaigns for the DFL gubernatorial nomination, and formerFlorida State RepresentativeWillie Logan in his Independent campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2000.Hillsman's non-political clients have included the
Mall of America , theAir Line Pilots Association, International , theMinnesota Twins , thePew Wilderness Center , the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, theMinnesota North Stars , andJulian Loscalzo in his campaign forBaseball Commissioner .He is the founder of
Independent Voters of America .See also
* [http://www.billhillsman.com Bill Hillsman's official website]
* [http://www.northwoodsadvertising.com North Woods Advertising]
* [http://www.independentvotersofamerica.net/ Independent Voters of America]
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