As you know we love to point out smart, slick, or simply great examples of content strategy when we see them employed. We’ve written about the Obama administration’s tactics when making the push for the ACA and even FXX’s strategy with the Every Simpsons Ever Marathon. So when the powers that be in the Florida gubernatorial race tried to put a stranglehold on democracy by turning a cold shoulder on libertarian candidate Adrian Wyllie, I perked up to see what how his camp would respond.

The Setup

Just as the two-party system likes to do, it tried everything it could to exclude libertarian candidate for Florida governor, Adrian Wyllie. Despite questionable ethics and track records for the other two candidates, the media tried to create the facade that those were really the only two options for Floridians. Wyllie, the highest polling of any third-party candidate, was turned away from the live debates. A third and contrasting voice that would have at least made the discussion interesting and less scripted was now barred.

The Strategy

The Wyllie campaign turned to the internet on the evening of each debate to do something very – well, wily. For the live portion of the debate, they used Google Hangouts to stream to both their G+ page and their YouTube page. Here Adrian fielded the same questions that were being asked of the republican and democratic candidates. He essentially got be part of the debate in real-time and created a platform to have his thoughts heard. The “fangate” delay also allowed for comical insight and commentary from Adrian.

Next, the same live responses were recorded on a better camera so they could be edited and spliced into a recording of the debates for a more seamless presentation of a debate with a third candidate. The first video was broadcast live and both were shared across social media over the next few days.

The Verdict

The Adrian Wyllie campaign leveraged a simple and very affordable content strategy in order to be heard. They fought the power with smarts and the tools at hand. As the adage goes, when life hands you lemons you should punch people in the face.