Case Studies»

Mitt Romney Has A Koch Problem

When Mitt Romney scheduled a $50,000-a-plate fundraiser at the Koch Brothers’ summer home in Southhampton, ART NOT WAR disrupted the event, exposing Romney as an out-of-touch elite with a 1% economic agenda. We converged hundreds of protestors on the Koch residence, holding banners reading “Mitt Romney has a Koch Problem” and accompanied by the RomneyMobile: a Cadillac Escalade emblazoned with corporate logos and a fake dog strapped to its roof.

In August, an Art Not War-led coalition of MoveOn and Occupy Wall St. marched with our “Mitt Romney has a Koch Problem” banner, making the front page of the New York Times online (along with photos of an plane hired by MoveOn to fly a sign with the same message overhead). Stories of event, juxtaposing imagery of the “Koch Problem” banner and Romneymobile with elitist comments from Romney’s wealthy donors, dominated the news cycle for the next few days, garnering coverage in 269 news outlets like CNN, Bloomberg Business News, and the Christian Science Monitor. Even the candidate himself took notice. “I understand there is a plane out there saying ‘Mitt Romney has ‘a Koch problem,’” he said, according to the New York Post. “I don’t look at it as a problem; I look at it as an asset.” Judging by the results of the presidential election, Mitt may have misjudged. By early September, polls showed Americans now believed he was an out-of-touch 1%er who relied on wealthy backers like the Kochs.

To sweeten the deal, “Mitt Romney Has a Koch Problem” won both a 2012 Pollie and a Reed Award for Best Collateral & Most Original/ Innovative Collateral, respectively.