MSNBC Announces Winner of Hardball Campaign Ad Challenge

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) October 12, 2007 -- SECAUCUS, N.J. – Oct. 12, 2007 – MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews" today announced that the winner of it's Hardball Campaign Ad Challenge is a series of satirical Rudy Giuliani ads that feature a Giuliani supporter driving in a minivan. "These ads are the quintessential viral videos of this campaign season," said host Chris Matthews. "They're funny, they've attracted media attention and they've managed to stay anonymous."

The winning series of ads are attributed to the user name "Abrad2345" on YouTube. All the ads feature a slightly confused man giving a monologue about the campaign and all the candidates. All end with a tongue-in-cheek tagline for the Giuliani campaign, leading most to believe that they are in fact anti-Giuliani ads. "These ads have been a lightning rod of controversy since they first started appearing," said Matthews. The ads were initially traced to the McCain campaign's use of a consulting firm responsible for 2004's Swift Boat ads, but they denied their involvement, as did the Giuliani campaign itself.

The ads were chosen from over 200 online user-generated ads submitted to "Hardball." "This is an exciting time for participatory democracy in this country," said Matthews. "And I want to congratulate and thank everyone who submitted." Judges for the competition included Washington Post television critic Tom Shales, National Journal's Linda Douglas, and former American Idol contestant Taryn Southern who produced the "Hott 4 Hill" Clinton ad in June.

"Hardball with Chris Matthews," which is celebrating it tenth anniversary, premiered on CNBC in 1997, and on MSNBC in 1999. It was telecast on both CNBC and MSNBC through July 2002. In addition to hosting "Hardball," Matthews is also the host of "The Chris Matthews Show," a syndicated weekly news program produced by NBC News and distributed by NBC Universal Television Distribution. Mr. Matthews is a regular commentator on NBC's "Today" show. Matthews is the author of five best-selling books, including the recently released "Life's a Campaign" (2007) and "American: Beyond Our Grandest Notions" (2002), a New York Times best seller.

A television news anchor with remarkable depth of experience, Matthews has distinguished himself as a broadcast journalist, newspaper bureau chief, Presidential speechwriter, and best-selling author. Matthews covered the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first all-races election in South Africa and the Good Friday Peace Talks in Northern Ireland. In 1997 and 1998, his digging in the National Archives produced a series of San Francisco Examiner scoops on the Nixon presidential tapes. Matthews has covered American presidential election campaigns since 1988, including the five-week recount of 2000. In 2005 Matthews covered the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

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