To unleash the smart, satirical news voice of The Daily Show onto the screens of millions during the primary debates of 2015. To go above and beyond the expectations of one-liner-slinging, whiskey-powered, live-tweeting, delivering more analysis, more insight, and more GIFs than ever before.
We established the best live-tweeting team in the game with various people responsible for pulling video clips, making GIFs, generating graphics, and writing jokes. In addition, we built out a set of assets ahead of each debate in order to optimize humor delivery. And we ordered Thai food. Lots of Thai food.
Some of our most unique posts included:
Achievements
Inspired by Xbox gaming, we awarded candidates achievements like "Brown-Nosing for VP" https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/654113265929310208 and "Proud #Meninist" https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/664286554622443520 and "Plays Well With Others" https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/654111184824745984
Candidate Bio Cards
In order to educate our Twitter community in the neurologically-optimized 640x360-pixel format, we created biographical cards for each candidate. Carly Fiorina: https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/664267208768532480 Bernie Sanders: https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/654098081709993984
Custom Real-Time Graphics
As the moments demanded, we created graphics on-the-fly to capture key moments. Inspired by Chris Christie: https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/644346064804425728 Congratulating CNN: https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/644303682172006400
Custom Reaction GIFs and Memes
When Bernie Sanders landed a good one: https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/654126222096662529 When Jim Webb wouldn't stop talking: https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/654123486827401216 and exclusive use of clips from the Cuba Gooding movie "Gifted Hands" to represent Ben Carson in the fourth GOP debate: https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/664275040473513984
Twitter Polls
Since these debates are part of the democratic process, we were inspired to let our own community vote on issues that mattered. Like who was less respected: https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/664275447744696320 or who won: https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/664299912411090944
Our primary objective was to create a sense of interdepartmental effectiveness and cohesion, to develop a light tactical unit capable of taking on any live event with the full creative firepower of The Daily Show at hand. We accomplished this. Interdepartmental Task Force morale has never been higher.
Our secondary objective was to win the debates. Although we were never invited to participate, we recognized our value to the democratic process and are proud of the fact that we have been in the top five mentioned accounts during the debates, almost always beating the host TV network and every other entertainment outlet. In fact the only ones ahead of us have generally been Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and on occasion, Donald Trump.
Our tertiary objective was to drive interest in pumpkin spice. Thanks to our efforts, measurable interest in pumpkin spice is at a 10-year high. We do not believe this is a coincidence: https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=pumpkin%20spice
