Koch brothers look to rebrand in national ad campaign [View all]

[a kennedy]

Charles and David Koch are no strangers to Wisconsinites. It was three years ago that the Buffalo Beast's Ian Murphy pulled off the mother of all prank phone calls by ringing up Gov. Scott Walker while posing as David Koch, and we've been getting a steady dose of news about the billionaire brothers' political doings ever since.

But the rest of the country is catching up. Even though neither one has been on a ballot since David Koch was a Libertarian vice presidential candidate in 1980, polling shows that 48 percent of Americans recognize their names, according to U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who backs a plan to attack the conservative donors ahead of the mid-term elections.

Some might say that Democrats are late to the party. The Kochs have for years been targeted as Public Enemies No. 1 and 2 by film makers, liberal watchdog groups, and just about everyone else on the left.

Now the brothers, together reportedly worth about $80 billion, are looking to soften their brand by running a national ad campaign that focuses not on their politics, but on the inherent goodness of their mega-congomlerate Koch Industries, which last year raked in $115 billion in revenue. The ads have recently begun airing in the Madison market.


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