Some find Pennsylvania's tax amnesty ads too scary
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A screen shot from the Pennsylvania Tax Amnesty ad: 'We Know Who You Are'
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The commercial begins with a feminine, robotic voice saying, Your name is Tom. You live just off of Fifth Street. Nice car, Tom. A satellite-mounted camera eventually pinpoints Tom's house, near Harrisburg, and the ad ends with a clear threat:
Find us before we find you.
Critics of the ominous ad say Pennsylvania's TV and radio campaign offering amnesty to the state's tax "scofflaws" is far too Orwellian, but the state Department of Revenue says it had no choice but to get tough with the people and businesses that owe it millions of dollars.
The amnesty program, launched last month and running through June 18, hopes to collect $190 million in back taxes.
The program got off to a dubious start, with people reporting that they were receiving letters for dead relatives, for amounts less than $10 or for debts that were decades old. The same people were unable to call or e-mail the state Department of Revenue because of jammed phone lines and Internet servers, and they were frustrated by the state's antiquated system of financial record-keeping.
Those first-week snafus might have caught the department -- and the accused debtors -- off guard, but the buzz over the $3 million ad campaign is exactly what the department wanted.
"It's tough. It's edgy. We needed to cut through the clutter and motivate tax delinquents [to] get their attention," said Stephanie Weyant, department spokeswoman. The state wants not only to spread the word about the amnesty period but also explain that a crackdown -- and extra financial penalties -- await those who are tracked down after the amnesty expires.
The ad campaign was selected by the state, and by focus groups, out of a half-dozen concepts presented by the state's primary advertising agency, the Philadelphia-based Neiman Group.
Neiman's media office had no comment on its campaign, referring questions to the state.
First Published May 14, 2010 12:00 am
