Amanda Bynes Twitter Meltdown Used For Political Gain By Employment Policies Institute

Amanda Bynes has gotten a lot of attention recently for her Twitter rants and taking scantily-clad selfies. One group saw a better opportunity than satire: political commentary. 

Employment Policies Institute, a right-leaning political group has quickly turned around a billboard in Los Angeles using the former star's recent headline-grabbing to pose a question on a hot topic. 

The billboard reads: "Is Amanda Bynes Wigging Out About Teen Unemployment?" 

Employment Policies Institute uses numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to point out that teen unemployment ("teens" defined as individuals between the ages of 16 and 19) stands at 24 percent. The message idea imposed is that Bynes is only freaking out because she hasn't had any television work recently. Although the latter is true, the actress is also 27 years old, making her far beyond teenage age range. Michael Saltzman, research director at Employment Policies Institute, acknowledges that Bynes doesn't fit into the advertised demographic.

"I don't think there's supposed to be a logical link here," he admits. "The idea is to use people folks recognize."

He added that while debates rage about youth unemployment on the pages of major newspapers, the youth themselves are disconnected from the arguments because they don't read newspapers. Therefore Bynes's situation was used to draw in the teenage demographic.

The group uses the high rate of unemployment as an argument against proposals to raise the the minimum wage in California, which they argue would prevent businesses such as restaurants from hiring more employees. 

Employment Policies Institute has used young celebrities for its cause before, using Justin Bieber's recent string of partying headlines again to demonstrate youth unemployment. Or maybe youth partying in general.