Emotion.
“This ad is going up in Wisconsin. It is quite something. Watch it.”
– Rachel Maddow
In Governor Tony Evers re-election campaign, we needed to define our opponent Tim Michels’ position on abortion. In October, a decades-old audio interview of Michels surfaced where he stated that the state government should mandate rape victims deliver the baby – even if they are as young as 12 years old. The objective of this ad is to show voters exactly what that would mean; show voters what 12 year old girls look like; show voters the innocence of a 12-year old girl (jumping rope); and force them to think about that position in relation to their vote on Election Day.
This ad did a miraculous job of both persuading voters we needed to win and motivating the base to go vote. It was a critical communication in the closing weeks to Evers’ victory
One Wisconsin reporter summed up the headwinds we faced in Wisconsin in re-electing Governor Tony Evers stating, ” The governor didn’t just win reelection, he defied history. The first candidate in 32 years to win the governor’s office when his party was in power in the White House. The first Dem to do that in 60 years. The first Dem to ever win a governor’s race while his party’s nominee lost the U.S. Senate campaign.”
Read more about Evers’ stunning 2022 re-election victory here.
Dive in deep on a story
Too often political ad makers want to throw 5 or 6 issues into a single ad. They try to say too much and, as a result, end up saying nothing. Great ads can focus on great stories and great storytelling – simplifying issues and votes for an electorate in a way that is memorable.
In 2020, we were hired by an Independent Expenditure (IE) to help re-elect Abigail Spanberger to Congress in Virginia’s 7th district. This district was a swing seat traditionally won by Republicans. To cut through the clutter on the air we needed to tell a powerful story and present a message in a unique way.
Spanberger’s Republican opponent, Nick Freitas, voted to let businesses discriminate and fire expecting mothers for no other reason but their pregnancy. Polling showed this was a devastating hit if done right.
After all the ballots were cast, Spanberger won re-election to Congress with just over 8,000 votes… 50.9%.
“One ad for Protasiewicz featuring a young woman learning her baby would have severe abnormalities captures the emotion driving the race”
– The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin, 3/23/2023
Wisconsin was ground zero for competitive elections in 2023. The race featured liberal Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Janet Protasiewicz facing off, in the General Election, against former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly.
The New York Times labeled the state’s non-partisan supreme court race “the year’s biggest election.” Why? The balance of the state’s highest court was up for grabs. And, that balance had national impacts considering Joe Biden won Wisconsin by just court one vote in 2020: a 4-3 decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court that nearly threw out enough ballots to swing the election to Donald Trump. in 2020.
Conservatives had ruled in the majority for nearly 40 years and the current court was made up of 4 conservatives and 3 liberals – one of the conservative justices was set to retire. Each judge is elected statewide to a 10-year term in the spring of odd-numbered years which are consistently comprised of more conservative voters.
Heightening the tensions this year was Wisconsin’s 174-year-old abortion ban that was now in effect after the national Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.
It was amidst this backdrop that Judge Janet Protasiewicz won a commanding 11-point victory in the most expensive judicial campaign in the history of the United States of America.
We were honored to help Anna tell her story on camera which played a huge role in help carry Justice Protasiewicz to victory.
Emotion is what makes us human.
Effective advertising taps into that power.
The spot above highlighted a critical issue in the race for Iowa’s first congressional district: protecting Iowan’s preexisting condition healthcare coverage.
We were hired by the United Association to go in late to help Abby Finkenauer win the seat. Congressman Rod Blum had voted 10 times to gut protections for preexisting conditions and our mission was to deliver that message in a new way that could connect emotionally with the electorate.
In a sea of fast-moving pictures and ominous voices in political advertising, we found a simple message – tied to a new way of thinking about the issue – was enough to cut through the clutter and help send Abby Finkenauer to Congress to represent Iowa.
Stockard Channing provided an incredible, understated voice-over performance.