Mike Bloomberg‘s presidential campaign has released its 60-second Super Bowl ad, which will air on Sunday after halftime of the 49ers-Chiefs.
The ad premiered this morning on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. It addresses gun reform, and is Bloomberg’s latest commercial after several weeks of running ads focusing on impeaching Pres. Trump. POTUS isn’t mentioned in this particular ad, and the candidate himself doesn’t appear until the end.
It’s about a mother who lost her son to gun violence.
WATCH:
The campaign paid Fox north of $10 million for airtime for the 60-second ad, which Siegel Strategies produced.
Adweek digital media reporter Sara Jerde adds:
The ad, titled “George” tells the story of a man, George Kemp Jr., who was shot and killed, while his mother, Calandrian Simpson Kemp, narrates the ad about her son’s love for football and aspirations of going to the NFL. She explains that she has watched, and believes in, how Bloomberg would fight for reform. The ad does not mention Trump and Bloomberg himself doesn’t appear until the very end, when he endorses the message.
This is the first first time that a presidential candidate, let alone two, purchased a spot in the Super Bowl.
A “Super Bowl ad” is defined as an advertisement that appears in the game after kickoff and before the clock runs out on the game. An ad that airs during the pregame coverage or after the game is not considered a Super Bowl ad.
“People might assume a political ad during the Super Bowl might be really political and divisive. This ad is the opposite,” Bloomberg’s national campaign spokesperson, Julie Wood, told Adweek. “It’s about something that is incredibly human and moving and an issue there is broad agreement on.”
How did the Bloomberg campaign decide on an ad which focuses on gun reform?
Jerde reports the campaign decided that this spot would “cause people to pause and watch this and have a conversation about it,” Wood said, particularly around other ads that might strike “a different tone.”
“We thought it was a really powerful way to introduce him to the country and she speaks so powerfully about her story and her son,” Wood told Adweek.