You get an Ad! And you get an Ad! Everyone gets an Ad!

 

Ads ads ads...and more ads. On a lighter note, I wanted to touch on some of the ads that were published during the 2020 presidential campaign. In the online article, "The 19 greatest and worst presidential campaign ads of the 2020 election" featured on theweek.com, Biden's and Trump's ads are compared and rated.

Out of all of these, I wanted to elaborate on some that I thought were insanely bad and ridiculously good. Let's start with the worst.

Coming in at #15 is another Trump ad with the title, "Meet Joe Biden's Supporters". This ad actually manages to do the opposite of attacking his opponent, and instead attacks himself. The ad features footage of riots, protests, violence, and other unpleasant images that Trump blames on Biden; the catch is...who was in charge when all of these unpleasant things occurred? Not Biden. Even Obama's Communications director, Dan Pfeiffer, pointed out that, "Ads that depict chaos and violence that you were too weak to stop is a very strange strategy" (theweek.com).

Coming in at #14 is Biden's ad, "Joe Biden Gets Vetted". This ad begins with Biden showcasing his 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and eventually making the connection between well made automobiles and American standards in terms of production. While I am biased since I am a car person, I still think that-to the average person-this ad didn't quite make as much of an impactful message as it could have. While nothing is wrong is a "low-key" ad, I still think that it had more potential.

Coming in at #3 is Trump's notorious "The Best is Yet to Come"ad. While the message in itself is skewed and fights against Trump in a way (the best should have already came during his presidency), it still manages to get American citizens rilled up in a patriotic way. In addition to this, the phrasing of this sentence (i.e. shouting it) is also what makes the message stand out more and appeal to voters. While I am biased on the candidates, I do think that this ad approach succeeds in rallying supporters for Trump's campaign.

Coming in at #4 is Biden's ad, "Four Hours". This ad touches a personal nerve, as it illustrates the sacrifices people make in order to support their families in relation to Biden's own personal sacrifices made to support his. The message of family is clear, and in contrast to his other ads that are centered around the pandemic and other prevalent problems, this ad keeps a warm tone unlike others. I think this is what makes this ad more appealing than others.

Finally, coming in at #19, the very last on the theweek.com's list, is Trump's campaign ad, "Inspired by Actual Events". This ad made me burst out laughing (and it is currently in the middle of the night). Although I may be biased, I assure anyone reading this that my preference in candidates had nothing to do with how much this ad humored me. The ad uses a horror film aesthetic to portray Biden as "the monster" by using hilarious visual effects. Even though this ad was placed at the very bottom of the list, I can definitely see how this grabbed Trump supporters' attention, and it was one of my personal favorites because of how simple and hilarious the message was.

Below is the link to the article where all of these ads can be found: https://theweek.com/articles/945014/19-greatest-worst-presidential-campaign-ads-2020-election