Today, Lightfoot for Chicago released “Movie Night Delivery,” the third and final installment of its digital ad campaign with “Oscar” and “Felix,” the two Chicago “experts” who discuss Mayor Lightfoot’s track record for the city.
“Movie Night Delivery” features the two men talking about the Mayor’s progressive accomplishments over her time in office, including:
Felix: Progress. Chicago needs someone to be a truly progressive mayor. [Oscar grabs remote and pauses movie] Hey, what did you do that for?
Oscar: Mayor Lightfoot has literally raised minimum wage to $15, made Chicago a safe haven for abortion, and has made record investments in affordable housing.
Felix: I don’t know. Sounds pretty suspect.
Oscar: [Turns to Mayor Lightfoot] Mayor! Can you?
Mayor Lightfoot: You’re right. Chicago did need someone to clean up the mess and pass a progressive agenda.
Oscar: [to Felix, handing him Lightfoot’s agenda] It’s all in here, dude. Lightfoot delivers.
Mayor Lightfoot: [to Oscar] Does he read?
Oscar: About as much as he cleans!
The ads kinda sneak up on you when you’re watching TV. I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s just, you’re watching what looks like a normal ad, and then, boom, there’s the mayor.
I give the ad a B mainly because she is up on TV and getting ahead of the folks to her left, which she knows pose the biggest threat to her.
I find the article they cited as evidence of her work on affordable housing interesting. That particular proposal is pretty tepid and she steered clear of making any claims on addressing homelessness.
I would rate the ad a C+. Like her prior ad it’s a bit clever, but the “progressive accomplishments” it touts are weak. I feel that Lightfoot needs to remind us of her accomplishments, but after seeing her last two ads I’m reminded of how scant they are. When I think of increasing the minimum wage I view it as more of a state issue. The threat of abortions being banned in Chicago isn’t a threat at all and her claims on housing don’t seem to be supported by much of anything at all. So an ad that’s supposed to touch Lightfoot’s successes does the opposite for me.
I don’t know, B+ I guess. I think Rich makes a good point that this doesn’t feel like “other campaign ads.” And that very much goes with Lori’s whole schtick that served her well last time.
@Montrose I agree. I think she steered clear because she completely abandoned her promise to raise the Real Estate Transfer Tax and put those funds towards ending homelessness. Not unlike her promise to reopen mental health clinics.
D. We know that they always use props for things like her “Lightfoot Delivers” book but they should at least have the actor open up to a page with some text on it, as opposed to just a blank page.
This is Mayor Lightfoot running as “incumbent-candidate Lightfoot” and it feels off.
It’s like a subtle, sneaky rebranding to the old brand, like “Coke”, the we all got “New Coke” and then poof it’s back to “Coke” as if “New Coke” was non-existent in where the product was.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 9:45 am:
D+. These are just really strange to me. “Literally, raised the minimum wage” is such awkward writing. Then she gives the hipster dude a textbook of all she has done. What? I don’t think voters want to read a textbook about you. These ads are trying really hard to be cool but come off weird and awkward to me.
D- The problem with blatantly lying is that it may sound good initially but it can be easily disproven and cause embarrassment for the liar. She also seems to be acknowledging that she was elected by low info voters and that she is going to taget low info voters again. That could be a catastrophic strategy. But I guess she doesn’t have many options available to her. At this point maybe she is just trying to save face and make a a halfway decent showing for herself on election day.
==I give the ad a B mainly because she is up on TV and getting ahead of the folks to her left, which she knows pose the biggest threat to her.==
This is the best I can say for it, and frankly it counts for a lot.
But it’s an odd ad. I still don’t understand why she’s just hanging out in these guys’ apartment, and insulting the guy who is unsure about her seems like an odd flex. The giant prop book is weird, too.
BUT, AGAIN: she’s on the air, and nobody else is, and that’s huge.
F- sorry but love her or hate her, she has almost no accomplishments in which to run on….show me how they city in any way markedly improved under her watch, just one.
Also, these ads are trying to be funny and she’s sooooooooo not funny.
- Bourbon Street - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:56 am:
I’d give it a C-. Re-defining minimum wage, right to an abortion, and affordable housing issues as “progressive” plays right into the Republican talking point that Democrats are extremely left-wing. Seems to me that these issues appeal to many voters, not just progressives.
I also don’t like the whole “Oscar and Felix” scenario. They strike me as a couple of nitwits.
=Re-defining minimum wage, right to an abortion, and affordable housing issues as “progressive” plays right into the Republican talking point that Democrats are extremely left-wing.=
I don’t think Lightfoot is worried about her Republican opposition. In fact her main challenge is that she ran as a progressive but hasn’t governed as one. And the examples she’s offering up here are weak sauce. Her term has been defined by combativeness and pettiness. If she was taking that approach to demonstrate her progressive bona fides it would be one thing. But more often than not it seems to have taken precedence over substantive policy. So the progressive agenda of candidate Lightfoot never translated to mayor Lightfoot.
My takeaway from the comments thus far is that if don’t like the mayor or don’t live in Chicago you will hate the ad. I give it a B. It has been a hard 3+ years. She is still personally a tough but funny person who has been working to address the needs of the City.
I’m not a Chicagoan, so can’t vote either way. I would say that the mayor does not play well with others and that has hurt her. But I would also say that blaming all of the city’s problems, many of which are the result of a once a century pandemic, is probably not reasonable. The question is what has she done to ameliorate the pandemics woes?
These feel whimsical and kitschy in a city where people are worried and annoyed with her. Tone feels way way way off. Maybe they decided that the “I’m a jerk, but I’m a jerk for you” approach from the launch wasn’t enough to thread the needle of this electorate.
There’s not a soul who thinks she has a good sense of humor or can deliver a funny ribbing, and she’s not a good actor. So this not only fails to humanize her, it just magnifies traits she believes to be strengths in the absence of any evidence that anyone else agrees with her.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:32 pm:
Interesting that so many people are rating based on their feelings about Lightfoot rather than rating the ad itself. Come on people, this is Capitol Fax, answer the question (bp)
I give the ad a B+ for its lighthearted mood and for getting out some talking points.
Has she been a good mayor? Not so much. Can she get re-elected? I’d rate that at 50-50 right now.
To those who say “well, at least she’s up on the air before anybody else is”, let me offer this observation: The ads that will come later for other candidates, after Lori’s ads have thoroughly reminded Chicagoans that she is unlikable and ineffective as Chicago’s current mayor, will feel like hope and a breath of fresh air. This ad is a D for dud.
- Boone's is Back - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 1:01 pm:
F- these commercials are almost as irritating as her.
There aren’t a lot of persuadable voters on this blog, I’m pretty sure this ad isn’t intended for people like us, but rather, people who aren’t obsessively engaged with politics. That’s who this ad is aimed at.
Does it work to soften her and make her more relatable as an actual human? Hard for me to say. But clearly it isn’t working on DougChicago.
Don’t sugarcoat it Doug, tell us how you really feel. Lol.
=Interesting that so many people are rating based on their feelings about Lightfoot rather than rating the ad itself.=
Well that’s the benefit/consequence of incumbency. Mayor Lightfoot has to defend her record in ways that candidate Lightfoot didn’t. And for me Mayor Lightfoot is struggling here to articulate her progressive accomplishments.
=== And for me Mayor Lightfoot is struggling here to articulate her progressive accomplishments.===
The ad is just a lighthearted way to say Lightfoot made some accomplishments. It doesn’t list them all (a casino, finally getting the police a contract, etc.) it just meant to put that idea into peoples’ minds. I give it a B+.
- Montrose - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 8:55 am:
I give the ad a B mainly because she is up on TV and getting ahead of the folks to her left, which she knows pose the biggest threat to her.
I find the article they cited as evidence of her work on affordable housing interesting. That particular proposal is pretty tepid and she steered clear of making any claims on addressing homelessness.
- Pundent - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 9:07 am:
I would rate the ad a C+. Like her prior ad it’s a bit clever, but the “progressive accomplishments” it touts are weak. I feel that Lightfoot needs to remind us of her accomplishments, but after seeing her last two ads I’m reminded of how scant they are. When I think of increasing the minimum wage I view it as more of a state issue. The threat of abortions being banned in Chicago isn’t a threat at all and her claims on housing don’t seem to be supported by much of anything at all. So an ad that’s supposed to touch Lightfoot’s successes does the opposite for me.
- JJJJJJJJJJ - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 9:11 am:
I don’t know, B+ I guess. I think Rich makes a good point that this doesn’t feel like “other campaign ads.” And that very much goes with Lori’s whole schtick that served her well last time.
@Montrose I agree. I think she steered clear because she completely abandoned her promise to raise the Real Estate Transfer Tax and put those funds towards ending homelessness. Not unlike her promise to reopen mental health clinics.
- Excitable Boy - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 9:13 am:
D-. These ads come off just like she does, chastising everyone for not seeing what a genius she is.
The idea that she came even close to living up to her progressive promises from her first campaign is laughable.
- uialum - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 9:24 am:
D. We know that they always use props for things like her “Lightfoot Delivers” book but they should at least have the actor open up to a page with some text on it, as opposed to just a blank page.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 9:33 am:
It’s a “C-“
“Why?”
This is Mayor Lightfoot running as “incumbent-candidate Lightfoot” and it feels off.
It’s like a subtle, sneaky rebranding to the old brand, like “Coke”, the we all got “New Coke” and then poof it’s back to “Coke” as if “New Coke” was non-existent in where the product was.
It’s a “C-“
- Amalia - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 9:40 am:
C+ different, but she’s just not sharp.
- SDR - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 9:43 am:
“Literally” an F- as phony as she is.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 9:45 am:
D+. These are just really strange to me. “Literally, raised the minimum wage” is such awkward writing. Then she gives the hipster dude a textbook of all she has done. What? I don’t think voters want to read a textbook about you. These ads are trying really hard to be cool but come off weird and awkward to me.
- Always Candid - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:20 am:
D- The problem with blatantly lying is that it may sound good initially but it can be easily disproven and cause embarrassment for the liar. She also seems to be acknowledging that she was elected by low info voters and that she is going to taget low info voters again. That could be a catastrophic strategy. But I guess she doesn’t have many options available to her. At this point maybe she is just trying to save face and make a a halfway decent showing for herself on election day.
- Montrose - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:30 am:
I just re-watched and the end doesn’t work for me. The “Does he read?” bit isn’t going to endear her to folks/win people over.
- Arsenal - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:35 am:
==I give the ad a B mainly because she is up on TV and getting ahead of the folks to her left, which she knows pose the biggest threat to her.==
This is the best I can say for it, and frankly it counts for a lot.
But it’s an odd ad. I still don’t understand why she’s just hanging out in these guys’ apartment, and insulting the guy who is unsure about her seems like an odd flex. The giant prop book is weird, too.
BUT, AGAIN: she’s on the air, and nobody else is, and that’s huge.
- Must win - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:51 am:
F- sorry but love her or hate her, she has almost no accomplishments in which to run on….show me how they city in any way markedly improved under her watch, just one.
- New Day - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:55 am:
It’s a C because she is so unlikable. I don’t know who is telling her to be in these ads but they are not good at politics.
- Hahaha - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:55 am:
The execution is stilted and just off. I get what they are trying to do but it just doesn’t land. D
- New Day - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:56 am:
Also, these ads are trying to be funny and she’s sooooooooo not funny.
- Bourbon Street - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:56 am:
I’d give it a C-. Re-defining minimum wage, right to an abortion, and affordable housing issues as “progressive” plays right into the Republican talking point that Democrats are extremely left-wing. Seems to me that these issues appeal to many voters, not just progressives.
I also don’t like the whole “Oscar and Felix” scenario. They strike me as a couple of nitwits.
- DougChicago - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:07 am:
I was an enthusiastic Lightfoot supporter in 2019. Now, I detest her like I have never hated a politician.
She has in 4 years ruined the once-great city in which I live.
The ad shows her as the arrogant, condescending witch that she is; so, hopefully it will only help lead to her defeat.
- Pundent - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:10 am:
=Re-defining minimum wage, right to an abortion, and affordable housing issues as “progressive” plays right into the Republican talking point that Democrats are extremely left-wing.=
I don’t think Lightfoot is worried about her Republican opposition. In fact her main challenge is that she ran as a progressive but hasn’t governed as one. And the examples she’s offering up here are weak sauce. Her term has been defined by combativeness and pettiness. If she was taking that approach to demonstrate her progressive bona fides it would be one thing. But more often than not it seems to have taken precedence over substantive policy. So the progressive agenda of candidate Lightfoot never translated to mayor Lightfoot.
- Rudy’s teeth - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:23 am:
Rate F
Not one word in MLL’s spot about addressing crime and carjacking and the resulting trauma for the victims. Her antics are not amusing.
As MLL has a security team on duty 24-7 and drivers at the ready, her universe differs starkly from Chicago residents.
The blithe and glib tone in the commercial does not match the reality of living in Chicago.
- uptown progressive - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:27 am:
My takeaway from the comments thus far is that if don’t like the mayor or don’t live in Chicago you will hate the ad. I give it a B. It has been a hard 3+ years. She is still personally a tough but funny person who has been working to address the needs of the City.
- cermak_rd - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:42 am:
I’m not a Chicagoan, so can’t vote either way. I would say that the mayor does not play well with others and that has hurt her. But I would also say that blaming all of the city’s problems, many of which are the result of a once a century pandemic, is probably not reasonable. The question is what has she done to ameliorate the pandemics woes?
- low level - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:02 pm:
Im trying to figure out what “mess” she cleaned up. Can someone help me there?
As to these ads, neither Felix nor Oscar come off as authentic. I cant put my finger on it but thats what i come away with
- Immigrants Welcome - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:19 pm:
These feel whimsical and kitschy in a city where people are worried and annoyed with her. Tone feels way way way off. Maybe they decided that the “I’m a jerk, but I’m a jerk for you” approach from the launch wasn’t enough to thread the needle of this electorate.
There’s not a soul who thinks she has a good sense of humor or can deliver a funny ribbing, and she’s not a good actor. So this not only fails to humanize her, it just magnifies traits she believes to be strengths in the absence of any evidence that anyone else agrees with her.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:32 pm:
Interesting that so many people are rating based on their feelings about Lightfoot rather than rating the ad itself. Come on people, this is Capitol Fax, answer the question (bp)
I give the ad a B+ for its lighthearted mood and for getting out some talking points.
Has she been a good mayor? Not so much. Can she get re-elected? I’d rate that at 50-50 right now.
- Responsa - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:53 pm:
To those who say “well, at least she’s up on the air before anybody else is”, let me offer this observation: The ads that will come later for other candidates, after Lori’s ads have thoroughly reminded Chicagoans that she is unlikable and ineffective as Chicago’s current mayor, will feel like hope and a breath of fresh air. This ad is a D for dud.
- Boone's is Back - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 1:01 pm:
F- these commercials are almost as irritating as her.
- Politics understander - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 1:09 pm:
It’s not a bad ad. The message is clearly conveyed with lori lightfood delivers and showing her and that at the end helps that stick in your head. B+
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 1:51 pm:
There aren’t a lot of persuadable voters on this blog, I’m pretty sure this ad isn’t intended for people like us, but rather, people who aren’t obsessively engaged with politics. That’s who this ad is aimed at.
Does it work to soften her and make her more relatable as an actual human? Hard for me to say. But clearly it isn’t working on DougChicago.
Don’t sugarcoat it Doug, tell us how you really feel. Lol.
- Pundent - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 3:46 pm:
=Interesting that so many people are rating based on their feelings about Lightfoot rather than rating the ad itself.=
Well that’s the benefit/consequence of incumbency. Mayor Lightfoot has to defend her record in ways that candidate Lightfoot didn’t. And for me Mayor Lightfoot is struggling here to articulate her progressive accomplishments.
- Betty Draper’s cigarette - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 4:24 pm:
=== And for me Mayor Lightfoot is struggling here to articulate her progressive accomplishments.===
The ad is just a lighthearted way to say Lightfoot made some accomplishments. It doesn’t list them all (a casino, finally getting the police a contract, etc.) it just meant to put that idea into peoples’ minds. I give it a B+.