The Kifowit for Illinois Comptroller campaign launched its first digital advertising campaign today, with the 30-second spot running on digital platforms throughout Illinois.
The ad introduces voters to Stephanie Kifowit, who is not the typical Comptroller candidate. It highlights her more than 20 years of public finance experience, her service in the United States Marine Corps, and her record of standing up for Illinois residents.The spot highlights Kifowit’s independence and her willingness to take on the political machine to deliver accountability and results.
This ad makes a clear case in the race for Comptroller: Kifowit brings courage, experience, toughness, and proven leadership needed to protect taxpayers and provide real oversight of state finances, positioning her as the only candidate prepared to step into the role on day one and ready to take on Donald Trump as Illinois next Comptroller. This race is about who we can trust to protect taxpayers money, hold the powerful accountable and stand up for workers and families when it matters the most, and that person is Stephanie Kifowit.
I like the concept and it’s unique but like Tom said, they don’t mention it at all, nor do we hear from Kifowit for even one second. Seems like a half-baked idea that sounded cool but never got fleshed out.
Love the ad - Kifowit is a Marine veteran and has moderate views - I’ve spoken to her many times at advocacy events. Don’t like the hypocrisy of the “bad actors” bit with the MJM image - when her campaign ( along with many others) took over 700K from his committees.
I like it. It is unique. It certainly pushes her veteran status the most. She needs to also push her finance background regarding the years she spent working on state budgets. i give it a B+
One of those commercials where I cynically think oh this person wanted to do this fun thing (in this case skydiving) so they came up with a commercial where they could do the fun thing at no cost to them personally.
D — What this shows is that she doesn’t have enough money to “film” a spot and she had her “consultants” go through her photos and video and put together a quick ad so they would have something on the air. Too quick and tries to do too much.
I think it’s a pretty weak ad. My guess is they had footage of her skydiving and decided to use it, along with the b-roll, to keep production costs down. The skydiving footage is actually pretty distracting and draws the attention away from the message. The production feels shoddy and rushed. C+ ad at best…
Is there any actual money behind it? Otherwise it’s not really an ad. I don’t think people are looking for a risk taker for their comptroller candidate. But I’m pretty sure this isn’t poll tested messaging lol
I was so distracted with the video of her skydiving, I didn’t get anything else out of it. I get what they’re trying to say about courage but the visuals of her smiling while doing the tandom jump just didnt sell the message. I went back to watch it again and saw the smaller pictures and messages that get completely overshadowed by the video. You’ll remember her for being the skydiving candidate, but not much else. I think if she had a ton of funding, then it would be a throwaway attention getter, but she has limited resources, which really makes me question this.
It sure does nothing for me but I am basically against most of what she has to say. It is ” get Trump” ad and seems many in Illinois like that position. On the alone she cannot go wrong.
- Behind the Scenes - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 10:46 am:
I don’t understand how a State Comptroller is going to “stand up to Donald Trump”. I get that he is primary target of every Democrat running for anything, but as Comptroller? How about something on her realistic plans? I give it a D.
I rate it no better than a D. I was too focused on her skydiving expecting that it had some relevance to her message. And as a result I didn’t hear half of the ad.
The campaign needs to do something. I guess this is something. I really hope campaign funds weren’t used to pay for her to jump out of a plane.
She may not have a lot of 4k footage available and didn’t have the funds or time to pay for the production of a nice 4k ad. I’m not a fan of the audio mix for the air plane. It is very distracting.
Politically George HW Bush jumped out of a plane to celebrate his birthday. After that, I don’t think it’s considered cool anymore to jump out of an airplane.
There should be a rule; If you do not look as cool as Keanu Reeves or Patrick Swayze jumping out of a plane in 1991’s Point Break you should not pay for other people to watch the footage.
However, it is attention getting and I am at least comparing her to another politician that jumped out of a plane.
I don’t think it does a whole lot once it gets anyone’s attention. The ad also relies a whole lot on people reading about her resume in quick little pop ups that aren’t the focus of the screen, but maybe people watch digital ads more closely than I do?
There’s an air of … presumptuousness in this ad, perhaps in the whole campaign, and this ad fails to introduce Illinois voters to a candidate that most of them have never heard of them before.
- That Train’s Never Late - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 11:00 am:
B-. Kiffy’s gonna Kiffy. She picked a bad spot to move up the ladder.
This particular race fascinates me. It’s so hard to break through the IL9 noise for the Senate primary, let alone this one.
Don’t find it effective, and I’m open to supporting her. Needs to be better. While it’s a little thing, she was a marine. There are very, very few marines trained to be airborne. I know she isn’t tying the video to her military service, but it came to mind immediately for me.
I like the ad, jumping out of the plane is cool, but I don’t know how it moves any needles, and who is going to see it? She doesn’t have as much money as others. BTW has Croke put out anything? Seems this whole race is being played out in the inner circles of Dem operatives and organizations.
She’s a female candidate doing tough, bad **S things - cut from the same cloth as Mendoza’s “Tough as nails ” soccer ad. What’s with all the hate for this one ?
Mendoza’s soccer ad was memorable and featured her and her story heavily, and in her own voice.
This ad uses a generic, male, voice over actor reciting extremely bland points that could apply to essentially any candidate.
It’s not hate — it’s just a bad ad that does a poor job of highlighting Kifowit’s extremely impressive background. It’s disappointing more than anything, because I really like her.
- Just a Random Guy - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 12:59 pm:
I’m not familiar with Kifowit. I agree that she should use her voice throughout and show her talking, as opposed to just pictures. Also, as others have mentioned, I fail to see the relevance in mentioning that she’s going to “stand up” to POTUS. What does he have to do with the IL Comptroller office? If you’re a Dem, I’m going to believe you are anti-Trump by default. You have 30 seconds. Tell us positive actions you would take or accomplish, not something that is irrevelant to your desired office.
The ad is just ok. She will always have my admiration for having the courage to step up to run against Mike Madigan when it was clear the time had come, but he was still in power.
I think most people are missing the point here. You’ve got a down ballot race in a ridiculously crowded year. She’s underfunded and needs something to get people talking. This shows she’s tough and the tie in is with her service as a Marine. Seems pretty obvious to me. I think it’s great. The Trump stuff related to the Comptroller is silly but that’s a rinse and repeat thing in all Democratic campaigns this year. I give it a solid A-
C’s and D’s are passing grades. This is a passing ad. When you watch this ad, do you think to yourself “this is an excellent ad” or “this is an above average ad?” I certainly don’t. I don’t have and this blog hasn’t created a rubric for grading so I tend to keep in mind what my report cards used to say next to what those letters meant.
Since I am not rating on a rubric campaigns don’t get points for spelling words correctly. I try not to rate an ad as excellent unless I think it is excellent.
This strikes me as a run of the mill and somewhat average campaign ad. It is trying something to get attention — something that is confusing and gets more confusing the longer you dwell on the visuals or if you think too hard about the metaphor about jumping out of a perfectly good plane for the sake of entertainment — or just to do it. This elected position chairs pension boards and oversees the state board of investment. This isn’t exactly the kind of job where you want to hire someone who takes unnecessary risks like jumping out of planes attached to some dude she met earlier that morning.
Another consideration is that I don’t think this ad is going to make much of an impact in the race. I also feel like someone with the Senator’s record and prior military service is REALLY missing an opportunity by failing to talk about her oath the defend the constitution, et al at length.
The side-by-side cuts of skydiving & still images of Kifowit remind me of the busy editing of an MTV music video (and not in a good way). Remove the skydiving. Add some footage (not still photos) of her talking to individuals/groups and slow the fast edit. Hearing her voice would humanize the ad and PLAY UP her military service. That will separate her from her competition. Don’t mention fighting Trump. We’re Democrats, we already don’t like Trump. This is a statewide race and residents in central/southern Illinois who are Trump supporters don’t need to hear she’s against Trump.
=This shows she’s tough and the tie in is with her service as a Marine.=
I didn’t infer that all. My takeaway is that she had what she thought was a cool video of her skydiving and she thought others would be as enamored by it as she is. So much so that it completely overshadowed her message. And that’s too bad because she has a great story to tell. It goes something like this: “I stood up to Mike Madigan, I know a thing or two about dealing with bullies.”
I agree with Rich…I get that look on my face just watching her ad…I have a friend who was a jump instructor that repeatedly tried to convince me to Skydive…my feet don’t leave the ground except to stand on the first step of a step ladder…still.
- Tom - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 10:12 am:
The tie-in to the jump from a plane isn’t clear to me. Maybe I’m slow this frigid morning. I would rate it a C.
- Alton Sinkhole - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 10:15 am:
I like the concept and it’s unique but like Tom said, they don’t mention it at all, nor do we hear from Kifowit for even one second. Seems like a half-baked idea that sounded cool but never got fleshed out.
And I say this as a Kifowit voter.
D+
- Think again - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 10:18 am:
Love the ad - Kifowit is a Marine veteran and has moderate views - I’ve spoken to her many times at advocacy events. Don’t like the hypocrisy of the “bad actors” bit with the MJM image - when her campaign ( along with many others) took over 700K from his committees.
- just because - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 10:19 am:
I like it. It is unique. It certainly pushes her veteran status the most. She needs to also push her finance background regarding the years she spent working on state budgets. i give it a B+
- hisgirlfriday - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 10:23 am:
One of those commercials where I cynically think oh this person wanted to do this fun thing (in this case skydiving) so they came up with a commercial where they could do the fun thing at no cost to them personally.
- Jr. Neef - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 10:28 am:
D — What this shows is that she doesn’t have enough money to “film” a spot and she had her “consultants” go through her photos and video and put together a quick ad so they would have something on the air. Too quick and tries to do too much.
- Media Thoughts - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 10:31 am:
I think it’s a pretty weak ad. My guess is they had footage of her skydiving and decided to use it, along with the b-roll, to keep production costs down. The skydiving footage is actually pretty distracting and draws the attention away from the message. The production feels shoddy and rushed. C+ ad at best…
- meh - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 10:33 am:
Is there any actual money behind it? Otherwise it’s not really an ad. I don’t think people are looking for a risk taker for their comptroller candidate. But I’m pretty sure this isn’t poll tested messaging lol
- sno way - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 10:33 am:
I was so distracted with the video of her skydiving, I didn’t get anything else out of it. I get what they’re trying to say about courage but the visuals of her smiling while doing the tandom jump just didnt sell the message. I went back to watch it again and saw the smaller pictures and messages that get completely overshadowed by the video. You’ll remember her for being the skydiving candidate, but not much else. I think if she had a ton of funding, then it would be a throwaway attention getter, but she has limited resources, which really makes me question this.
- Alton Sinkhole - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 10:35 am:
==It certainly pushes her veteran status the most.==
It doesn’t mention her military service at all?
- clec dcn - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 10:38 am:
It sure does nothing for me but I am basically against most of what she has to say. It is ” get Trump” ad and seems many in Illinois like that position. On the alone she cannot go wrong.
- Behind the Scenes - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 10:46 am:
I don’t understand how a State Comptroller is going to “stand up to Donald Trump”. I get that he is primary target of every Democrat running for anything, but as Comptroller? How about something on her realistic plans? I give it a D.
- Fenton - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 10:48 am:
When you’re running for an office that manages money, do you want to project the image of a risk-taker by jumping out of a plane?
- Pundent - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 10:55 am:
I rate it no better than a D. I was too focused on her skydiving expecting that it had some relevance to her message. And as a result I didn’t hear half of the ad.
- Candy Dogood - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 10:58 am:
C+
The campaign needs to do something. I guess this is something. I really hope campaign funds weren’t used to pay for her to jump out of a plane.
She may not have a lot of 4k footage available and didn’t have the funds or time to pay for the production of a nice 4k ad. I’m not a fan of the audio mix for the air plane. It is very distracting.
Politically George HW Bush jumped out of a plane to celebrate his birthday. After that, I don’t think it’s considered cool anymore to jump out of an airplane.
There should be a rule; If you do not look as cool as Keanu Reeves or Patrick Swayze jumping out of a plane in 1991’s Point Break you should not pay for other people to watch the footage.
However, it is attention getting and I am at least comparing her to another politician that jumped out of a plane.
I don’t think it does a whole lot once it gets anyone’s attention. The ad also relies a whole lot on people reading about her resume in quick little pop ups that aren’t the focus of the screen, but maybe people watch digital ads more closely than I do?
There’s an air of … presumptuousness in this ad, perhaps in the whole campaign, and this ad fails to introduce Illinois voters to a candidate that most of them have never heard of them before.
- That Train’s Never Late - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 11:00 am:
B-. Kiffy’s gonna Kiffy. She picked a bad spot to move up the ladder.
This particular race fascinates me. It’s so hard to break through the IL9 noise for the Senate primary, let alone this one.
- Lincoln Lad - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 11:04 am:
Don’t find it effective, and I’m open to supporting her. Needs to be better. While it’s a little thing, she was a marine. There are very, very few marines trained to be airborne. I know she isn’t tying the video to her military service, but it came to mind immediately for me.
- Frida's Boss - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 11:09 am:
I like the ad, jumping out of the plane is cool, but I don’t know how it moves any needles, and who is going to see it? She doesn’t have as much money as others. BTW has Croke put out anything? Seems this whole race is being played out in the inner circles of Dem operatives and organizations.
- Think again - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 11:10 am:
She’s a female candidate doing tough, bad **S things - cut from the same cloth as Mendoza’s “Tough as nails ” soccer ad. What’s with all the hate for this one ?
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 11:28 am:
===What’s with all the hate===
Hate is a very strong word, and I don’t see any of that here.
Either stop arguing like a child or stop commenting.
- Alton Sinkhole - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 11:36 am:
Mendoza’s soccer ad was memorable and featured her and her story heavily, and in her own voice.
This ad uses a generic, male, voice over actor reciting extremely bland points that could apply to essentially any candidate.
It’s not hate — it’s just a bad ad that does a poor job of highlighting Kifowit’s extremely impressive background. It’s disappointing more than anything, because I really like her.
- Just a Random Guy - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 12:59 pm:
I’m not familiar with Kifowit. I agree that she should use her voice throughout and show her talking, as opposed to just pictures. Also, as others have mentioned, I fail to see the relevance in mentioning that she’s going to “stand up” to POTUS. What does he have to do with the IL Comptroller office? If you’re a Dem, I’m going to believe you are anti-Trump by default. You have 30 seconds. Tell us positive actions you would take or accomplish, not something that is irrevelant to your desired office.
Grade: D
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 1:01 pm:
===What does he have to do with the IL Comptroller office?===
Give it time /s
- Head in Sand - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 1:02 pm:
The ad is just ok. She will always have my admiration for having the courage to step up to run against Mike Madigan when it was clear the time had come, but he was still in power.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 1:13 pm:
My problem with this ad is one of the visuals. In video ads, visuals are the most impactful part of the messaging.
To wit:
She almost looks terrified to me at the end of that clip.
Hey, I would likely be as well. Just not sure I’d put it in an ad.
- Under Influenced... - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 1:21 pm:
I was too distracted by the skydiving to pay attention to the message being delivered alongside it.
The skydiving theme was never connected to the underlying message.
Rate: C
It was probably cheap to make and it’s not offensive.
- New Day - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 1:46 pm:
I think most people are missing the point here. You’ve got a down ballot race in a ridiculously crowded year. She’s underfunded and needs something to get people talking. This shows she’s tough and the tie in is with her service as a Marine. Seems pretty obvious to me. I think it’s great. The Trump stuff related to the Comptroller is silly but that’s a rinse and repeat thing in all Democratic campaigns this year. I give it a solid A-
- Shytown - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 2:25 pm:
C-
Look at meeee! I can skydive! Vote me in for comptroller. ???
- Shytown - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 2:27 pm:
== Mendoza’s soccer ad was memorable and featured her and her story heavily, and in her own voice. ==
I was thinking the same thing. That was an ad for the ages and people still talk about it.
- Candy Dogood - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 3:19 pm:
===What’s with all the hate for this one ? ===
C’s and D’s are passing grades. This is a passing ad. When you watch this ad, do you think to yourself “this is an excellent ad” or “this is an above average ad?” I certainly don’t. I don’t have and this blog hasn’t created a rubric for grading so I tend to keep in mind what my report cards used to say next to what those letters meant.
Since I am not rating on a rubric campaigns don’t get points for spelling words correctly. I try not to rate an ad as excellent unless I think it is excellent.
This strikes me as a run of the mill and somewhat average campaign ad. It is trying something to get attention — something that is confusing and gets more confusing the longer you dwell on the visuals or if you think too hard about the metaphor about jumping out of a perfectly good plane for the sake of entertainment — or just to do it. This elected position chairs pension boards and oversees the state board of investment. This isn’t exactly the kind of job where you want to hire someone who takes unnecessary risks like jumping out of planes attached to some dude she met earlier that morning.
Another consideration is that I don’t think this ad is going to make much of an impact in the race. I also feel like someone with the Senator’s record and prior military service is REALLY missing an opportunity by failing to talk about her oath the defend the constitution, et al at length.
- Amber Rose - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 3:41 pm:
The side-by-side cuts of skydiving & still images of Kifowit remind me of the busy editing of an MTV music video (and not in a good way). Remove the skydiving. Add some footage (not still photos) of her talking to individuals/groups and slow the fast edit. Hearing her voice would humanize the ad and PLAY UP her military service. That will separate her from her competition. Don’t mention fighting Trump. We’re Democrats, we already don’t like Trump. This is a statewide race and residents in central/southern Illinois who are Trump supporters don’t need to hear she’s against Trump.
- Pundent - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 3:44 pm:
=This shows she’s tough and the tie in is with her service as a Marine.=
I didn’t infer that all. My takeaway is that she had what she thought was a cool video of her skydiving and she thought others would be as enamored by it as she is. So much so that it completely overshadowed her message. And that’s too bad because she has a great story to tell. It goes something like this: “I stood up to Mike Madigan, I know a thing or two about dealing with bullies.”
- Illinois Controller - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 4:18 pm:
hmmmm
- curtis - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 4:48 pm:
heh
https://www.facebook.com/VoteForHollyKim/posts/pfbid02cTuwCiRMmhL3tMa9LhYj5taqmC3iooa8WK3t2syjxW7Wxc4Hq2k8fQQ561oA8orcl
- Dotnonymous x - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 5:00 pm:
I agree with Rich…I get that look on my face just watching her ad…I have a friend who was a jump instructor that repeatedly tried to convince me to Skydive…my feet don’t leave the ground except to stand on the first step of a step ladder…still.