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* Press release…
This morning, Illinois State Senator and Democratic candidate for Governor Daniel Biss released a new digital ad, “BSBS.” Modeled after a pharmaceutical commercial, the video speaks to voters frustrated with billionaires buying elections by highlighting the epidemic of “Big Spending Billionaire Syndrome,” and presents middle-class progressive Daniel Biss as the cure.
With unprecedented spending, brand name candidates in this race have proven they would rather hold an auction than an election. But trust can’t be bought—and in what is expected to be the most expensive statewide race in United States history, the Biss campaign gives voters an opportunity to choose a middle-class progressive who will fight for working families rather than another billionaire who will only work for the wealthy and well-connected.
“Are you suffering from BSBS? Big Spending Billionaire Syndrome? It’s an epidemic of rich guys trying to buy elections, bombarding you with their money, to take over our government. Symptoms include nausea, disbelief, and the uncontrollable urge to destroy your TV when the same people who profit from our rigged system now promise they’ll change it,” the ad begins.
“But now, there’s a cure: Democrat Daniel Biss for governor. 100% progressive, fast-acting, all grassroots, a middle-class father, former teacher, and state senator, who will make Illinois work for the people again.”
Biss for Illinois shared the ad on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
* The ad…
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 9:37 am
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Think the abbreviation is kinda unfortunate, since BS has a much more common meaning. But then again that might have been intentional. For me at least just hitting Pritzker and Rauner for being rich is meaningless, so whatever.
Comment by Perrid Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 9:40 am
A
with the caveat that it might be too late for Biss to move the needle. The concept is smart and it forces you to pay attention because it doesn’t carry the same cadence as most political ads.
Comment by Iggy Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 9:45 am
Hilarious and well-edited. A little lengthy, but it has the vibe of an ad that could go semi-viral.
Comment by Spfld Hack Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 9:46 am
That’s pretty good. I think it’ll go viral and he should be able to cut it down to a TV spot in the new year.
Although, first thing to cut to get it on TV? “Do Not Vote for Daniel Biss”. Just…never use that phrase in your own commercial, dude.
Comment by Arsenal Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 9:50 am
If anything Biss is an herbal supplement
He’s echinacea
Sure it might help a bit
But Echinacea vs. Rauner small pox?
Rauners money would destroy him
I want to beat Rauner
Labor must beat Rauner
Biss, like echinacea isn’t going to cut it
Comment by Honeybear Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 9:53 am
It’s a great ad. Very well done. I just think Biss is selling progressive policies that are too far left even for Illinois. Passing Single Payer Healthcare? C’mon. People know this state is broke and will wonder aloud how he plans to pay for it.
Comment by Jack Kemp Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 9:53 am
A+
Really good ad.
Comment by So_Ill Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 9:54 am
Funny
Comment by bovine scatology Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 9:55 am
===with the caveat that it might be too late for Biss to move the needle===
It’s November, petitions aren’t even filed…
(Sigh)
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 9:55 am
Pretty entertaining.
“Do not vote for is you like Trump…”
That’s a little odd. Lots of union Democrats voted for Trump. Same with some young progressives not paying much attention that didn’t like Clinton. I might have left that piece out.
Comment by Robert the 1st Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 9:55 am
B+
Carries on too long and gets too weedsy, much like the candidate himself, but if they cut it off at the 35 second mark when they splash the logo, its gold.
Comment by Dr. Bronners Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 9:57 am
I hope Biss’s next ad explains how being the architect of the unconstitutional pension bill fits with being “100% progressive”
Comment by One hand //ing Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 9:59 am
I don’t agree with Daniel Biss on many things, but this is a very well concepted and very well executed production.
A bit unorthodox to tell people why “not” to vote for the person you’re promoting, but in this case it works because he’s got very limited funds and everything needs to be disruptive, intellectually stimulating and well produced. This ad is all of those things.
Well done.
Comment by A guy Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 9:59 am
Good Ad. This cuts through the BS.
Comment by Come on Man! Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:03 am
A little to Saturday Night Liveish for me.
Also, now we know why the Biss campaign chose the pharmaceutical style logo.
Comment by We'll See Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:03 am
=It’s November, petitions aren’t even filed=
and yet one candidate has endless amounts of money, a massive paid staff, is constantly on the air and has already earned big labors endorsement. Tell me honestly what a path to victory looks like for Daniel Biss?
Comment by Iggy Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:04 am
I give it an “A”
It’s refreshing, clever, and does a good job of laying out what’s at stake in the Primary.
Comment by Alex Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:04 am
Biss is a former teacher? Wow. Must not have taught long enough to qualify for any benefits, seeing as how he wanted to throw teachers under the bus. Or maybe he just hated it, seeing as how he got out of it………Buckets Biss, along with Nekritz explained how there are only so many buckets for our tax money. Now he wants to fill his own……….hmmmmmm
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:05 am
People. It’s a digital ad. Almost everyone who sees it will watch without sound. Most won’t watch more than 10 or 15 seconds.
Given those truths, this ad is way too long and says nothing. F
I’m starting to think Biss won’t file for governor. Is he also circulating for senate? He should be.
Comment by Reality Check Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:08 am
At least it answers the question Rich posited yesterday of is he still running.
Comment by Anon0091 Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:08 am
It’s an A-
The concept is really smart and going at it like a pharma ad makes the words “sick” and “tired” part of the gag, not tired buzz words.
It’s a digital ad, so it’s gkibg to rely on going… viral
It would work as a :60 second ad, too much setup humor to roll it out initially as a :30 second spot first.
Why not an A or higher?
The theme is great, script funny and sharp, just too many “silly” cutaways, just too “too much”
Narrow the visuals, cut the time, great ad for TV.
It’s an A-, if people see it.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:10 am
===Tell me honestly what a path to victory looks like for Daniel Biss?===
Asked and answered many times.
Use the google key.
Notice lots of negative on Biss, fewer just in the ad.
Hmm.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:13 am
C
That is a great first half of an ad. It’s not an accident to keep using the initials BS and I really like putting Trump right after Pritzger. All 3 billionaires are the same cloth.
The problem comes in the 2nd half of the ad. “Don’t vote for DB if..” Your ad should never say don’t vote for me. Then they go into how progressive he is, and single payer health care? How does a Governor enact Single Payer? They don’t. Instead of casting DB as a viable alternative to JB (and a competitor to BR), he shows that he’s only interested in the far left side of the Democratic Party.
Really disappointing.
Comment by Aimtomisbehave Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:15 am
A
The fellow attacking his TV sadly hits a little to close to home!
Overall the ad kept my attention for more than 20 seconds which is more than I can say about the JB ads.
Comment by Back to the future Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:16 am
It’s a good meme, but Quinn tried this too and it didn’t carry much water
Comment by Ghost Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:18 am
100% Progressive? Well that’s just blatant false advertising when you carry an AFL-CIO lifetime score in 2015 of 62%
Comment by prairiestatedem Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:20 am
Meh It’s too long. if I want to watch a movie trailer I’ll watch a movie trailer not a political ad.
It’s a real hit though he’s throwing at JB. When JB’s money starts pounding Biss in ads and he cries it’s not fair he should remember this moment.
They’ve all been taking small shots at each other for a couple months on the trail but now Biss just opened the air space to negative hits going forward against other Democrats.
Comment by DuPage Bard Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:20 am
==Same with some young progressives not paying much attention that didn’t like Clinton.==
The number of young progressives who like Trump is vanishingly low, but still, you should never put “Don’t vote for me” in your commercials.
==People. It’s a digital ad. Almost everyone who sees it will watch without sound. Most won’t watch more than 10 or 15 seconds.==
Kinda misses the point. It’s message-testing under live fire. Yes, the vast majority of voters will never even see it. But if it gets a strong enough response from those that do, it’ll get cut into a TV spot.
FWIW- and I suck at evaluating these things- I think that of all the digital ads we’ve seen so far this one has the best chance of spreading far and wide. JB’s stand up to Trump one is up there, but this seems to have a certain something to me.
Comment by Arsenal Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:23 am
@DuPage Bard - why in the world would Pritzker “start pounding” anyone who’s polling in single digits? Biss is Mr. Irrelevant.
Comment by Reality Check Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:27 am
DuPage Bard said it best! It is strange to me that the first Biss ad I see, is an ad attacking a fellow democrat.
Comment by InvolvedMillennial Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:27 am
===…why in the world would Pritzker “start pounding” anyone…===
You think Pritzker won already?
Welp, that explains your comments…
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:29 am
Someone gave the Sun Times the story about Biss having to retract some of the math papers he published so somebody’s at least doing their due diligence on Biss.
Comment by Grand Avenue Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:31 am
A lot of retired teachers and other public employees are unenthused about Biss because of his attempts to cut their pensions.
Comment by DuPage Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:32 am
===it’ll get cut into a TV spot===
You gotta have lots of money to put that spot on the air.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:32 am
So the ad is asking if I’m suffering from biss-biss? I might be.
Comment by City Zen Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:33 am
@Oswego Willy - Didn’t say that. What I think is no front-running candidate would waste resources (time, money or anything else) attacking an also-ran.
When you see a Pritzker ad attacking Biss - or a Rauner ad attacking Ives - let me know.
Comment by Reality Check Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:38 am
==You gotta have lots of money to put that spot on the air.==
If Biss isn’t going to have enough money to put a 30 second spot on the air, then he’s just plain done.
Comment by Arsenal Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:42 am
(Sigh)
===Didn’t say that.===
I’ll get back to this in a minute…
===What I think is no front-running candidate would waste resources (time, money or anything else)===
You must not have worked on too many campaigns. The goal is to win, oh… Pritzker isn’t hurting on “resources”… LOL
===attacking an also-ran===
Pritzker won? How can some be an also-ran if the race has g started?
===Didn’t say that.===
You go with that, lol
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:44 am
@Oswego Willy - OK, “you go with that”.
Like I said, ping me when Pritzker runs ads attacking Biss or Rauner attacking Ives.
If that happens while Biss or Ives is polling in single digits - as he has been and still is, and I presume she would be, if there is such polling yet - I’ll buy you a beer. Or three.
Side note: I must not have worked on too many campaigns? Now there’s your “lol”.
Comment by Reality Check Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:49 am
===when Pritzker runs ads attacking Biss or Rauner attacking Ives===
It’s November, take a breath, lol
=== I’ll buy you a beer. Or three.===
No you won’t. K.
It’s so early, going after Rauner is what’s at play and Rauner trying to blame Madigan.
Realize the calendar.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:53 am
Good.
Reminds me of the anti-Bob Dold “truck” spot from a few years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZIbJdiL5Ew
Comment by Precinct Captain Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 10:54 am
To the ad: It’s a C but could have been an A.
The content, the concept, and the visuals are great…. BUT why in the world would you not mention Biss’ name until the 30 second mark?? It’s a digital ad, people can skip those after 15 seconds on YouTube and sometimes sooner. Such a silly mistake.
Comment by The Muse Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 11:27 am
Why do so many people think people won’t watch digital ads that are a bit longer? If they’re well done, they will. At least once, often more than once.
We’ve seen plenty of rich guys flood the airwaves before and lose; Blair Hull, Oberweis, even Jack Ryan…of course, all of them did something ill-advised along the way. Anyone who thinks JB is immune from that hasn’t watched closely. He already has.
We will get to some televised debates at some point. Biss will be in the arena where he can excel over the others. Giving this race to JB in November is something you’d only do if you haven’t been around too long.
He looks like the Lone Ranger because no one is shooting at him in a big way. They will. Then, let’s see how he reacts. He hasn’t commanded the small stage, so his success on the larger one is very much in question.
Comment by A guy Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 11:47 am
This is really two ads and it’s way too long.
Comment by From the 'Dale to HP Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 11:54 am
Guy - I think people won’t watch digital ads that are longer because that’s what experience shows.
Comment by Reality Check Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 12:11 pm
C.
A bit too clever for its own good, just like Dan Biss.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 12:57 pm
Biss doesn’t want to be a senator anymore. This is his exit strategy. He wants to be governor or free to make a lot of money. His tax returns make it clear that he’s sacrificed to be in public service. Time to cash out. He wasn’t a teacher but a University of Chicago professor. Calling yourself a teacher won’t make teachers forget that you wanted to take away pension benefits from them. Curious that he collected over million dollars before dropping out of the state wide race for Mendoza and suddenly collected millions for an anti-Rauner attack PAC before announcing for governor. Also, interesting how many large contributors to that PAC have close ties to Madigan. I think he’s as anti-Madigan as Madigan allows him to be. He paid his dues and now he gets to make money and be a former legislator and candidate for Governor. Good luck Daniel.
Comment by Trapped in the 'burbs Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 1:12 pm
“Former teacher” is a pretty big stretch. Then again, given his voting record, I’d argue “100% progressive” is as well.
Comment by Nacho Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 1:27 pm
==Why do so many people think people won’t watch digital ads that are a bit longer?==
Because they won’t, most people click “Skip Add” as soon as possible.
And that’s not the point of this ad anyway. Biss’ team is probably well aware that most people will never watch the whole thing (most people will never see it at all, in fact). This is message testing. If it goes well, they’ll push it into a bigger venue.
Comment by Arsenal Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 1:31 pm
Guy, JACK Ryan is a bad example. He spent a bundle on the airwaves and won.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 1:42 pm
==Guy - I think people won’t watch digital ads that are longer because that’s what experience shows.==
Not always true. Especially in these kinds of uses. Do you think people create infomercials because no one watches them?
I’ll guess his analytics on this turns out pretty good. His resources are limited. This is a very good use of them. The production values are very good and the message moves with a nice pace, some humor and good use of graphics. Whoever did this knows what they’re doing.
Future pieces will be shorter I’m sure. This is the first chapter. These are pros. The future cuts will be more specific to certain issues. It’s a very strong effort.
I’m clearly not in the Biss universe, but credit where it’s due. Nicely done on this.
Comment by A guy Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 1:42 pm
Not sure why Kennedy is in this? Since when is he attempting to buy this election?
It would’ve been funny if they had gotten the guy from those.. I think diabetic commercials.. the frumpy guy who is on the elliptical, then cooking, washing his dog, cooking a meal.
Comment by QCLib Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 1:43 pm
===Guy, JACK Ryan is a bad example. He spent a bundle on the airwaves and won.===
Yes 47, he won a primary…and then there’s the rest of the story. When he withdrew. The example was about rich guys on a freight train headed for victory of an office…there are plenty of stories.
Comment by A guy Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 1:45 pm
==Anyone who thinks JB is immune from that hasn’t watched closely. He already has.==
JB hasn’t “already” done anything close to what came out of Hull and Ryan’s divorce files. Maybe it’s a skeleton in his closet and it’s going to come out soon, but “already has” is just silly.
Comment by Arsenal Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 1:52 pm
I like that it is clever and different. It is hard to do with a political ad and needed to get anyone to share it with others.
I hear that it is too long, etc. Probably, but an A for effort.
My only critique on content is BS looks and sounds too much like Biss. You don’t necessarily want voters associating your name with BS.
Comment by Montrose Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 1:57 pm
Ars, the toilets, condemning a mansion, the Blago connection…mild compared to other things we’ve seen, but not nothing. The bout hasn’t even begun yet. My point is that money alone won’t get you to the finish line.
Comment by A guy Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 2:04 pm
I give it an A-…actually caught my attention and thought it was funny. Definitely watched on phone without sound BTW…reminded me of Office Space with the scene with the television, which demonstrates to me this is targeted to a certain age group.
Comment by ILDemVoter Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 2:10 pm
That was the weirdest Cialis commercial I’ve ever watched.
Comment by Lakeview Moderate Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 2:30 pm
Lakeview Moderate, your comment makes me wish that the idiot who runs this website would add a “like” button.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 2:32 pm
This ad was clearly made to gin up excitement and fundraising with Biss’s donor base. Producing the ad in a 90 second long form gives his campaign material to edit 60, 30, and 15 second ads. In fact they are probably are already cut. This ad is going to be targeted Bernie voters for sure.
I still do not think Biss has the money to win, but JB has the same problem Clinton had, no excitement. Biss will finish within single digits of JB and at least make the interesting and set himself up nicely for another run down the road.
Comment by BSBS Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 3:07 pm
==but not nothing==
No, but they’re also not the kind of seismic oppo that hit Hull and Ryan.
(Again, such oppo may be out there.)
Hull and Ryan’s divorce files pretty much immediately knocked them out of the race. The toilets…obviously haven’t done the same to JB.
But I agree that money alone isn’t enough, at least not in every race.
Comment by Arsenal Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 3:36 pm
===but they’re also not the kind of seismic oppo that hit Hull and Ryan===
There were credible rumors about something hinky with both of those candidates before they even announced (police report on Hull, nasty sealed divorce on Jack!). Nothing like that is circulating on Pritzker. Not to say there isn’t something. Just saying nothing is circulating.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 3:38 pm
No teacher, retired or otherwise would vote for this man. He killed that voting demographic. Wonder if he realizes that.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Nov 2, 17 @ 9:28 pm
Great ad. The only mistake was to say “100% progressive”. Nobody sane is 100% anything, and it just invites people to find counterexamples. Should have just said “progressive” which is completely (100%?) true.
Comment by jake Friday, Nov 3, 17 @ 8:43 am