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* Press release…
Chris Kennedy’s campaign for governor will begin airing its first television ad of the campaign starting tomorrow. The ad features Kennedy discussing the violence that plagues our state. In addition to the TV ad, the campaign will also release a digital ad tomorrow.
I’m told this is a Chicago broadcast TV buy.
* TV ad…
* Script…
Chris Kennedy: Violence which can touch our society anywhere will eventually touch our society everywhere. Just as it did to my family.
Reporter: He was a toddler when his father, Robert Kennedy, was killed in 1968.
Chris Kennedy: I understand how difficult it is to recover from that.
Narrator: He’s laid out an 8-point program to battle gun violence in Illinois.
Chris Kennedy: No one action will prevent the next deadly night but together we can, we must, we will rise up and stop the slaughter.
* Digital ad…
* Script…
Ra Joy: We lost our son to gun violence this summer, that is the most excruciating experience you can ever have.
Chris’s family has experienced tragic loss because of senseless gun violence. We are determined transform our pain into purpose
He has a solution, an 8-point plan to address the violence.
Chris Kennedy: No one action will prevent the next deadly night but together we can, we must, we will rise up and stop the slaughter.
*** UPDATE *** Greg Hinz…
The Kennedy campaign isn’t saying how much the ads, which will air in the Chicago media market, will cost. “It’s just the beginning,” says a spokeswoman. But trade sources suggest it’s around $125,000—a modest figure as these things go, particularly compared to the tens of millions of dollars that Democratic rival J.B. Pritzker has spent, but still telling.
* Trade sources…
$$ ALERT @KennedyforIL booked TV from 11/14-11/19. We've seen a total of $125k in Chicago.
— AdvertisingAnalytics (@Ad_Analytics) November 13, 2017
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 11:30 am
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Pretty weak ad. When will this pols realize that having an “X-point plan” is just silly? Need broader ideas, not pinpoint policy proposals.
Comment by Slender Stu from Cass Co. Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 11:37 am
8 points is double what JB is offering on his policy positions, so you know it must be double as good.
Comment by Iggy Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 11:38 am
That’s not bad, and it answers my question of who Kennedy envisions as his canvassers. I’ve long thought that focusing on gun violence could move a lot of votes.
Comment by Arsenal Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 11:41 am
How much was the buy?
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 11:41 am
How much is the buy and how is he paying for it?
Didn’t he, just last week, say he wasn’t going on TV until January?
Comment by SaulGoodman Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 11:43 am
OTOH, focusing on gun violence will do nothing downstate (may even be a net negative)…but Kennedy isn’t running it downstate.
Comment by Arsenal Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 11:43 am
This is the type of ad I would call “very Kennedy”
There is image and resolve, there is a story (stories in this case) to be told and to call those who see this message to relate to Joy, to relate to Kennedy, to feel that they, in collective and individually, hear the cries and have shed the tears too.
This is the type of ad I’d expect from this Crew to understand and allow the Kennedy name and Kennedy stylings to be front and center but do it in a way that they both share visions with voters not lecture from above or afar.
It’s a solid “B+”
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 11:44 am
Watched with the sound off. Powerful topic. Horrendously weak visuals.
Comment by Anon0091 Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 11:49 am
“8 Point Plan to battle gun violence”. That is a weird way to state it. “Battle gun violence”? How about reduce it? Plans are so easily drawn up. More blather and wind.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 11:50 am
===Horrendously weak visuals.===
Really? Which ones? Be specific.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 11:51 am
**===Horrendously weak visuals.=== Really? Which ones? Be specific.**
Its an ad about stopping gun violence, with CK working the Bud Billken parade. The visuals are strange.
Comment by SaulGoodman Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 11:53 am
His plan can have 800 points, but it won’t matter one bit if he isn’t a viable threat to Rauner. Pritzker and Biss both have a strategy to beat Rauner. Old RFK newsreels aren’t a path to victory, especially for a candidate who seems more interested in criticizing his own party than holding Rauner accountable for the mess his party is making.
Comment by One hand //ing Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 11:55 am
Slaughter is a particularly graphic word. I’m not sure who it is meant for, though when i first heard it, I thought of Donald Trump using the word “carnage” in his inaugural address. Is Kennedy trying to appeal to the Trump voter sense of disgust with the use of slaughter?
Comment by Anon Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 11:58 am
===especially for a candidate who seems more interested in criticizing his own party===
I welcome Kennedy’s DPI criticism. It’s refreshing, and wins over independents who loathe Madigan.
Comment by People Over Parties Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:03 pm
==Its an ad about stopping gun violence, with CK working the Bud Billken parade. The visuals are strange.==
It’s an ad for south side African American neighborhoods. Give or take his rather undisciplined campaign style, that’s where he’s going to make his stand.
Comment by Arsenal Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:05 pm
Good commercial.
Any idea how big the buy is? Chicago broadcast, is that network and cable?
If he’s got the money to run this for two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving this will help, before the Pritzker war chest really gears up in January.
Rauner has not focused on the gun violence in Chicago his entire time in office. No partnership with Rahm, no standing up against Trump when he uses Chicago as a dog whistle, nothing.
Utilizing the “Kennedy” history in the ad is needed to remind the old school folks, yes he’s actually one of them.
First good move he’s done. Now go raise money.
Comment by DuPage Bard Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:05 pm
===Its an ad about stopping gun violence, with CK working the Bud Billken parade. The visuals are strange.===
Are you saying those attending the Bud Billikens parade haven’t face violence, or what about that is strange?
I see Kennedy with mothers and children, talking to people…
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:07 pm
The photo of Bobby Kennedy moved me a bit. Remember when he ran for a president? Then suddenly it was over.
Gun violence has been a problem for a long time and seems to be getting worse.
Many of my friends still remember exactly where we were all at when JFK was shot.
Maybe it is just the old memories coming back, but will give the Ad an A.
Comment by Back to the Future Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:08 pm
This is a good topical ad. This is a big issue in the media and he’s running in a Democratic primary.
The name dropping of Bobby Kennedy will help him with older Dems. The promise to battle gun violence will help with women and younger Dems.
Comment by Phil King Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:13 pm
He’s got to carry the black vote by a pretty comfortable margin if he’s gonna have any chance. That’s what this ad is about.
Not a lot of points for style, but this is absolutely the right message…complete with the personal connection to the issue of violence. B+
Comment by Roman Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:16 pm
Anon0091 had to find something negative to say… because it’s not a Pritzker commercial.
Contrast the emotion of this ad with the weird ads JB is running of him in some hotel room across from Trump tower. They want to run against Trump and Rauner while not being for anything. We saw last November how that works out.
This is a solid ad. That the Kennedy campaign is going up now should worry JB and terrify Biss. It means there is likely a lot more money coming. For the first time, I actually believe Daley and Adelstein when they said they will have the resources to compete.
Comment by LilLebowskiUrbanAchiever Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:17 pm
I’d give it a B+ only because the visuals could have been stronger. It’s not that anything in the ad was bad, it’s just that nothing really tugged at my emotions WITHOUT sound.
A newspaper clipping about the Bobby Kennedy shooting or even an image of a gun would have been better. Or maybe even some big bold letters saying something about Kennedy stopping gun violence.
Comment by Phil King Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:17 pm
===I welcome Kennedy’s DPI criticism. It’s refreshing, and wins over independents who loathe Madigan.===
See, if I’m trying to beat Bruce Rauner, I’m going to talk about what Bruce Rauner is doing, not parrot his excuses.
Comment by One hand //ing Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:19 pm
Good commercial, but note, he has a tendency to make everything about being a Kennedy. I personally would have liked to here about 1 specific bullet point or something substantative
Comment by Northside Southerner Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:29 pm
These are at their most basic and simple level the “I get it” ads from Kennedy and Ra Joy. The ads do their job for that purpose. It will be hard for any other candidate team to top this powerful “I get it message”.
Grade A
Comment by Responsa Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:34 pm
- One hand//ing -
Legit point about the need to go after Rauner, but Kennedy doesn’t have the firepower to out-Rauner bash Pritzker. I think positioning himself as an outsider willing to take on both Rauner and Madigan is the right path, given his surprisingly limited resources.
Comment by Roman Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:35 pm
Willy,
I’ll be very specific. This is an incredibly powerful and important topic. There are, sadly, hordes of potentially emotionally powerful visuals that they could have used to demonstrate the scourge of gun violence. Visuals that would have penetrated emotionally to cut through the clutter. Even the part about RFK was weak. Think about it this way, both of these candidates had their lives torn apart by gun violence in different ways. They didn’t capture those emotions in this ad or the emotional insecurity felt by folks in the war zones in our cities. Instead, we have happy visuals of a couple guys in ties. I just think given the topic and the limited number of shots Kennedy will be able to take, this could have been infinitely better.
Comment by Anon0091 Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:35 pm
Being a Democrat without any disqualifying negatives is a pretty good strategy to beat Rauner in & of itself.
Comment by Fax Machine Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:42 pm
===I’ll be very specific.===
Really?
===Instead, we have happy visuals of a couple guys in ties.===
Ya missed the women and children purposely, or your bias can’t see things outside men in ties? Hmm.
Further…
=== There are, sadly, hordes of potentially emotionally powerful visuals that they could have used to demonstrate the scourge of gun violence. Visuals that would have penetrated emotionally to cut through the clutter. Even the part about RFK was weak===
This isn’t specific. This is a critique to stylings…
You might be the first person I can think of that calls images of women and children and empathy
…
“Horrendous”
Wow.
===They didn’t capture those emotions in this ad or the emotional insecurity felt by folks in the war zones in our cities===
Did you even watch, read, hear the ad?
It’s about empathy but in the same breath a call to work together in large part because of empathy.
Ya missed it. Ya missed it… horrendously.
===I just think given the topic and the limited number of shots Kennedy will be able to take, this could have been infinitely better===
Given the horrendous miss you have, the sympathy, empathy, and collective belief that more needs to be done and Joy and Kennedy understand that. That’s not horrendous, that a Crew trying to build.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:44 pm
B+ next time focus more on suburban women with children. they care about this issue…Sandyhook. good music.
Comment by Amalia Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:48 pm
Ignoring the sad reality that both the Joy family and the Kennedy family can speak to this issue with a sad note of truth for them… and that issue can’t be dismissed as Roy and Kennedy not understanding families and these tragedies.
That’s the power of the visuals, the words, the message, far more powerful than the disturbing images.
In reality, losing love ones, that has an awfulness that can never be fully repaired.
It’s a solid “B+”
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 12:56 pm
How the polls react will be interesting - this will be the first time many voters will hear that someone other than Pritzker is running for the Dem nomination.
Comment by Fax Machine Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 1:13 pm
Conservative here…think it’s a great spot for Lake Shore liberals and southsiders.
Comment by Truth Squad Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 1:25 pm
==B+ next time focus more on suburban women with children. they care about this issue…Sandyhook. ==
They absolutely do, but that misses the point of the ad.
==Contrast the emotion of this ad with the weird ads JB is running of him in some hotel room across from Trump tower. They want to run against Trump and Rauner while not being for anything.==
It’s kind of weird cherry-picking to compare this ad to one specific Pritzker ad, and Pritzker’s had ads about job creation, CJR, and health care on the air, so this “not for anything” stuff doesn’t really wash.
Comment by Arsenal Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 2:28 pm
I give it a B. It’s good ad thanks to Adelstein, but it’s designed mostly to remind voters that he’s a Kennedy and reinforce that with images that connect to his father. That to me says his strategy still hangs on voters going with him because he’s a Kennedy. I don’t think that’s a winning strategy. And to make an impact he’ll need a lot of points on the ad. He doesn’t seem to have the dough to gain decent ground.
Comment by Shytown Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 3:30 pm
Arsenal-
Anything about those ads seem different or compelling to you? They all look the same. The only one of any value was the one about his mom.
His primary message is anti-Trump and anti-Rauner. Hillary had ads about job creation too, but no one could tell you what she was for. The Hillary and Rahm consultants are doing the same thing with JB.
Comment by LilLebowskiUrbanAchiever Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 3:43 pm
== Anything about those ads seem different or compelling to you? They all look the same. The only one of any value was the one about his mom. ==
Check out Pritzker’s poll numbers. Illinois voters seem to disagree with your assessment.
Comment by Shytown Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 3:54 pm
The script and visuals are formulaic, meh. But the two biggest complaints I’ve heard of the campaign are lack of visibility and (much to my surprise) lack of acknowledgement of Kennedy’s family. So mission accomplished. This is also the only campaign that can run on this issue without it seeming like partisan talking points. Using their strengths. Finally.
Comment by Anon and on Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 4:22 pm
That’s $125K?
(Face Palm)
Better than zero I guess(?)
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 4:29 pm
It is a goofy ad buy. In the Chicago media market 125k will get you about 200 gross rating points but 600-1000 gross rating points a week is recommended to achieve any sort of lift. They would have been better off dumping the 125k into highly targets mediums like digital ads, direct mail and field. Even Cable, African American radio or dropping 125k out of a helicopter for the earned media would be a superior option to a 125k broadcast buy 4 plus months out from the election.
Comment by Rocco Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 4:46 pm
Just watched the video. The video didn’t impress me because violence isn’t an issue in my neighborhood. Not to sound heartless - I think we need to address the violence in parts of Chicago. However, there are many places in IL that don’t dwell on violence. I think the campaign looks like a single issue partnership - both have had significant personal tragedies and that is why they are running. I also agree - they don’t mention what is in those eight points. In my opinion I give the video a C+
Comment by Scott Monday, Nov 13, 17 @ 10:04 pm