It’s not exactly morning again in America, as Ronald Reagan famously advertised in 1984, but Joe Biden is reminding voters in the closing days of the campaign that things could be a lot better if they change presidents.
At first glance, it seems to come straight out of the positive political-ad playbook.
As a darkDARK remix of Nina Simone’s classic cover of “New World Coming” plays, we’re shown quintessential heartland scenes: an aerial view of a rural church, American flags flying, children playing.
Donald Trump is never mentioned or directly attacked, but just one second into the ad an audio clip of Biden saying “The days of divisiveness will soon be over” make it clear what this ad is actually about: Biden as the anti-Trump, or un-Trump.
A steady stream of phrases that start with two words—“VOTE for”—appears on screen, not-so-subtly suggesting that Trump is at odds with all the things listed:
VOTE for HONOR
VOTE for DECENCY
VOTE for HISTORY
VOTE for THE FUTURE
VOTE for EQUALITY
VOTE for RESPECT OF OFFICE
VOTE FOR EMPATHY
VOTE for BRAVERY
VOTE for LOVE
VOTE for TRUTH
VOTE for CHOICE
VOTE for THE PLANET
VOTE for LEADERSHIP
The sequence then ends with six more words:
VOTE early
by mail
in person
And then, ultimately:
VOTE for JOE BIDEN
The Biden campaign released the ad online on Wednesday and it also aired during the Billboard Music Awards telecast on NBC.
As of Friday, the Twitter video version of the ad had surged past 4.5 million views.
“New World Coming,” written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, appeared on “Mama” Cass Elliot’s 1970 album “Mama’s Big Ones.”
Nina Simone’s cover of the song appeared on her 1971 album “Here Comes the Sun.”
WATCH: Biden Ad ‘Vote For America’
With just 17 days to go until the election, Biden and Trump are revving up the number of ads airing on TV.
Biden continues to outspend Trump on ads according to the latest tracking by Kantar/CMAG, a trend that has been playing out since the end of July with the former vice president outspending the president in some cases two to one on TV ads over the past few weeks.
Trump is currently spending more than $17 million on TV ads in 11 states this week, but the same time, Biden is spending more than $24 million in 16 states.
Just yesterday, Kantar/CMAG tracking also showed the Trump campaign cut more than $10M in TV ad reservations in 9 states while adding some spending in just 3 states.
Is there a direct link to this version of this ad? The one you have embedded is the longer version that is, IMO, much more impactful than the shorter one. I can’t find it anywhere.
We downloaded the ad from Joe Biden’s Twitter account. You might check his YouTube page to see if has a direct link there.
Got it. Thanks, Jim!