Politics | Marketing
The Anti-Trump Ad That Only Gamers Understood
A creative approach to advertising.
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“Jane Matthews wants to roll a joint with your tax dollars.”
“Mike Smith snatches ice cream from disabled toddlers in his free time. Imagine what he’ll snatch if he becomes your mayor.”
Every four years, an ominous shadow stretches across Florida. People scream and grab their belongings. They run for cover like Godzilla is looming above the skyline.
All before a towering wave of muddy political ads crashes over us.
The ads spill out into driveways and trees. There are sirens. People throw their keyboards. They get into arguments during Yoga class (no, seriously — I saw this happen).
Living in a swing state is rough— or it used to be (Florida is no longer a swing state — now we are just a political lightning rod).
We are gearing up for, perhaps, another Biden-Trump election and so why not revisit one of the more creative ads I’ve seen — that functioned as an inside joke.
It’s funny if you get it, which you probably won’t. But I’ll help.
It went live in 2016
I’m from Tampa but we were on a road trip to the east coast of Florida.
This always mandates passing through Orlando, which is a traffic nightmare that rivals any city I’ve seen — including Miami.
The surest sign you’re getting closer to Orlando is the increased frequency of tacky billboards, promoting cheap neon T-Shirts, corny overpriced dinosaur museums, and of course, theme parks.
We were working our way through the traffic. I was driving. My girlfriend was semi-sleeping in the seat next to me. There was a hum of music.
Then I looked up and saw a billboard and snorted with a laugh. My girlfriend said, “What?”
I said, “Nothing. I’ll explain later.”
Explaining the ad
This was it. Let’s see if you can get it:
