In the first five days after its release, the controversial Celeb ad from Republican John McCain’s presidential campaign was broadcast 4,000 times in a dozen states at a cost of about $1.4 million, according to a firm that tracks campaign advertising.
Evan Tracey, who runs the Campaign Media Analysis Group of TNS Media Intelligence, tells us that the McCain campaign did not release the ad just for its “shock value” and then put it on a shelf. “It’s on in 100% of the markets where they’re up” with ads, he says.
The campaign has paid to put Celeb on the air in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C., Evan says.
Celeb, you’ll likely recall, was released last Wednesday. It portrays Democrat Barack Obama as a world-wide celebrity much like pop stars Paris Hilton and Britney Spears — and questions whether he’s ready to be president. Haven’t seen it yet? We’ve posted it here.
The Obama campaign condemned the ad as a “false, negative attack.” Former McCain adviser John Weaver called it “childish.” McCain himself said “we’re proud” of the ad, while Obama asked “is that the best you can come up with?”
Hillary Clinton to campaign for Obama in Nevada and Florida
She’s getting back out on the presidential campaign trail:
Hillary Rodham Clinton “will campaign for Sen. (Barack) Obama in Nevada and Florida later this month,” the presumptive Democratic nominee’s campaign just announced. “Senator Clinton will host ‘Campaign for Change’ rallies and voter registration events in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday, Aug. 8th and in South Florida on Thursday, Aug. 21st.”
McCain campaign has bought $6M in Olympic ad time; $1M more than Obama
Republican presidential contender John McCain’s campaign has bought $6 million worth of TV time to advertise during the Summer Olympics, which get started Friday, Advertising Age reports.
That would be $1 million more than Democrat Barack Obama’s campaign committed to.
According to Ad Age, McCain’s buy from NBC includes time both on the network and its various cable arms that will be broadcasting from the Games in Beijing.
There’s a record of the McCain campaign’s purchase in a public file of NBC’s ad sales.
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