Campaign Committee Ads—General Election

Researchers at the Wesleyan Media Project summarized the 2016 general election ad campaign noting that "the presidential race featured far less advertising than the previous cycle, a huge imbalance in the number of ads across candidates, and one candidate who almost ignored discussions of policy (+)."

 The presidential general election ad campaign was unbalanced in favor of the Democrats from the beginning.  Clinton's first TV ad went up on June 16.  The Trump campaign finally started airing TV ads on August 19.  The fact that the Trump campaign allowed the Clinton campaign to have a clear field for two months would have been seen as a mistake had Trump lost.

The Wesleyan Media Project reported on Nov. 3 that, looking at ad spending by campaign committees and supporting groups, "Hillary Clinton has held a crushing 3 to 1 advertising advantage over Trump in the period June 8 through October 30, 2016." (>)  Perhaps the most startling point of Wesleyan's report is the Clinton campaign's total dominance on local cable where it ran "nearly 330,000 ads to Trump’s zero."  The TV ad war narrowed down to seven states for much of the campaign (FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH and PA), but toward the close it extended out to several other states (1, 2).  In addition to TV, the campaigns also made use of radio to reach targeted audiences; here too the effort was very lopsided in favor of Clinton.

The most astounding conclusion to come of of the work of the Wesleyan Media Project is the finding that, "Clinton’s message was devoid of policy discussions in a way not seen in the previous four presidential contests."  Meanwhile, one was struck by the dark tone and look of many of the Trump campaign's ads.  The Trump campaign talked of a "positive vision" but sunny "Morning in America" optimism was largely missing.  The ads were also very formulaic; the campaign did not really try anything creative.  While a few Clinton ads show her speaking directly to the camera, none of the Trump ads do.  In addition to the volume of ads, the Clinton campaign ran many more different ads than the Trump campaign.  Quite a few of the Clinton ads were built around clips of Trump making various offensive statements.  Among the more interesting Clinton ads are those featuring testimonials from Republicans supporting Clinton. 

See also: Interest Group/Independent Expenditure Ads  |  Primary Ads

Past Cycles:  2012  |  2008  |  2004 D, R  |  2000

Note that this section does not include "online ads."                                                              

With assistance from Mike Dec  at 4president.org

Hillary for America [Overview] "Tomorrow" (Nov. 7, 2016 - TV ad, national) > "Roar" (Nov. 5, 2016 - TV ad, AZ, CO, FL, IA, MI NV, NH, NC, OH and PA) > "We are America" (Nov. 3, 2016 - TV ad, no info. on buy) > "Disrespect" (Nov. 2, 2016 - radio ad, FL, NC, OH and PA) > xx"27 Million Strong" (Nov. 2, 2016 - TV ad and radio ad, nationally and battleground states ....en español)) 1, 2 "Situation Room" (Nov. 2, 2016 - TV ad, OH) > "What He Believes" (Nov. 1, 2016 - TV ad, cable and AZ, FL, IA, NV, NC, OH and PA) > Series: "Last Straw" >  |  "Tiffany" >  |  "Daughters" > (Nov. 1, 2016 - TV ads, FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH and PA) "Daisy" (Oct. 31, 2016 - TV ad, no info. on buy) > "On The Ballot" (Oct. 28, 2016 - TV ad, nationally, FL, NC, OH, PA) > "Bryce" (Oct. 27, 2016 - TV ad, no info. on buy) > "Example" (Oct. 26, 2016 - TV ad, FL, IA, NV, NH, NX, OH and PA and national cable) > "Families First" (Oct. 26, 2016 - TV ad, FL, IA, NV, NH, NX, OH and PA and national cable) > "General Allen" (Oct. 25, 2016 - TV ad, FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH and PA and national cable) > "Barbershop" (Oct. 24, 2016 - TV ad, nationally, FL, NC, OH and PA) > "Juntos Se Puede" (Oct. 21, 2016 -TV ad, FL and NV ....en español) > "Captain Khan" (Oct. 21, 2016 - TV ad, FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH and PA) > "Scranton" (Oct. 20, 2016 - radio ad, PA) > "A Place for Everyone" (Oct. 19, 2016 - TV ad, FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH and PA) > "Dallas Morning News" (Oct. 17, 2016 - TV ad, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio) > "America's Bully" (Oct. 17, 2016 - TV ad, no info. where running) > "Show Up" (Oct. 14, 2016 - TV ad, no info. where running) > "Nevadense" (Oct. 12, 2016 - TV ad, NV ....en español) > Series: "Doug"  >  |  "The Right Thing"  >  |  "Respected"  >  |  "Values"  >  (Oct. 10, 2016 - TV ads, FL, IA, NV, NC, OH, PA and national cable) "Measure" (Oct. 6, 2016 - TV ad, FL, IA, NV, NC, OH and PA and national cable) > "What Will You Say?" (Oct. 5, 2016 - TV ad, aired during Empire, FOX series) > "Arrogant" (Oct. 3, 2016 - TV ad, national cable) > "No es de oro" (Oct. 3, 2016 - radio ad, NV and OH  ....en español) > "Two Trumps" and "Dos Caras" (Oct. 3, 2016 - radio ads, FL) > "Warren" (ea. Oct. 2016 - radio ad, FL) > "John" (Sept. 28, 2016 - radio ad, IA) > "Rob" (Sept. 28, 2016 - radio ad, NC) > "Watch" (Sept. 27, 2016 - TV ad, no info on buy) > "Primera Vez" (Sept. 27, 2016 - TV ad, nationally  ....en español) > "Investigation" (Sept. 25, 2016 - TV ad, no info on buy) > "Mirrors" (Sept. 23, 2016 - TV ad, FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH and PA and national cable) > "What It Takes" (Sept. 22, 2016 - radio ad, FL, NC, OH and PA) > "Sees" (Sept. 21, 2016 - TV ad, "part of an already existing national cable advertising campaign") > "Real Talk" (Sept. 20, 2016 - radio ad, FL, NC, OH and PA) > "Low Opinion" (Sept. 13, 2016 - national cable) > "Relief" (Sept. 13, 2016 - radio ad, FL and NC) > "Agree" (Sept. 10, 2016 - TV ad, FL, IA, NC, NV, OH, PA and Omaha and national cable) > "Only Way" (Sept. 9, 2016 - TV ad, FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH and PA) > "Verdadera Fuerza" (Sept. 7, 2016 - TV ad, FL and NV  ....en español) > "País Primero" (Sept. 7, 2016 - TV ad, FL  ....en español) > "Sacrifice" (Sept. 6, 2016 - TV ad, on cable and in OH, FL, IA, NV and PA) > "Hat" (Aug. 27, 2016 - TV ad, "part of the campaign's previously announced broadcast buy") > "Everything" (Aug. 26, 2016 - TV ad, on cable and in FL, NC, OH and PA) > "Shirts"  (Aug. 24, 2016 - TV ad, FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH and PA) > "Just One" (Aug. 22, 2016 - TV ad, national cable) > "For Those Who Depend on Us" (Aug. 19, 2016 - TV ad, FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH and PA) > "Absolutely" (Aug. 18, 2016 - TV ad, national cable) > "Unfit" (Aug. 5, 2016 - TV ad, national cable) > "How To" (Aug. 3, 2016 - TV ad, battleground states) >tw "Someplace" (Aug. 3, 2016 - TV ad, battleground states) >tw "issue" (July 16, 2016 - TV ad, CO, FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH, PA and VA) > "Role Model" (July 14, 2016 - TV ad, CO, FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH and VA) > "The Shows" (July 7, 2016 - TV ad, CO, FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH and VA) > "Myself" (July 7, 2016 - TV ad, CO, FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH and VA) > "Tested" (week of June 26, 2016 - TV ad, national cable) > "Kayla" (June 25, 2016 - TV ad, CO, FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH and VA) > "Nuestra Historia" (June 26, 2016 - TV ad, nationally on Univision  ...en español) > "Quiet Moments" (June 16, 2016 - TV ad, CO, FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH, VA) > "Always" (June 16, 2016 - TV ad, CO, FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH and VA) > "Who We Are" (June 16, 2016 - TV ad, battleground states) >

Donald J. Trump for President [Overview] "Donald Trump's Argument For America" (Nov. 4, 2016 - TV ad, national and CO, FL, IA, MI, NV, NM, NC, OH and PA) > "Unfit" (Nov. 3, 2016 - TV ad, major markets) > "United" (Nov. 2, 2016 - TV ad, major markets) > "Corruption" (Nov. 2, 2016 - TV ad, major markets) > "Stand" (Nov. 1, 2016 - radio ad, AZ, CO, FL, IA, MI, NH, NC, OH, PA, VA and WI) > "Choice" (Nov. 1, 2016 - TV ad, major markets) > "Rebuilding the American Dream" (Oct. 20, 2016- TV ad, battleground states) > "Predators" (Oct. 19, 2016 - TV ad, NH, NC, OH and PA) > "Laura" (Oct. 19, 2016 - TV ad, FL, IA, ME, PA and WI) > "Change" (Oct 18, 2016 - TV ad, nationally, battleground states) > "Deals" (Oct. 18, 2016 - TV ad, OH, PA and WI) > "Corruption" (Oct. 12, 2016 - TV ad, nationally, battleground states) > "Dangerous" (Oct. 11, 2016 - TV ad, nationally, battleground states) > "Consumer Benefit" (Oct. 6, 2016 - TV, ad, nationally, battleground states) > "Listening" (Oct. 4, 2016 - TV, ad,nationally, battleground states) > "Motherhood" (Sept. 30, 2016 - TV ad, nationally, battleground states) > "Why" (Sept. 30, 2016 - TV ad, nationally) > "Movement" (Sept. 20, 2016 - TV ad, "national on cable and select broadcast programming.") > "Deplorables" (Sept. 12, 2016 - TV ad, OH, PA, NC and FL) > "Two Americas: Economy" (Aug. 29, 2016 - TV ad, CO, FL, IA, NV, NH, NC, OH, PA and VA) > "Two Americas: Immigration" (Aug. 19, 2016 - TV ad, FL, NC, OH and PA) > Gary Johnson 2016 "Been There" (Sept. 6, 2016 - TV ad, "targeted states, primarily in the West") > "One Day" (ea. Sept. 2016 - radio ad) >

Note:
Center for Public Integrity's Michael Beckel reported on July 12 that from June 8 the Clinton campaign had aired 30,719 ads compared to zero for the Trump campaign (and the pro-Clinton super PACs had aired 17,162 ads to 1,368 by pro-Trump groups).  However, Craig Crawford noted that in Florida, "Despite the saturation of air waves, amid no ads aired by Trump forces, Clinton’s numbers in the state actually faltered. This is exactly what Trump’s GOP foes discovered in the party’s primary races — attack ads don’t hurt him, no matter how much is spent."