Joe Biden’s campaign announced on Wednesday it was launching the “largest” presidential ad buy in history ahead of the November general election.
The ad buy, which is targeted at 15 different swing states across the country, will cost approximately $280 million. Of the sum, $220 million will go into television advertising, while $60 million will be designated for digital ads on social media.
Biden’s campaign manager, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, wrote in a memo obtained by the Hollywood Reporter:
A significant portion of our reservation will be 60-second ads, allowing for longer-form creative and higher-quality impressions with voters as we head into the election. Additionally, our reservation will include major viewing events, including the return of sports, national broadcast news, and presidential and vice-presidential debate coverage.
Biden’s campaign intends to target pivotal battlegrounds with the ad blitz. Among them are several Democrat-friendly states that President Donald Trump carried on his way to the White House in 2016, most notably Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Also on the list are long-held Republican strongholds, like Texas and Georgia, that have shown some signs of opportunity for Democrats in recent years.
The campaign plans to have the ads focus on the novel coronavirus and its economic fallout. Of particular note will be Trump’s handling of the pandemic and Biden’s agenda for “build back better.”
A substantial portion of the ads will also be tailored to constituencies the presumptive nominee needs to win in the fall if he has any hopes of achieving the presidency. As such, the campaign plans to have its ads “reach approximately half of all African American households” and a large portion of the Latino community. Recent polls have shown the former vice president struggling with younger voters from each of the demographics.