Both Democratic candidates for president began multi-million dollar ad buys for the California primary over Memorial Day weekend.
Late last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) took out a $1.5 million ad buy in the Los Angeles, Fresno, and Sacramento media markets.
One 30-second TV spot, which aired in Los Angeles, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, features many familiar scenes for Californians, including shots of Venice Beach; a farm worker wearing a “Viva La Raza” shirt; and college students at graduation.
All of the California scenes are contrasted with black-and-white images of Wall Street — a familiar target of the Sanders campaign.
The message of the ad is that California voters have “the power to choose a new direction for the Democratic Party.” Sanders highlights his campaign promises to stand up to Wall Street, provide tuition-free public colleges, and break the corrupt system of campaign finance.
Hillary Clinton has also bought a “six figure” ad buy in the same media markers as Sanders.
One 30 second Clinton spot, “Stronger Country,” is voiced by Hollywood’s “voice of God,” Morgan Freeman.
Clinton is also airing ads in many different languages, according to the San Francisco Chronicle — English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and Korean. The ad campaign will also feature familiar faces to Californians, such as Freeman and farm worker rights activist Dolores Huerta.
According to the SF Gate, “A statewide ad buy in California generally costs about $2 million a week.” This next week is going to be a very expensive one for the two Democratic candidates.
Clinton is due back in the state on Thursday after canceling her schedule in New Jersey to hold off Sanders’s late surge. Sanders has spent the past several days barnstorming the Golden State. He is in the Bay Area Tuesday and Wednesday, and will hold a rally in Sacramento Wednesday evening.