Trump and Bloomberg preview Super Bowl ads in contrasting keys

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The campaigns of President Trump and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have released the ads they plan to run during the Super Bowl on Sunday between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.

Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg
Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: AP)

They strike very different notes.

The Trump ad, titled “Stronger, Safer, More Prosperous,” is a 30-second montage of uplifting music, warships and helicopters, campaign rallies and factory-floor clips illustrating his record on economic growth and minority employment. The video ends with Trump saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, the best is yet to come.”

By contrast, Bloomberg’s one-minute ad, titled “George,” is a somber recounting by Calandrian Kemp about the loss of her son, George, to gun violence. The commercial includes images of George in his football jersey and headlines about Bloomberg’s fight for gun safety regulations, on which he has spent millions in support of mainly Democratic candidates through the organization Everytown for Gun Safety.

The cost of one minute of Super Bowl airtime this year is roughly $10 million. The Trump campaign has said it will also be airing an additional 30-second ad during the game that won’t be released in advance.

Bloomberg, with a net worth estimated at $60 billion, has taken an unconventional approach to the Democratic primary. He’s hired hundreds of staffers and spent nearly $300 million on ads so far, concentrating on the populous Super Tuesday states while ignoring early-voting Iowa and New Hampshire, and has yet to appear on a debate stage. His strategy is to position himself to inherit Joe Biden’s centrist supporters if and when the former vice president falters.

The Trump campaign is flush with cash as he begins his reelection bid, having raised a total of $143 million in 2019. The president will also be sitting down prior to the Fox Super Bowl broadcast for an interview with Sean Hannity, who has served as an informal White House adviser.

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