Trump haters and Bernie lovers make the best TV ads, research shows

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES
08 APR 2016 AT 15:04 ET


Bernie Sanders is far from the slickest presidential candidate, but he is clearly the most effective television advertiser in the 2016 race. Sanders’ campaign is responsible for the three most effective presidential campaign ads that have aired this year, and 6 of the 10 most effective, according to research conducted by the advertising measurement firm Ace Metrix.

The top-ranked ad, “For Jobs, For Us,” received an Ace score of 570, more than a hundred points higher than the norm score for a political advertisement, which is 450. Ace Metrix calculated its scores by showing ads to a pool of 500 registered voters balanced to the U.S. Census. The viewers were asked to score each ad based on five different factors, including how watchable it is, how well it caught their attention and persuaded them.

There have been 240 different presidential campaign ads aired since 2016 began and about a third — 78 of them — were produced in support of candidates that are no longer in the race. Of the remaining two thirds, Ted Cruz’s campaign is responsible for 51 of them, far more than the ads produced by his opponents John Kasich (16 ads) and Donald Trump (7 ads). On the Democrats’ side, Sanders’ camp has produced 33 ads, slightly more than Clinton’s 27.

While most of the ads aired were produced to support candidates, a substantial amount of them were produced to trash one candidate. Ace Metrix tracked 28 anti-Trump ads, which have been produced by several camps, including the conservative political action committees the American Future Fund and the Our Principles PAC. Ted Cruz’s campaign, Cruz for President, has also made a number of anti-Trump ads, as has New Day for America, a PAC that supports John Kasich.

Two of those spots made Ace Metrix’s top 10 list. One called “Bob,” about a man who claims he was swindled out of money he invested in one of Trump's business ventures, received the fourth-highest score of any presidential candidate ad aired this year. Another, called “Quotes,” which consists of women reading out phrases or descriptions Trump has used in referring to women, received the ninth-highest.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/04/trump-haters-and-bernie-lovers-make-the-best-tv-ads-research-shows/