Summary
By now we should all have an idea who won the 2024 general elections for president, Congress and other important positions – but don’t want to wait even one moment longer before discovering who are this year’s FactCheck Award recipients!
On Election Day, we take a short respite from fact-checking work in order to recognize some standout political ads from this campaign cycle. Prizes, which serve more as motivation than anything else, are awarded in appreciation. Traditionally presented are ads that stood out due to various aspects.
One of the awards-winning ads depicted Bigfoot searching for someone he couldn’t locate and another showcased people needing something other than hospital gowns for everyday life.
Thank you for reading my analysis on Health Care Reform Ads from 2015. I appreciate all your contributions & thank you for reading! I thank all my readers who took part.
Nadia Milleron of Massachusetts won this round.
Embed link here (VZFAH3gPUsE).
Milleron, an independent, wants to ensure U.S. residents, particularly in Massachusetts’ First Congressional District can gain or improve health insurance. She created this advertisement from her campaign that helps voters visualize just how tragic being uninsured or underinsured can be for these individuals and helps visualize just what a burden their situation poses to society as a whole.
“It is embarrassing. People all across western Massachusetts are suffering from inadequate coverage for prescription and medical visits; in some cases no coverage exists at all,” according to a narrator of this video.
As the narrator outlines their dire circumstances, people can be seen going about their day wearing unflattering hospital gowns that expose too much skin – there are blurred buttocks everywhere you turn!
Milleron claims in her advertisement, that nothing will change so long as we keep electing the same old Democrats and Republicans, suggesting they might be more motivated to expand access to quality health care if their daily stare at people’s bare backsides was reduced by having more scrutiny on how politicians deliver services like health care access expansion.
Steamiest Ad Concerning Contraception
Winner: Progress Action Fund
MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace recently noted this ad about birth control – or is it voyeurism? – as “an instant finalist for the political ad hall of fame”. We agree; but since it could potentially be inappropriate or offensive at work (NSFW), so for safety we did not embed it here.
Progress Action Fund ads feature the figure of “a Republican congressman”.
Beginning as two individuals kiss in bed and prepare to make love, they decide on using protection before engaging further in intimacy. But as soon as one reaches for protection from bedside table, their move is interrupted by an uncomfortable “Republican congressman,” who somehow had been present the whole time observing from inside room. Scared pair ask the outsider to go home but he refuses despite repeated orders to go back outside or else leave immediately.
“I won the election. I won’t leave now!” proclaims an exaggerated political leader. “All I’m here for now is monitoring you to ensure nothing illegal goes down!” “Fun!” exclaims another anonymous individual.
Progress Action Fund’s liberal Progress Action Fund released the ad in July 2023 to urge Ohioans to vote against ballot measures critics believed would rollback reproductive rights. Subsequent spinoff ads accused conservative lawmakers of attacking abortion rights, the morning-after pill, Medicare benefits or pornography — though we won’t embed those ads due to possible objectionable content.
Achievement in Ad Upcycling.
Winner: Representative Dean Phillips from Minnesota
Visit YouTube at .
If the footage in this ad seems familiar, that may be because Phillips ran some similar clips during his 2018 congressional race. One ad featured Bigfoot (an “expert on elusive creatures”) searching for Republican incumbent Erik Paulsen whom it suggested may not exist; now in New Hampshire President Joe Biden skipped its Democratic Primary to protest being scheduled before South Carolina.
“How could there be thousands of people looking for you every day, yet no one finds you?” the Bigfoot asked without realizing its own identity. Although Biden had made New Hampshire central to his campaign for president, none had found him yet – nor Phillips in New Hampshire where his bid had made itself known despite numerous unsuccessful efforts at winning over voters there. But Bigfoot did notice Phillips who made New Hampshire part of his longshot effort at winning that nomination from Dem candidates.
Phillips may have used his viral 2018 ad to beat Paulsen; unfortunately, its 2024 counterpart couldn’t quite do as much against Donald Trump despite its excellence; nevertheless, congressman Phillips got what he desired regardless: someone other than Biden as his Democratic nominee.
Most Dramatic Solar Eclipse Ever Seen
Winner: Former President Donald Trump
YouTube video link : “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zmP0Q45XbM”[/embed]
Donald Trump made headlines back in 2017 from the White House balcony by disregarding safety guidance and staring directly into a solar eclipse without wearing protective eyewear as recommended. Now with this ad spot he continues his rebellion by getting even closer to the sun!
As Ric Flair’s wrestling entrance music plays and after the words – “the most significant event in human history will take place in 2024” appear – large figure slowly steps forward into a beaming sun’s path causing temporary darkness; soon it becomes evident to those watching and those wearing solar viewers that it’s actually Donald Trump causing this transitional period in light.
“We will save America and make it great again,” reads an on-screen text later. It ends with repeated shouts of “USA!” on black background followed by the phrase, “Trump 2024”.
Instead of giving another factually indefensible speech from Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump announced his third presidential bid with this advertisement posted to Truth Social and capitalizing on public fascination over April’s total solar eclipse, not to be repeated again until 2044 and another presidential election cycle has come and gone.
Mike Gundy Award for Being a Man
Winner: Harris Creatives for Harris.
Please watch:
Oklahoma State University football coach Gundy became animated while defending his players at a press conference years earlier and warned reporters against coming after him because “I am 40 and am manly enough”. As we watch this pro-Kamala Harris ad unfold, Gundy’s famous tirade against manhood comes flooding back.
These six guys make clear they are indeed men before outlining reasons they qualify as “manly enough” to support a female candidate for president – braid hair; admit when lost; show emotions without fearing bears, women or showing emotion (one even eating carburetors for breakfast!). One even seems fearless enough to claim they can fix and consume carburetors themselves!
Though not everyone was won over by the video, at least one individual on social media found it “creepiest political ad ever created.” Whatever your thoughts may be regarding it, let us make one thing very clear about its production: It wasn’t produced by Harris-Walz campaign as some incorrectly assumed; rather it was created by Jacob Reed (comedy producer/director/writer for unaffiliated group Creatives for Harris).
“We need a reinvention of what it means to be a man in America, and this campaign can begin that conversation,” Reed stated in his Substack post regarding this video. Although its structure resembles more sketch comedy than political ads, what the men in it are depicting are real issues – save being afraid of bears!
“Bears will kill you instantly,” warned the expert.
Ad Maintains 100% Unique Imagery
Won’t Pac Down
While those featured in the first ad were slightly creepy, those featured in this one from another group supporting Harris could even be described as creepy. That was intentional as this group’s advertisement is entitled “These Guys Are Just Weird,” echoing what Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz has been arguing against Donald Trump and JD Vance for months now. Let’s just say the actors depicting “MAGA Republicans” overly concerned with Americans’ sexual lives understood their assignment well enough!
Consider: the strange way a first guy turns towards the camera and what seems to be going on with his lips; strange enough! We don’t get any clarity here either. Another guy wearing an unshaven heavy sweater with strong opinions regarding IVF claims not to be serial killer, yet we remain skeptical. Furthermore, these three discuss an unfortunate case of oversharing by House Speaker Mike Johnson; more needs be said here about that as well.
Won’t PAC Down was originally established to help Vice President Biden win over younger voters while on his campaign trail for Democratic nomination. We don’t know whether their advertisement succeeded in doing that but certainly managed to capture our interest!
Derrick Anderson of Houston won The B-Roll Blues Award (which can only be won once every four years).
House in Virginia.
For more information and an example video on YouTube:.
New York Magazine predicted in March 2023 that “Ron DeSantis Eating Pudding With His Fingers Will Halt His 2024 Bid,” to become the Republican presidential candidate in 2024. While not exactly correct, MAGA Inc’s pro-Trump advertisement did not help DeSantis any.
“Ron DeSantis loves sticking his fingers where they don’t belong – and that goes beyond pudding,” an advertisement’s narrator declares in reference to an April 2019 Daily Beast story about what purportedly happened when DeSantis got hungry aboard his private jet in 2019. While DeSantis put his “dirty fingers all over senior entitlements,” which we wrote about, perhaps most damning is an image showing and sound recording someone eating pudding from their fingers.
DeSantis wasn’t exactly forthcoming when asked if he recalled eating dessert snacks without spoons as a child; “I can’t recall ever doing that,” he admitted on Piers Morgan Uncensored interview show; this could indicate it might have happened when DeSantis was just younger.
Unfortunately, we still vividly recall images from advertisements.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org does not accept advertisements; rather we rely on grants and individual donations from people like you for funding. Please consider making a contribution; credit card donations can be made via our “Donate” page while checks should be mailed directly to: FactCheck.org Annenberg Public Policy Center at 202 S 36th Street Philadelphia PA 19104.
