Commentary

God Made Rick Wilson

by Joe Mandese , January 19, 2024

I'm not the most religious man, but Rick Wilson's keynote at MediaPost's Marketing Politics conference in Washington, D.C. Thursday was enough to make me a true believer. I mean, how else can I explain the divine inspiration of Wilson's creativity.

I can't show you all the spots Wilson showed -- and annotated -- during his presentation, but you can see a video of his entire presentation here. In the meantime, I just wanted to share three examples of Wilson's work, starting with his most recent one: "God Made a Dictator."

The just-released spot, which Willson said already generated 9.1 million views and more than 600,000 shares within its first 24 hours of debuting on social media, went viral without The Lincoln Project "even spending a penny" on it.

Watch the spot below, followed by Wilson's take on how and why he created it and why it's exactly right for this moment in the 2024 campaign cycle.

The next spot illustrates some evergreen principles, according to Wilson, which is followed by his explanation of why "beauty" -- and great voice narrators like Martin Sheen and Peter Coyote -- are more important than "all the noise" in political ads.

In this final spot shows why ex-Republicans are the perfect ad men for President Joe Biden's campaign.

ad campaign, advertising, events, politics

6 comments about "God Made Rick Wilson".

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Dan C. from MS Entertainment, January 22, 2024 at 9:57 a.m.
If you break this down objectively, the videos are well-produced, but I wouldn't call them godlike marketing:
- Biden has an historically low approval rating - that has nothing to do with Trump.
- Food inflation is holding at 30% - that has nothing to do with Trump.
- MANY records have been broken for illegal migration under Biden - that has nothing to do with Trump.
- Supply chain issues are still a reality - that has nothing to do with Trump.
- Cost of housing has increased by almost 20% under Biden - that has nothing to do with Trump.
- The media has improperly and abundantly used words like "dictator" and "racist" and "fascist" and "Nazi" to describe Trump and conservative voters for the past 6-7 years - to the point that the American people have tuned it out and are numb to these words which used to carry a lot of weight.
- About 2/3 of democrats do not want Joe Biden to run again
The best ads in the world and the media blowing wind at Biden's back cannot alter the reality for everyday Americans who are struggling, but are constantly told they are racist or nazis or fascists You don't win people over by telling them how deplorable you think they are.

It's a lot of preaching to your own choir and isn't moving the needle for Biden. Maybe it makes some feel good to get a repetitive and tired narrative out there, but the point of good marketing is to move the needle.

There's no needle moving here.

People have seen Biden in action for 50+ years and Trump in action as an entertainer and as President for a quarter century - I doubt there is any marketing that can change anyone's mind about how they feel about either individual.

Reply

Joe Mandese from MediaPost Inc., January 22, 2024 at 10:28 a.m.

@Dan Ciccone: As a smarter man than me once said, "You're entitled to your own opinions. You're not entitled to your own facts." Your comments are based on your opinions, not actual facts, so let me address your first one.

Biden does not have a historically low presidential approval rating.

According to a Roper compilation of the historial lowest approval ratings of the 15 most recent presidents, that distinction goes to:

George W. Bush (19%)
Harry S. Truman (22%)
Richard Nixon (23%)
Jimmy Carter (28%)
George H.W. Bush (29%)
Donald Trump (29%)

At 31%, Joe Biden's lowest approval rating is just below the average of all 15 presidents.

https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/presidential-approval/highslows

Just setting the record straight, because misinformation doesn't help anyone.

Dan C. from MS Entertainment, January 22, 2024 at 11:32 a.m.

@Joe - and you know what else that smart man said, "You can find a poll or a study to make any point you want."

According to Gallup, which from what I remember is a widely used barometer of where the American people are at, Biden is at a historically low approval rating and the issues I raised above are what is top of mind for the American voter - even compared to Trump, Biden is at an historical low https://news.gallup.com/poll/547763/biden-ends-2023-job-approval.aspx

Facts aside, your post is about the creative which you are presenting as godlike. My point is that the democrats have been painting all conservatives, and especially those who support Trump, as racists, nazis, and fascists for the past 7 years. That's basically half the population.

You wrote this article celebrating Rick Wilson's work. I'm not asking to debate facts. I'm asking how these tired narratives are actually moving the needle - the whole point of marketing.

People have had their minds made up about both of these men and I have yet to see any creative that could possibly sway people to vote differently. The media pundits have called Trump aa fascist, a dictator, an insurrectionist, and a nazi for years.

WIth all the metaphors and hyperbole and creative ads, I don't see anything moving the needle to help Biden. "Never Trump" is not a campaign strategy - it's just a slogan.

Joe Mandese from MediaPost Inc., January 22, 2024 at 11:50 a.m.

@Dan Ciccone: You're hilarious! Did you try reading the compilation I sent you? It includes all of Gallup's historical lows in it, as well as other "widely used barometers."

But since you've found a poll to make the point you want, Gallup has not actually updated its historical presidential approval rating to include Joe Biden yet:

https://news.gallup.com/poll/116677/presidential-approval-ratings-gallup-historical-statistics-trends.aspx

That's probably because Biden still is President so no one actually knows what his low will be until he's not.

But if you look at Gallup's data for Biden so far, his last Gallup poll (Dec. 1-20, 2023) had a 39% approval rating, which would rank him well above Roper's compilation average.

As would his lowest Gallup approval rating: 37% (Nov. 1-21, 2023).

So I guess you didn't read the poll you're using to prove your point either, because it actually disproves it.

Why are you making stuff up? This is a serious discourse. You should be honest with the people who read our comments. And you should be honest with yourself.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/329384/presidential-approval-ratings-joe-biden.aspx

Thomas Siebert from BENEVOLENT PROPAGANDA, January 22, 2024 at 1:14 p.m.

"Which god?" is the best question. "God of this world," would be my guess. Point of fact is that Lincoln Project's marketing has thus far accomplished the exact opposite of their object. So if people want to keep throwing money into this flaming dumpster, s'fine with me.

Kevin McCollum from None, January 24, 2024 at 11:17 a.m.

God made everyone and everything, including you, me, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump. If we really believe in God, He tells us to love the sinner despite hating the sin. We The People, myself included, on all sides of all asiles have forgotten how to separate the two, and forgotten how tol ove your neighbor.