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Everytown Victory Fund Announces $500,000 Digital Ad Program in Georgia to Re-elect Congresswoman Lucy McBath, Flip Seats in Georgia State House Chamber

7.23.2020

Ad Reservations Will Support Gun Sense Candidates Including Rep. Lucy McBath

Recent Polling Shows That Gun Safety-Themed Messages Are Amongst The Most Effective Vs. Trump And Gun Lobby Allies

NEW YORK — Today, Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund announced a $500,000 digital ad program in Georgia to support Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA)’s re-election and flip key seats in the Georgia state House, and reserved digital ad space to reach thousands of voters through the November election. The investment focuses on streaming platforms targeted to reach voters who are spending more time at home, on their phones, and outside the reach of traditional cable media.

“Representative McBath ran for Congress on a pledge to do everything in her considerable powers to pass gun safety laws, and she has kept her word many times over,” said John Feinblatt, head of Everytown. “In the run-up to Election Day, Everytown will go all-out to help Representative McBath keep her seat in Congress and flip key seats in the Georgia state house.”

“We are making unprecedented early reservations securing critical inventory across premium digital channels and platforms to better engage, persuade, and mobilize voters,” said Charlie Kelly, senior political advisor to Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund. “As we head into the final stretch to November, this investment will allow us to meet voters where they are — and we’re going there earlier and better than our opponents.”

“Two years ago, we went all-in to elect Rep. Lucy McBath to the U.S. House, and we have cheered her on as she fought to protect our communities from gun violence,” said Adrienne Penake, volunteer with the Georgia chapter of Moms Demand Action, Everytown’s grassroots volunteer network. “Rep. McBath has had our backs in Congress, and we’ll have her back in this election.”

Rep. McBath is also a survivor of gun violence whose son, Jordan Davis, was shot and killed at a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida, in 2012 by a man who objected to the music he and his friends were playing in their car. She is also a champion of gun safety in the U.S. House.

A recent survey of voters in 13 battleground states including Georgia showed that gun safety-themed messages were among the most impactful at moving voters’ support to Joe Biden, and that messaging focused on the impacts of COVID-19 on America’s gun violence crisis was the second most effective overall at shifting support to Biden.

COVID-19 has accelerated America’s trend toward digital platforms. OTT platforms are seeing a higher increase in viewing hours during COVID-19 than traditional linear TV. Now, 50% of total TV hours are streaming, audio listening has grown by 42%, and connected TV usage has grown by 46%. Today’s announcement is the largest political reservation on streaming platforms to date.

Additional details about the reservation include:

    Everytown is employing a digital-first approach that reflects the rapidly shifting habits of the American electorate, investing in streaming video and 1:1 targeting, balancing high-quality premium inventory with a 15x-18x per week ad frequency.

    Platforms include Hulu, Pandora, YouTube, Roku, and Univision, with 11% Spanish language inventory across the pan.

    Ads will be a mix of persuasion and mobilization, will largely target suburban parents, young voters, and people of color, and will include Spanish-language creative.

This announcement is part of Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Victory Fund’s plan to spend $60 million on the 2020 elections — double what they spent during the 2018 elections, and more than any gun safety opponent, including the NRA, reported spending on the 2016 elections.