Asian Americans Commercial Watch: AAPIs For Biden Political Ads

With the presidential election around the corner, Americans are already voting in record numbers in early voting, either in mail-in/absentee or early voting.  So it’s no surprise there has been record spending on television political ads.  It’s also no surprise that Biden has been focused on Asian Americans, as I had attended a year ago in Las Vegas the official launch of ‘AAPIs for Biden’ for President hosted by Michelle Kwan. Earlier in October, the Biden campaign announced it was specifically targetting the Asian American community in its television advertising:

“The paid media campaign will kick off with a 0:60 television ad titled “Stand Together,” featuring an AAPI narrator underscoring the importance of returning to American values of kindness, compassion, empathy, community, tolerance, generosity, integrity and hope. The ad focuses on how Joe Biden and Kamala Harris can lead the country back to these values and build back better for the AAPI community. The paid campaign follows the historic Vice Presidential Debate, where Senator Kamala Harris, daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, became the first Asian American to compete on a general election debate stage.

The television spot will be followed by digital, radio and print ads targeting specific AAPI constituencies in-language in key battleground states. These targeted ads will highlight issues of importance to AAPI communities and describe Joe Biden’s commitment to ensure that every member of the AAPI community is treated with dignity—no matter their race or ethnicity—and has a fair shot at the American Dream.
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The ads will air nationally on radio, digital and print platforms, as well as platforms in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The campaign’s paid media program is active in a total of 16 states — including the above states in addition to Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Nebraska, New Hampshire, and Ohio.”

What’s been interesting to see is that Biden for President has had at least two AAPI focused television ads , like the one above and more recently, the one below, with Democratic VP candidate (half-Jamaican, half-Indian American) Kamala Harris narrating:

I’ve also come across this catchy Public Service Announcement commercial focused on getting out the Asian American vote:

Powerful video. Growing up, I’ve been call “chink, rice 🍚 eater, pan face, moon face” (just like Trump called @gtconway3d)—or told to stay in my lane or ‘go hermit in a lab’ as a scientist. No more, @AndrewYang @KamalaHarris @tedlieu & more prove it. pic.twitter.com/arCRyaaZkJ

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) October 10, 2020

“A group called RUN, which gives voice to Asian American Pacific Islanders, the fastest-growing racial group in the U.S., today unveiled a gorgeously designed campaign that’s designed to motivate the AAPI community to vote in the 2020 election—and is also the first step in a larger rebranding effort for the AAPI experience.

The campaign is called #TheNew, an appellation that refers to the new generation of Asian American Pacific Islanders. It is this generation, RUN’s organizers believe, who will be able to harness the political and cultural power of a group that remains arguably the most underrepresented—in both media and politics—in America.”

I think it’s great the Biden and others are trying to get Asian Americans more civically engaged and increase voter participation (as Asian Americans have historically been the worst demographic at voting). I’d also love to see if there are any Trump focused political ads focused on the Asian American community.