Election Ads
This is our first newsletter of the fall season! The next time you’ll hear from us, we’ll have a new sitting president. How terrifying exciting!
But the election is far more than a presidential race. A lot of candidates are vying for your vote and a lot of issues are on the ballot. With so much on the line, a wave of political ads is starting to flood our feeds.
We rummaged through the Meta Ad Library and picked our favorite Colorado-based ads from this cycle. By waxing poetic, we hope to give inspiration and reminders if you’re about to place ads on the Metaverse and beyond.
Strap in and sit tight because things are about to get electoral!
First, let’s take a moment to appreciate how COLOR Latina has crushed it with one of their latest ads. Design-wise, it’s a stunning piece that breaks away from the often corporate and plain nature of NGO advertising, reminding us that there’s room for joy in our designs. A few notes:
First, it’s visually distinct. The hand-drawn illustrations give it a personal touch, making it feel like someone had fun creating it. The font choices, bold black strokes, and vibrant color blocks transform it from just an ad into a piece of art you’d want to hang on your wall.
Second, the iconography is *chef’s kiss*. The monarch butterfly is a long-standing symbol of immigrant rights and immigration. By having it (and other traditional symbols) on the ad, COLOR signals they understand their audience’s intersectional identity. That’s how you build trust.
Then there’s the landing page, which is entirely in Spanish. There are no awkward language-switching buttons, just a seamless experience for Spanish-speaking audiences. By prioritizing their audience’s ad experience, COLOR Latina creates a space where taking action feels easy. This is what action equity looks like and it’s a breath of fresh air.
Next, let’s take a look at this ad from New Era Colorado. There’s something magical about having a storyteller at the heart of a digital ad, and this one nails it in just 26 seconds. It myth-busts the idea that having a child makes someone more vulnerable to anti-abortion rhetoric and does so with clarity.
I’m all about vertical video ads these days. As more and more folks scroll through Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and even Facebook in that format, vertical videos are becoming the norm for content (if it’s not already so). Algorithms love vertical videos and will push them because they keep people on the apps for longer. Vertical videos capture attention more effectively, and they’re perfect for that quick-hit dopamine engagement we all crave (for good or bad). New Era Colorado recognizes this trend too; scrolling through their ad history, they are no strangers to the vertical video. Excelsior!
I only have two suggestions:
I’d add captions to the video because they’re the anchor that keeps folks watching. Admittedly, captioning is a long process but we’ve been experimenting with Descript as our caption automator. It’s a bit buggy at the moment, but the free version allows you to caption a couple of videos, which is a solid starting point.
Unless this ad is an engagement ad, I’d also throw in a headline about Amendment 79 in the Meta Ad headline section because a call-to-action headline ties the ad together, encouraging viewers to take the next step by clicking through. I see a lot of ads on the Meta Ad Library without headlines that are missing out on an opportunity.
I’ll leave you with a public service announcement: If you’re going to place ads on Meta, you need to do so before Oct. 29th. Meta will not accept new political ads between Oct. 29th and Nov. 5th. Get those ads in and approved and DON’T TOUCH THEM after the 29th.
Be blessed y’all and good luck!
Hec Salas Gallegos
Digital Engagement Manager