Before voters headed to the polls on Super Tuesday, they were guaranteed to encounter at least one political ad.
Google Ads Transparency Center reports that in the last month alone, about $22 million was spent on political ads. California alone had the highest ad expenditure at $12 million. California Senate candidates Katie Porter and Adam Schiff have spent $1.5 million dollars and $983,000 on ads, respectively.
Annenberg Media talked to voters at the USC Village polling station to understand what impact these political ads may have had on them.
Name: Alistair Campbell
Year: Graduate student
Major: Nonprofit Leadership and Management
How important/influential are these ads: “I would say not at all.”
Where have you encountered political ads: “It seems like most of them will be on TV.”
“I feel like I already kind of know what my positions are and which candidates I’ll be supporting. So, the ads are pretty irrelevant to me.”
Name: Ashley Ware
Year: Senior
Major: Video Game Design
Effectiveness rating for ads encountered: “For somebody who doesn’t do their own research? I’d say they’re pretty effective.”
Describe political ads in one word: Slimy
“A lot of the advertisements you see are for candidates who just get a lot of funding and then have a lot of people following them already and a platform. But then there are smaller candidates who might align with more people’s views that they just don’t have the funding for that type of ads.”
Name: Luca Berk
Year: Sophomore
Major: Political Science
How important/influential are these ads: “They would be very important for the average voter.”
Describe political ads in one word: Misleading
“It’s ultimately not necessarily like how much information you’re getting, it’s just what you remember off the top of your head.”
Name: Ai-Nhi Tran
Year: Graduate student
Area of study: Dentistry
How important/influential are these ads: “I think it more so affects the demographic of who sees it.”
Describe political ads in one word: Self-promoting
“If you see things repetitively that might heavily, heavily affect how certain people vote.”
Name: Jagroop Ghuman
Year: Junior
Major: Human Biology
Effectiveness rating for ads encountered: Decently effective
Describe political ads in one word: Persuasive
“When they’re college students, you’re not paying attention to it. Like, I don’t know why randomly, I just saw one sign today. And I was like, ‘Wait, today’s election day.’”