Bloomberg Challenges Trump... $10 Million Presidential Ad During Super Bowl

$10 Million Presidential Election Ads to Air During Super Bowl on the 2nd of Next Month

Overwhelming Spending on Advertising and Campaign Organization

Latecomer Bloomberg Makes Fierce Chase Ahead of Iowa Caucus

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jaehee] Ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who joined the Democratic presidential candidate race late, is aggressively catching up with other candidates. He purchased a 60-second commercial slot during the Super Bowl, known as the most expensive advertising event. President Trump also bought the same ad slot, setting off a competition between billionaire presidential candidates.

According to the Washington Post (WP) and others on the 8th (local time), President Trump and former Mayor Bloomberg have spent a total of over $10 million (approximately 1.17 billion KRW) on Super Bowl game advertisements scheduled for the 2nd of next month. This is particularly noteworthy as it occurs just before the Iowa Caucus (February 3).

In the U.S. primary elections, Iowa is the first state to hold caucuses for both the Republican and Democratic parties to decide their presidential candidates, making it a key indicator of the primary race. For the Republicans, President Trump is effectively the sole candidate, but for the Democrats, 14 candidates including former Mayor Bloomberg are competing fiercely. Especially, Bloomberg, who joined the race later than other Democratic candidates, is taking an aggressive approach to boost his support.

Unlike President Trump, who has been fundraising for his re-election since 2017, former Mayor Bloomberg has drawn attention by declaring he will not accept donations. Bloomberg is one of the wealthiest people in the world, using his personal fortune of $52 billion (approximately 60 trillion KRW) to fund his campaign.

Bloomberg already spent $120 million on digital and TV ads in December last year alone. This amount is more than twice the total ad spending of other billionaire Democratic candidates and is equivalent to one-third of the total ad spending by former President Obama during the 2012 election, all spent within a month. Bloomberg is expected to spend over $500 million on his campaign throughout 2020.

Bloomberg’s aggressive approach is evident not only in ad spending but also in campaign organization. After announcing his candidacy in November last year, he reportedly hired over 800 people, including about 300 at his New York headquarters, across more than 30 states within six weeks.

The reason Bloomberg is investing massive personnel and funds from the early stages of the election is that to gain an advantage in the Democratic primary race with 14 candidates, he needs to concentrate time and money on early primary states such as Iowa, New Hampshire (February 11), Nevada (22), and South Carolina (29). Among these, he has the most staff in South Carolina.

Armed with enormous financial resources, Bloomberg’s support rate ranks fifth (5.8%) following former Vice President Joe Biden, who leads nationwide polls, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Meanwhile, the Democratic presidential primary begins with the Iowa Caucus on February 3, followed by the New Hampshire Primary (February 11), Nevada Caucus (February 22), South Carolina Primary (February 29), and then the 'Super Tuesday' in March.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.