In the context of the overall advocacy advertising scene, Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s planned $12 million campaign calling on certain US Senators to support the pending gun control package both fits right in and stands out. The TV ads continue a trend of increased targeting of individual Washington lawmakers at home. In terms of gun control’s ranking on the 2013 issue ad menu, the subject has nowhere to go but up.
Despite all the free media given to Bloomberg’s own past efforts and others, as of March 24, gun control was only the 18th most frequently mentioned subject in federal issue advertising around the country so far this year. Among the issues mentioned more often: Social Security, the fiscal cliff, corruption, international affairs, immigration, prescription drugs and national defense—and then you hit the top 10.
Within the Washington, DC market, the issue has gotten marginally more airtime, ranking 15th. Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns already has engaged in TV advertising aimed both inside and outside the Beltway, airing a Super Bowl spot in the DC market to try and sway the
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