Trail Mix: Hawaii Political Candidates Step Up Ad Campaigns
Each week, HONOLULU Magazine’s political team compiles a mix of observations about Hawaii politics. Here are our notes from this week, ending June 27.
Hanabusa Releases “Real Issues” Ad
U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa appears to be stepping up her presence on local TV, releasing her third ad titled, “Real Issues.”
The ad uses a series of headlines and quotes that fly across the screen to emphasize her positions on Medicare, services for veterans, jobs, education and healthcare. At first glance, the 21 separate quotes during the 30-second spot feels like information overload. That is until you realize the point isn’t to read each and every word, but to instead get a sense of, “Hey, this person must be pretty impressive if people are saying all this stuff about her.”
At the end of the ad, the voiceover states these are “real issues for real people.” We wondered what this might imply about her opponent Sen. Brian Schatz. Take a look and see what you think:
Abercrombie Campaign Emails Supporters on Behalf of Ann Kobayashi
In the same week the two Democratic candidates for governor squared off in a debate sponsored by the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce, Honolulu City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi emailed Gov. Neil Abercrombie supporters to explain why she’s voting for him.
The email included a 50-second video, originally posted by the campaign to YouTube in March. We just thought it was interesting timing to send the video to supporters—two days after the HJCC debate. Watch the video:
Sen. Clayton Hee Releases First TV Ad
Last week, we highlighted Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui’s ad poking fun at his name (a clever way to build some name recognition against his well-known opponent). This week we take a look at state Sen. Clayton Hee’s first TV spot, which emphasizes his accomplishments as a state lawmaker.
Against the backdrop of gorgeous sunrises and glossy surfer shots, the ad asks viewers to give credit to Hee for recent legislation to increase the minimum wage, the historic Turtle Bay land preservation deal and unemployment insurance savings. (We can’t help but point out that unemployment is misspelled.) Take a look:
