Mayoral candidate Doug Oliver launches cable-TV, radio and billboard advertising push [updated]

 A screenshot from online ads that mayoral candidate Doug Oliver has released. (Image via YouTube)

A screenshot from online ads that mayoral candidate Doug Oliver has released. (Image via YouTube)

In a mayoral campaign that’s seen two candidates hit airwaves with a little help from their independent-expenditure friends, Doug Oliver’s campaign will launch an advertising campaign involving cable-television, radio and billboards spots this week.

The campaign-funded effort will focus on Center City, Northwest and West Philadelphia with nine billboards and 30-second spots on Comcast. Radio spots will start airing on 900-AM WURD (today), WRNB 100.3-FM (April 27) and KYW 1060-AM (May 5) as well.

Campaign spokesman Mustafa Rashed said it was “the right time” to build on an effort that had focused on events and social media up until this point.

“We’re especially happy to say that Friends of Doug Oliver is 100 percent paying for its own media,” he said. “No dark money, no special interests, no independent expenditures and not a dime from a single PAC. Just the support from individual Philadelphians who truly want to see something different.”

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The rationale for the geographically targeted approach centers on higher-than-average voter turnout and Oliver’s roots in Germantown.

“It was important to let them know that one of their own is running and wants to earn their vote,” Rashed said. “It is a big city and we want to try to reach everyone but with limited resources, this is the plan for now.”

The cable spot centers on Oliver’s education plan and the notion that Philadelphia “can’t be a first-class city with a third-class school system.” [Update: The video originally linked above was for web dissemination; it has been taken down. The official cable spot is still being finalized and will be added to this post when it’s done.]

With this push, Oliver joins Jim Kenney and Tony Williams who have been up on television, heavily, for weeks now. Nelson Diaz told NinetyNine last week that he, too, expects to be going up with TV ads in the near future as well.

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