Scott Powers
A nonprofit advocacy group supporting President Joe Biden is spending $1 million on a digital and TV ad campaign tied to his State of the Union address and featuring a family-owned business in Opa-locka.
“Family Business” is a 60-second spot from Building Back Together featuring Ernisha Randolph, owner of Shuckin’ and Jivin’ and other restaurant and catering businesses in Opa-locka.
That ad will be in rotation with other commercials promoting Biden’s economic agenda in nine battleground states, including Florida. Additional commercials will feature other working class and middle class people telling their stories, some on other topics, such as health care.
They begin airing Wednesday morning on TV in select cities and digitally elsewhere.
Biden reportedly has dramatically rewritten his State of the Union address, which was to focus on his economic accomplishments and expectations for the coming year. Now, it reportedly will focus more on America’s leadership role in the world, in the face of Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The speech is set for 9 p.m. Tuesday.
In “Family Business,” Randolph talks about how bad things looked in the coronavirus crisis but how the financial relief provided through Biden’s programs helped her business and the economy hold on and turn around.
“I pulled my team together. This is a family business. So I’m looking around the room, there’s a lot of people in here that I love, I grew up with. They couldn’t afford to lose their jobs,” Randolph says.
“We had some scary moments. But here’s the thing: we made it through and we’re opening another location. I give Joe Biden a lot of credit for that. He was able to come in and turn our economy around. He gave businesses the support they needed, when they needed it,” she continues.
Her Sweet Butter Hospitality Group owns restaurants, a bakery and a catering business. The commercial is set in her Shuckin’ and Jivin’ restaurant.
TV ads will air in the Atlanta, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington markets.
Digital ads will run on platforms including Facebook and YouTube in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The campaign also includes targeted digital ads in English and Spanish — reaching Latino communities in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania as well as Spanish-language radio ads in Miami and Milwaukee. In addition, the campaign includes digital ads targeting Black communities in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Atlanta and Philadelphia.
“As President Biden prepares to address the American people, Building Back Together is highlighting the stories of everyday Americans who have experienced the positive impacts of the Biden-(Kamala) Harris administration’s focus on lifting up working and middle class families,” Building Back Together Executive Director Danielle Melfi said in a news release.
