The ad opens with a moving violin tones as subjects confidently strut past the Broadway front of the Los Angeles County Judicial Building, the Temple Street front of the U.S. Courthouse, or the Art Deco tower of City Hall.

A piano undulates beneath the strings as Starr greets first responders, working families and the homeless.

The screen flashes to a drone shot of downtown, followed by a quick close-up of the Los Angeles County area. Atty. George Gascon and his “smash and grab” grainy surveillance video of one of America's most talked about criminal trends.

If these commercials look familiar, it's because Los Angeles County's 5 million registered voters are exposed to campaign messages that tend to follow a similar script.

The district attorney primary on March 5 is the most crowded in the department's 174-year history, with 11 candidates seeking to unseat Gascón as L.A.'s top cop. run as a candidate. Still, in a competition defined by the struggle to stand out, the ads flooding YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook feel much the same.

The challengers also include sub-divisions. Attis. Jonathan Hatami Maria Rodriguez and Eric Siddal Counsel Nathan Hockman and judge craig mitchell — they all ran the same attention-grabbing ads.

former federal prosecutor Jeff Chemerinsky Deputy Ward Atty. John McKinney and the judge debra archuleta It uses the same music, wide-ranging aerial shots, and quick cuts to crime video, but skips the pleasantries and downtown power walks.

Experts say video ads are essential to reaching more voters in Los Angeles County than in most U.S. states, including the 2020 presidential deciders Arizona, Nevada, Minnesota and Wisconsin. District attorney races are fundraising events commensurate with the office's high profile, and candidates are pouring money into political positions.

“If you want to reach millions of voters, the most effective and cost-effective way is to create a video and distribute it on social media,” said Blue, a political consulting firm that has worked with multiple organizations.・Hulagu Yedalian of State Campaigns said: Local candidates including Mitchell.

But in the rush to create content and avoid controversy, Yedalian said, “many of these political videos are either predictable or boring; It could be both.”

There are limited ways to assemble a power pose or repackage a viral cell phone video of a crime, and the clearinghouse site used by ad creators has royalties tagged “Inspiration.” We only have a limited selection of free classical tracks.

Aesthetic overlap is therefore inevitable in a field where 12 politicians are trying to do the same job.

But the Los Angeles ads are dramatically more similar to each other than the prosecutor's ads. manhattan, San Francisco, portland, oregon, houston or Chicago — Every metropolitan area with racial strife or similar security concerns in an election year where crime is a bellwether of politics.

First, local spots are much smoother.

“Because it's in the Los Angeles area, we're held to a higher standard,” said Emrys Roberts, director of photography for Mitchell's presentation.

The jury's video, modeled after the sports brand's work, is currently shortlisted for the political advertising industry's prestigious Lead Award.

“We looked at what Nike was doing. What was Asics doing?” said Yedalian, who had dreamed of Mitchell's spot. “This is not a campaign ad. This is a short document about the reality of Los Angeles and what judges are doing to combat it.”

In some ways, the advertisements for the district attorney race reflect the state of the American political scene in the movie capital of the world, where huge amounts of campaign money flow in and out of Hollywood every election.

Candidates have already raised about $6.6 million, compared to the $4.3 million raised ahead of the 2020 primary.

Now, candidates are competing to spend their money, according to campaign finance records reviewed by The Times.

Mr. Hockman has already spent $400,000 on television time for Super Tuesday. Mr. Hatami paid at least $10,000 to the cinematographer who shot the campaign spot. And Siddal paid about $1,700 to rent an emergency vehicle and related supplies from Cop Shop LA, a concern similar to the costumes in many police procedurals and music videos.

But these expenditures alone don't tell the whole story.

“It's not just about creating beautiful ads,” said Sarah Robinson of Jacobson & Zilber Strategies, who works with Mr. Siddal. She said, “It's about whether your message persuades voters.”

Today, even anti-government campaigns often spend tens of thousands of dollars on market research alone, a total that can equal or exceed the amount spent on advertising itself.

“Our polls are our north star,” Robinson said.

This is the second reason why ads are so similar. Ads are tailored to match data about what resonates with voters.

Mr. Siddal spent about $50,000 on polling, according to campaign records. Mr. Ramirez has put up about $30,000 and Mr. Chemerinsky has put up nearly $40,000.

Polls show that Angelenos are increasingly concerned about public safety, despite a dramatic decline in violence over voters' lifetimes.

The youngest voter in this election was born in 2006, and Los Angeles County had more than 1,000 murders last year. A little more than 10 years ago, when many of today's parents were in elementary school, that number was more than 2,500.

But while violent crime remains near historic lows, street homelessness is rapidly increasing. Record-breaking overdose deaths And with property crimes surging, many voters say safety is a top priority.

“If you look at polls conducted over the past six months, the top three issues are homelessness, crime and affordability,” Yedalian said.

Robinson agreed.

“This election after election, it's always a message that stands out loud and clear,” the consultant said. “In 2018, it was healthcare. In 2020, it was the pandemic. [This year] We see homelessness, subsistence costs, and extortion. ”

Both organize retail theft and, encampment contribute to sensing of tort, poll Whether they threaten everyday Angelenos or whether they can be alleviated by the district attorney alone, we will find out.

The feeling of a top prosecutor should Further efforts to resolve those issues are helping to fuel Gascon's current slump and increase the number of challengers. Less than a quarter of voters currently support him, according to a recent USC-Doernseif poll.

This brings us to the third reason why most ads are similar. This means that the ads all share the same heel.

“Everyone is not against each other, they are against Gascón, so what everyone wants is, “We want to be tough on crime,'' Yedalian said. Ta.

But while Gascón may be the man to beat on Super Tuesday, his challengers have yet to prove themselves heroes on screen or in the polls.

“If you're just getting the message that you shouldn't vote for Georges Gascon… that's a waste of money,” Robinson said.

This is a point that cold case prosecutor Lloyd “Bobcat” Masson exploits in his latest video, a series of videos that feel more like ads for a personal injury lawyer than a political campaign. This is the fourth video of the DIY hit.

“My budget is much smaller, so there's no way I can compete with mass advertising,” Masson said. “We wanted to do something with our viral abilities.”

Instead of traditional advertising, he and a friend planned a series of real estate crime skits using only one car, two actors, and an exhaust resonator to replace a stolen catalytic converter.

This week, he released his fourth video. This is set in the cleaning aisle of a corner store.

“Why are there so many options?” the actor groans, looking around at the shelves of spray bottles. All are the same, except each has the name of a different Gascon challenger. “They all look the same.”