NBC News Group wants its viewers to vote, and in an unusual twist for a network news organization, it will help them figure out how.
The NBCUniversal division, which includes NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC, is launching a PSA campaign featuring several of its top hosts that will direct viewers to local resources where they can learn how to register to vote in their state.
“I think we were inspired a little bit by the Olympics and the reaction we saw across the country to the recent Olympic Games in Paris, and how much attention was drawn there, and how popular the Olympic team and its athletes were, and really saw this renewed sense of patriotism that came from that,” says Tom Clendenin, CMO and senior vice president of marketing for NBC News Group. The Hollywood Reporter. “And so I really wanted to lean into that and celebrate what it means to be an American. And I think one of the most fundamental parts of that is our right to vote.”
NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC and the NBC News Now streaming service will each have their own version of the spots, featuring anchors and presenters from each network.
Hosts and presenters appearing in the spots include Lester Holt, Kristin Welker, Steve Kornacki, Rachel Maddow, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, Jen Psaki, Alex Wagner, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Jim Cramer, Carl Quintanilla, Savannah Sellers and Tom Llamas.
The ad frames voting as a very American tradition, along the lines of baseball or apple pie. It ends with an NBC talent putting up a voting sticker. NBC notes that the campaign is nonpartisan.
“I think voters across the country are always kind of excited to get a sticker on Election Day, and that became a central part of our message,” Clendenin adds. “It was like, yeah, we should just have the talent to put that sticker on, right? It’s not about what we say, it’s about what we all do as citizens, and having them demonstrate that seemed like a smart, simple way to powerfully convey the idea of something that I think we all look forward to as part of Election Day.”
You can see NBC News' version of the spot below:
The campaign is unusual for a news organization. While media companies have long leaned on get-out-the-vote campaigns, having a news division specifically launch its own effort is a less common occurrence.
NBC News says that across linear TV, streaming and digital, the campaign is expected to receive hundreds of millions of views.
“We saw an opportunity, given the weight and the broad distribution and reach of our assets, which was an opportunity to do good work for the country in the sense that we have a lot of rights, and I think the most fundamental right is the right to vote, and supporting people to exercise that right seemed like the right thing to do,” Clendenin says. “And I thought, given the way we reach our audiences and the engagement we have with them, I think we’re uniquely positioned to get that message out.”