Presidential ads put to the test: SpotCheck evaluates 2016 campaign commercials

When it comes to the ongoing barrage of presidential campaign ads, what’s working and why?

Politics and media experts from UCLA and Vanderbilt University will provide a data-backed understanding of commercials’ persuasiveness and effectiveness with SpotCheck, a new approach to rating political ads. A website that launched today will track the results of their efforts throughout the U.S. presidential campaign.

More than a half million presidential campaign ads have already aired during this election cycle, with many more to come. SpotCheck will evaluate two ads each week, providing reactions from everyday viewers as well as expert commentary by Lynn Vavreck, a UCLA professor of political science and communication studies, and John Geer, Vanderbilt’s Gertrude Conway Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science.