Steve Hilton’s “Just Try It” ad starts like a lesbian bedroom scene, ends with a vote for governor and has fellow Republicans calling it creepy, weird and disturbing.
California Republican Steve Hilton is trying to convince liberal voters to experiment with voting GOP. His campaign decided the most subtle way to make that point was apparently to stage what looks, for the first half, like two young women about to hook up on a bed.
The viral ad opens in a dimly lit bedroom with a Pride flag in the background. One woman tells the other she has never done anything like this before and worries about what her dad would think. The other tells her not to be nervous, takes her hand and says, “Close your eyes, and I’ll do all the work.”
Then comes the reveal: she is guiding her hand to a mail ballot so she can vote for Hilton. The ad later ends with “Now lick it,” referring to the ballot envelope, because apparently someone in the campaign decided subtlety had not suffered enough.
The ad is called “Just Try It, California,” and Hilton says the sexual innuendo is intentional. His campaign is trying to reach Californians who would not normally consider voting Republican and present crossing party lines as a slightly naughty act of experimentation.
The response from some fellow Republicans has been less playful. Sonja Shaw, the GOP nominee for state superintendent of public instruction, called the spot “creepy, weird, disturbing garbage.” Republican attorney general nominee Michael Gates condemned the “sexualized portrayal of young women.”
Conservative pastor Jack Hibbs also criticized the ad, while still saying he planned to vote for Hilton. That is political loyalty in its purest form: “This is grotesque. Anyway, see you at the polls.”
Hilton is standing by the broader strategy. He told CalMatters that strong creative work gets strong reactions and said his campaign is doing everything possible to break through in a state where Republicans have not won statewide office in roughly two decades.
He also confirmed the ad was made with real actors rather than artificial intelligence, which is now apparently a necessary disclosure when a campaign commercial looks this much like someone typed “Republican lesbian ballot fanfic” into a generator.
The spot has succeeded at one thing beyond dispute: attention. Millions have watched or discussed it online, and national outlets that would not normally cover a California gubernatorial digital ad are now explaining the “lick it” line to readers.
Whether attention translates into votes is another question. Republican admaker Fred Davis told CalMatters the concept was brilliant at generating attention but questioned whether it actually gives the targeted voters a reason to support Hilton.
That is the basic risk of stunt advertising. Everyone remembers the joke. Fewer people remember the policy.
Hilton is running against Democrat Xavier Becerra in a state where Republicans begin at a large registration disadvantage. He needs Democrats, independents and low-propensity voters to consider doing something they normally do not do: vote for a Republican governor.
Hence the metaphor. The ad is essentially saying, “You might like it if you try it.” The fact that the campaign made that line look like the beginning of a hookup scene is not accidental; it is the entire creative concept.
The problem is that some of Hilton’s own voters appear to be more scandalized by the invitation than the people he is trying to seduce politically.
Campaign consultants spend millions trying to create viral moments. Hilton got one. Now he just has to hope voters remember the ballot after they stop talking about the bed.
