Vivek Ramaswamy stops TV ads in GOP presidential campaign

Vivek Ramaswamy's presidential campaign has reportedly ceased spending money on television ads, with no TV ad reservations currently booked, according to the campaign and data from ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

In the first full week of December, Ramaswamy's campaign spent over $200,000 on TV ads, but last week, the spending dropped to just $6,000, exclusively on TV, according to AdImpact.

Ramaswamy campaign stops TV ad spending https://t.co/PIokkNMPC8

— POLITICO (@politico) December 27, 2023

The campaign clarified that while it has halted TV ad spending, it continues to invest in other advertising channels such as addressable advertising, mail, text, live calls, and door-to-door outreach to communicate Ramaswamy's vision for America.

This strategic shift aims to be nimble and hyper-targeted in ad spending. Ramaswamy's campaign had earlier announced plans to spend over $10 million on various ad formats in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Since that announcement, it has spent $2.2 million on TV, digital, and radio ads.

While Ramaswamy's campaign takes this unconventional approach, rivals such as Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Chris Christie continue to invest in TV ads, with Trump's campaign leading in spending, followed by Haley, DeSantis, and Christie.

Super PACs supporting these candidates are also actively spending on advertising, while the American Exceptionalism PAC, supporting Ramaswamy, has not spent money on ads since October.

In response to reports about his presidential campaign's cessation of television ad spending, Vivek Ramaswamy criticized presidential TV ad spending as "idiotic" and a "low-ROI" trick used by political consultants to deceive candidates with low IQ.

Speaking on X on Tuesday, Ramaswamy expressed a different approach, deeming the spending strategy as unconventional and emphasizing a data-driven approach.

He stated that the campaign is allocating resources in a manner that aligns with data, challenging the traditional norms of U.S. politics.

This perspective reflects Ramaswamy's belief that a departure from traditional television advertising can yield more effective and efficient outcomes in reaching voters and conveying his vision for the presidency.

This strategic move occurs less than a month before the Iowa caucuses on January 15 and the New Hampshire primary on January 23.