Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias

 
 

When Alexi Giannoulias announced he was running for Illinois Secretary of State, it was a long time coming. Once a fixture of Illinois politics, Giannoulias was state treasurer from 2007 to 2011. While in office, he reformed and overhauled the role in major ways, including tackling corruption and making ethics a top priority. Additionally, and perhaps most visibly, Giannoulias was the 2010 Illinois democratic nominee for US Senate. In a hard fought race that went down to the wire, Giannoulias narrowly lost to Mark Kirk. After his term as state treasurer ended a few months later, Giannoulias returned to private life.

But in 2021, spurned on by the increased divisiveness and negative partisanship that had come to the fore in American politics, Giannoulias decided it was time to step back into public life and run for secretary of state — one of the most important roles in a state’s government.

In an adorable series of ads, “Coach G” served as a positive re-introduction of Alexi Giannoulias to voters. As a former pro basketball player and current pickup game teammate of President Obama, building a series of ads around basketball was a fun and smart way to not only remind voters of Alexi, but address a number of key issues for him: the importance of working together beyond party allegiance to improve the lives of all Illinoisans, tackling corruption, the protection of voting rights, and innovating the SoS office.

At a time when so many political ads can be dark, weighty, and heavy, these broke through in a major way and helped fuel Giannoulias to a huge win in the primary and later the election.

Press

 
 

Firm: AL Media
Director of Photography: Joseph Fitzgerald (Assist, Lineup, Pep Talk, Promise) // Pete Biagi (Double Scoop)
Role: Producer (Assist, Lineup, Pep Talk, Double Scoop)
Role: Shoot Producer (Promise)
Creative Director: Rebecca Joye
Producer: Dawn Watkins (Double Scoop, Promise)
Associate Producer: Jenny Hogan
Editor: Reuben Browning, Max Moog
GFX: Jenine Early
Type: Union
Year: 2022