The Dire Shortage of Direct Mail

Given that the elections are right around the corner and I've been getting no less than 3 direct mailings a day (seemingly forever), I decided to be a bit sarcastic with my title.  I will now include a front and back image of the direct mail I decided to use, and will include my analysis following the pictures.

 

As far as my opinion goes, it's a fairly effective piece.  Some of this could be due to my bias though, as I have known Scott Krug for years and found his time as our state representative to be a joke.  Sorry for digressing into politics for a moment, but it may have played a factor into this ad's connection to me.

Trying to remove my biases, I feel as though it's a well-done ad.  You've got the dual paths with a clear message; followed by clear differentiating of the two candidates.  I was shocked to find out that the picture of Mr. Krug is actually one he uses in his own mailings.  I'm in no position to kid someone about their weight, but you would think they would at a minimum crop it a bit or something.  Conversely, Mr. Pluess' picture with his fireman equipment creates a nice psychographic feel (someone who has experience helping people with their problems).

The yellow on gray helps key parts of the ad stand out, as does the bold statements "Scott Krug failed us." and "Justin will stand for us."  It heightens the importance of the "fine print" so to speak; the areas describing avenues taken by Krug vs. what Pluess would do.  To me it is basically a lower-budget version of the Obama v. Romney comparison ads, and I in no way mean that as a negative.