If Secretary of State Chuck Gray’s opening video commercial for his congressional campaign is any indication, Wyoming voters are about to be treated to a long season of glossy, high-dollar political advertising characterized by slick packaging, careful curation, and designed less to inform than to sell.
This is not local politics. This is branding. This commercial is well-produced.
Think Wyoming’s version of Madison Avenue.
Years ago, psychologist Robert Cialdini explained the science behind persuasion in his classic book Influence.
He identified seven principles advertisers use to nudge people toward decisions they believe are their own: reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority, scarcity, and unity.
I’ll admit it freely: when I was a politician, that book sat on my shelf as a kind of owner’s manual for persuasion. Once you understand how the levers work, you can’t help but notice when someone is pulling them.
Which brings us back to Sec. Gray’s commercial.
I don’t have access to the smoke-filled conference rooms where consultants test phrases, survey emotions, and track eye movement across a screen. It doesn’t take a focus group to see what’s happening here.
Every issue highlighted in the ad appears carefully chosen to signal alignment. Chinese communists. Drug smugglers. Wind projects labeled “woke.” Men in girls’ sports. Illegal immigration.
There’s not a lot of meat here. Most of these issues have little direct impact on daily life in Wyoming. But that’s beside the point.
Wyoming voters have opinions about them — and Sec. Gray wants you to know he shares yours. This is Cialdini’s unity and social proof principles at work: I believe what you believe. I’m on your team.
The language reinforces it. Words like “Wyoming tough,” “fighting for you,” and “standing up for working families” aren’t policy statements. They are emotional cues.
They are designed to trigger authority and commitment. This is the vocabulary of certainty, of someone who wants to appear authoritative, does not waver, does not doubt, and does not ask permission.
Then comes the sharper edge: “woke wind projects,” “stop the radical left,” “no-nonsense conservative.” These phrases do double duty.
They demonize the opposition while tightening the circle of belonging.
If you agree, you’re inside the fence. If you don’t, you’re not. Again — Cialdini’s unity principle.
Visually, the ad is full of Wyoming symbolism. Pressed flannel shirts. New blue jeans. A John Deere Gator rolling across a field. Conversations by a fence line.
A candidate leaning casually against a pickup bed. Every frame whispers the same message: I’m one of you.
It’s an impressive illusion. Liking, social proof, and unity principles all rolled into a few carefully edited seconds meant to reassure Wyoming voters that this California transplant has fully absorbed the Wyoming culture, dust and all.
The ad contains the heaviest persuasion tool of all: association.
Sec. Gray aligns himself with President Trump, using solemn footage of the president saluting.
Celebrity endorsement works because it borrows credibility, authority, and emotional loyalty already earned by someone else. The message is clear: If you trust him, you can trust me.
There is no question that this campaign is well-financed.
If this opening salvo is any indication, Wyoming voters should expect a steady barrage of professionally produced, scientifically designed media aimed at persuading (not informing) them that there is only one acceptable choice.
I do, however, have a few notes for the Madison Avenue types who produced this commercial.
First, nobody in Wyoming drives a Gator with factory-fresh tires unless they just bought it. Real Wyoming machines wear their work.
Second, Wyoming pickups do not glide into sunsets unscarred. They carry dents and scratches earned honestly.
And finally, using footage from the dignified transfer ceremony of Donald Trump saluting two recently killed in action Iowa National Guardsmen to sell a political campaign is not just manipulative — it is in poor taste.
Wyoming politics is evolving. The Madison Avenue advertising has already arrived.
The only remaining question is whether Wyoming voters will evolve to recognize the tools being used to persuade them.
Tom Lubnau served in the Wyoming Legislature from 2004 to 2015 and is a former Speaker of the House. He can be reached at: YourInputAppreciated@gmail.com
