Johnsonville Sausage and "The Office" Actor Brian Baumgartner Serve Up Sausage Support to Politically Overserved Scranton, PA Residents

SCRANTON, Pa., Oct. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnsonville, the No. 1 national sausage brand, along with "The Office" actor Brian Baumgartner served up free sausage and solidarity to the politically overserved residents of Scranton, Pa. as part of its Swing State Sausage Support Plan, on Oct. 29.

With major campaigns spending $81 million on ads in Scranton alone, swing states are bearing the brunt of the intense media blitz, and particularly, the residents of Scranton. The free sausage event from Johnsonville, based in Wisconsin — also a hotly contested swing state with high political ad spending — was held in an act of solidarity from one politically overserved electorate to another.

During this election cycle in the Scranton-Wilkes Barre area, major political campaigns are spending $155.75 per voting-age adult in political broadcast advertising. This amount is 223% more, on average, than other "Blue Wall" cities like Detroit, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Grand Rapids.^[i] This is also more political spending per voter than New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Phoenix and Las Vegas combined.

With giveaways featuring slogans like "Thank Sausage It's Almost Over" and "Sausage Stands with Scranton," the Johnsonville takeover of the Lackawanna County Courthouse Square in Scranton served hundreds of Scrantonites free sausage, with Baumgartner manning the grill, posing for photos and seeking residents' fresh takes on the barrage of political ads they have endured. Through this gesture, Johnsonville embraced the ethos of its recent "Keep It Juicy" campaign, which reminds America to turn down the temperature, take a break and spend quality time with others. Photos available HERE.

Johnsonville's National Temperature Check, conducted by the Harris Poll in August 2024, highlights how exhausted America is after months of political mudslinging. Most Americans (72%) agree that they don't like political advertising. A majority also admitted to dreading this election season (59%) and blocking political campaign text messaging (51%).

"We are enduring more than our fair share of political advertising here in Johnsonville, Wisconsin, so we know how it feels," said Jamie Schmelzer, Senior Director of Marketing at Johnsonville. "When we saw what was happening to the politically overserved people of Scranton, we decided to do something to make them smile."

This activation marks the second time the actor and cookbook author teamed up with Johnsonville. Baumgartner helped launch the #KeepTheInternetJuicy initiative this summer, encouraging people to curb online negativity by sharing content highlighting unexpected acts of togetherness.

"I know Scranton. I have even been bestowed an Honorary Certificate of Scrantology, but when I heard how much money was being spent on political ads in Scranton, I was shocked," said Brian Baumgartner. "Doing something unexpected for my favorite adopted city was an easy yes. While this is an important election…today was about bringing people together to have a little fun."

Johnsonville's latest "Keep It Juicy" spot, "Town Hall" tackles today's contentious political environment through the power of community.

To join the "Keep It Juicy" conversation, follow Johnsonville on Instagram, @Johnsonville, and use the hashtag #KeepItJuicy.

Johnsonville's National Temperature Check Research Methodology:
The research was conducted online in the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Johnsonville among 2,092 U.S. adults. The survey was conducted August 27-29, 2024. Data are weighted where necessary by age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, marital status, household size, and household income to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within ±2.5 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to other multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including, but not limited to coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments.

About Johnsonville, LLC
Wisconsin-based Johnsonville is the No. 1 national sausage brand, selling and serving more than 80 different varieties of sausage across 40+ countries and in more than 75 U.S. professional, semi-pro and college sports stadiums. Founded in 1945, Johnsonville remains a family-owned company of obsessed sausage-makers that employs and develops approximately 4,000 members globally.

^[i] Source: AdImpact. Broadcast-only political spending as of Thursday, October 3rd (both aired as well as pre-booked through 11/5).

SOURCE Johnsonville