‘The Office’ Star Brian Baumgartner & Johnsonville Sausage Visit Scranton Ahead of Election Day

“The Office” star Brian Baumgartner and Johnsonville, America’s No. 1 sausage brand, teamed up for a free sausage event in Scranton, Pennsylvania, this week in an act of solidarity with the “politically overserved” community ahead of Election Day.

Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and other swing states are at the center of a media firestorm ahead of the election, with major campaigns spending $81 million on ads in Scranton alone. Johnsonville invited hundreds of community members to the Lackawanna County Courthouse Square in Scranton on Tuesday to lighten the mood and “Keep It Juicy.”

Baumgartner manned the grill, giving out free sausage and posing for photos with Scrantonites at the event. Johnsonville and Baumgartner also gave out swag bearing mottos like “Sausage Stands with Scranton” and “I Survived $81 Million in Political Ads and All I Got Was This Sausage.”

“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,” Baumgartner said. “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.”

The actor and cookbook author helped launch Johnsonville’s #KeepTheInternetJuicy initiative this summer, discouraging online negativity in favor of sharing content highlighting unexpected acts of togetherness. The initiative is an extension of the sausage brand’s Keep It Juicy campaign, reminding people to turn down the temperature and enjoy good food with good people.

“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.”

In the Scranton-Wilkes Barre area alone, major political campaigns are spending $155.75 per voting-age adult in political broadcast advertising this election cycle. That’s 223% more, on average, than other “Blue Wall” cities like Detroit, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and Grand Rapids, and it’s more political spending per voter than in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Las Vegas combined.

According to Johnsonville’s National Temperature Check, conducted by the Harris Poll in August, Americans are tired of being bombarded with political ads. The survey showed that 72% of Americans don’t like political advertising, with 51% saying they are blocking political campaign text messaging. A majority, 59%, say they are dreading this election season.

“Town Hall,” Johnsonville’s latest “Keep It Juicy” ad, takes on the contentious political environment with the power of community. Fans can join the Keep It Juicy conversation by following Johnsonville on Instagram @Johnsonville and using the hashtag #KeepItJuicy.

TMX contributed to this story.