Harris campaign to feature Wawa, cheesesteaks, and pretzels in Philly ads on debate day

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will be speaking to the nation from Philadelphia’s debate stage Tuesday night, but they’ll also be courting support from voters in the city.

Harris’ campaign decided to show off its Philly knowledge as the Democratic nominee tries to reach voters in the reliably blue city in the all-important swing state of Pennsylvania. Her campaign announced plans to post Philly-themed advertisements throughout the city on Tuesday, including on billboards, food trucks, taxis, and with digital projections. The advertisements are expected to stay up for a couple of days.

Here are some of the Philly-themed Harris ads you may see around the City of Brotherly Love.

The Harris campaign leaned into the Philly term ”wit” in its ads, a word most commonly used when ordering a Philly cheesesteak to indicate whether you want fried onions. Ordering a “whiz wit” means that you want cheese whiz and fried onions on your sandwich, and a “whiz witout” means you want cheese whiz without onions. You could also order an “American wit” for American cheese, but don’t bother asking for Swiss cheese.

But in the case of the Harris ads, “wit” is a term of endorsement and shade, with cheese-whizzed letters declaring “Philly is wit Kamala Harris.”

Another campaign advertisement shows a picture of Harris smiling under the word “wit,” and a photo of Trump under the word “nitwit.” Would “witout” have been a greater insult?

Philadelphia loves Wawa and will fiercely defend it any day against Sheetz. But here, the campaign used the Philly staple to mock Trump.

“When u want a quick coffee: WAWA,” the ad reads, with a picture of a coffee cup.

“When people don’t show up to ur rally: WAAA WAAA,” the second part says, with a photo of Trump with his mouth hanging open.

Trump is known to fixate on crowd sizes, both exaggerating the turnout at his rallies and falsely accusing photos of Harris’ rallies of being AI-generated.

In another jab at Trump, a Harris advertisement reads “Crowd size matters” with a full Philly pretzel pictured above Harris’ name. A mere piece of pretzel is pictured above Trump’s name.

The Philadelphia-focused advertisements link to a website that contrasts the crowd size at Harris’ rally in August at Temple University’s Liacouras Center with a Trump rally that took place in the same venue earlier in the summer. The upper seating level was closed off for Trump’s June rally, and filled at Harris’.

A New York Times analysis across six states found that both candidates’ rallies drew comparatively sized audiences across three weeks in August. But experts also told The Times that crowd sizes do not directly relate to the outcome of the election.

Another advertisement features a picture of Harris with the words “Philadelphia. Freedom.” in a possible nod to the Elton John classic “Philadelphia Freedom.” Or perhaps it’s acknowledging the debate’s location, the National Constitution Center — which is a short walk from Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

“Freedom” has also been a common theme throughout Harris’ campaign, with the vice president embracing Beyoncé’s song “Freedom” for appearances and advertisements. At a Philadelphia appearance in July, she walked out to “Freedom” by Jon Batiste. And Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro revived his 2022 campaign’s “real freedom” motto when speaking in support of Harris’ campaign at the DNC last month.