Councilmember Nithya Raman dropped a new campaign ad Friday that indirectly swipes at Spencer Pratt by spoofing MTV’s “The Hills,” the launching pad for the former reality TV star.
The District 4 councilmember outlines her plans to bring hope back to Los Angeles from a podium in front of the Hollywood sign. Several cars drive by revealing that Raman is actually positioned on the streets of L.A.
A montage of scenes of L.A. in disarray play as Raman claims that the city currently has a mayor — incumbent Karen Bass — who has “failed to lead the city.” She also nodded to Pratt, calling him a “right-wing extremist powered by MAGA, channeling people’s frustrations about the city into fear, anger, and hatred.”
A later shot in the ad mirrors that of the final scene from the 2000s reality show, where Brody Jenner’s emotional goodbye is revealed to have taken place on a fake Hollywood soundstage.
Watch it below:
In Raman’s ad the backdrop is torn away to reveal a crowd of Angelenos holding “Nithya Raman for Mayor” signs, cheering for the councilmember.
“We can bring L.A. back to what it really is, one of the most creative, most beautiful, most hopeful places in the world. But only if we come together and fight for it. Every single vote matters,” she said, before Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten,” which was “The Hills” theme song, plays.
The primary election for the next mayor of L.A. will take place Tuesday, June 2. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two candidates will move on to a runoff in November. Bass, Pratt and Raman are currently leading the polls with the incumbent, consistently polling on top but not with enough margin to win outright.
A UC Berkeley-Los Angeles Times poll of likely voters from earlier this week predicted a tight race, with Bass at 26%, Raman at 25% and Pratt at 22%. An informal poll of TheWrap’s readership found the mayor leading at 39%, with Pratt in second at 24% and Raman behind him at 21%.
Raman will outline her plans to keep film and television production in L.A. Friday afternoon, appearing with Mike Schur, Rachel Bloom and Harper Steele, among others.
