Viral 'Protein' Ad Draws National Attention in Mississippi Election
Left 100%
Center 0%
Right 0%
2 left · 0 center · 0 right
What happened
In a recent Mississippi election, Democrat Scott Colom won a key race against a Republican opponent, in a result described by some outlets as helping to "flip" Mississippi in that contest. A central feature of Colom’s campaign was a digital ad titled "Pick Another Protein," sometimes referred to as the "protein ad." The spot was produced by 27-year-old Ryan Sayles, who had not previously worked on a political campaign. The ad went viral online, drawing national attention as it was widely shared across social media and news platforms.
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- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Nov 12, 22:34 UTC by Politico, with no named source. No article has named one since.
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ONE-SIDED THIS WEEK.
No right-leaning outlet in the sources below has covered this story in the last two days;
Washington Examiner
reported it on 2026-11-12.
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
The core gap is that only left-leaning coverage tells this story, so right-leaning audiences may never hear that Democrats credit a viral protein ad with helping flip a Mississippi race. Politico casts the spot as a major online hit and a blueprint for competing in the South and planning digital strategy for 2028. The Washington Post profiles Ryan Sayles, a 27-year-old first-time political ad-maker. It says his "Pick Another Protein" spot is credited with helping Scott Colom win in Mississippi after ricocheting across the country and internet. Neither outlet provides hard data tying the ad to vote shifts, and with right-leaning outlets silent, readers miss both the celebratory Democratic narrative and any conservative pushback on the ad's message or effectiveness. Within the left, Politico emphasizes the ad as strategic "blueprint," while the Post leans on a personal origin story, leaving tone more admiring than skeptical. So far, no one answers the basic question: by how much, if at all, did this viral protein ad actually change the margin in Scott Colom's Mississippi race?
Bottom line
Because only outlets like Politico and the Washington Post are covering Ryan Sayles's "Pick Another Protein" ad, readers who rely on right-leaning media miss that Democrats see this viral spot as a blueprint for Southern races. None of the pieces show with numbers how much the ad actually affected Scott Colom's Mississippi win.
The receipts — 5 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Politico reports that Democrats see a viral protein-themed ad as a major online hit and a blueprint for competing in the South and shaping digital strategy for 2028.
- The Washington Post identifies the ad as "Pick Another Protein" and links it to Scott Colom's win in Mississippi.
- The Washington Post notes that Ryan Sayles had never worked on a political campaign before producing the ad.
- Politico describes the protein-themed spot as "one of this cycle’s biggest viral hits."
- The Washington Post writes that the "Pick Another Protein" ad "ricocheted across the country and internet."
The Left View
Politico reports that a 27-year-old first-time political ad maker, Ryan Sayles, created the "Pick Another Protein" digital ad for Scott Colom’s campaign in Mississippi. The outlet describes the ad as one of the cycle’s biggest viral hits and frames it as a potential blueprint for Democrats seeking to compete in Southern states, especially in terms of digital strategy leading up to 2028. Politico emphasizes both the speed and breadth of the ad’s online spread and its perceived role in helping Colom secure his victory. The Washington Post focuses on the backstory of Sayles, noting that he had never previously worked on a political campaign before producing the ad, which it says "ricocheted across the country and internet." The Post similarly highlights the ad’s virality and credits it with helping Colom win, portraying the episode as an example of how a single, well-crafted digital ad can influence down-ballot races. Neither outlet disputes the basic facts of the election outcome or that the ad gained large online traction, and both treat the ad as a significant factor in the race’s dynamics.
Our Take (balanced)
This story is substantive in the sense that it involves named individuals (Scott Colom and Ryan Sayles), a concrete and verifiable event (a Mississippi election that Colom won), and an identifiable piece of media (the publicly viewable "Pick Another Protein" ad). The claims that the ad went viral and was widely shared are testable against social-media metrics and view counts, and the accounts of Sayles’s role come from his on-the-record participation with major outlets. What remains more interpretive is the extent to which the ad can be credited with "flipping" the race; while strategists and reporters are attributing significant impact to it, that is an analytical judgment rather than a directly provable causal fact. As of now, the coverage is coming from left-leaning outlets such as Politico and the Washington Post, and no right-leaning outlet has reported on this story. Going forward, the most useful developments would be detailed turnout and precinct data, digital analytics on the ad’s reach, independent campaign postmortems from both parties, and any formal responses or analyses from Mississippi political officials or national party committees that either reinforce or challenge the narrative of the ad’s decisive influence.
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