Another day, another ad, another celebrity for Barack Obama

(Scout Tufankjian/Obama for America)

Team Obama thinks it has a secret weapon that will help them lock in the support of Latino, young and female voters this election season: celebrities.

Not only have these actors, singers, fashion icons, basketball and football players helped Obama raise funds to support his campaign, but many of them have starred in one or more of his political ads as well.

Within the last week, Obama for American campaign has rolled out ads featuring Jay-Z, who spoke of the importance of voting within African-American communities; Jane Lynch and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who spoke of LGBT issues; and Ricky Martin, who spoke of LGBT issues as well as bullying.

Martin’s ad was filmed in both Spanish and English, targeting not just LGBT voters but also Latino voters. Other stars that have helped Obama’s campaign get out the Latino vote include Victor Cruz, Giants wide receiver, and George Lopez.

Morgan Freeman also narrated a recent ad for Obama For America called, “Challenges.” The ad indirectly mentions the death of Osama bin Laden. “Four years later, our enemies have been brought to justice,” narrates Freeman, just as the video features New York firemen below a news ticker announcing bin Laden’s death.

Number of Obama’s celebrity supporters are female and so it comes as no surprise that throughout this election season they have been featured prominently in ads targeting female voters.

In fact, the ad “Women’s Voices” features more female stars than any recent blockbuster. Stars like Jennifer Lopez, Olivia Wilde, Jane Lynch and Julianne Moore, who won an Emmy for her role as Sarah Palin in Game Change, are just a few female celebrities who appeared in the four minute video.

Elizabeth Banks filmed an ad specifically focusing on Planned Parenthood.

“President Obama has not compromised on women’s rights and that’s why President Obama needs to stay in office,” she says in the ad.

When two New Yorker’s female power players, Sarah Jessica Parker and Anna Wintour, hosted a fundraiser for Obama in New York earlier this year, SJP referred to Obama as “That Guy” – “the guy who ended the war in Iraq, the guy who says you should be able to marry anyone you want, and the guy who created 4 million new jobs, that guy.”

Beyonce starred in an ad in which she spoke not of Obama but of what having a strong Black woman such as Michelle Obama as First Lady meant to her, especially since she is now a mother herself.

And while many of these stars are recognized nation wide, they have become Obama campaign’s surrogates for specific states.

In addition to filming an ad to encourage early voting, Ashley Judd filmed an ad for North Carolina. Kal Penn and Don Cheadle also filmed ads for North Carolina, while Natalie Portman, Tatyana Ali and John Legend filmed ads for Ohio, and Eva Longoria filmed one for Florida. Olivia Munn, BD Wong and Trey Songz filmed ads for Virginia, while Alexis Bledel filmed one for New Mexico, John Cho for Colorado, Gabrielle Union for Iowa, and Alicia Keys filmed one for Pennsylvania.

Here is Portman’s ad filmed for Ohio:

Stars of Parks and Recreation, Adam Scott and Rashida Jones, starred in an early voting ad for Iowa. Jones also appeared alongside Jesse Tyler Ferguson in an ad soliciting quick donations from voters, where they “pocket donate” (think butt dial) to Obama’s campaign. John Cho and Kal Penn, who “hosted” the DNC this year, helped register voters in Colorado by staging a competition between two college campuses and engaging young voters.

The 2012 election season is not the only season, where celebrities have been recruited by Obama’s campaign to get out the vote. During the 2010 elections, when Obama was not even running, the campaign launched the Raise Your Voice campaign. Stars like Union, Penn, Legend, Forest Whitaker, Jamie Foxx, Ben Harper and the members of the band The National filmed ads for the campaign urging Democrats to go out and vote in the mid-term elections.

Yet it isn’t only the Hollywood celebrities that are coming out to support Obama. Basketball and football stars have also come out in support of the president, encouraging voters to register and cast their vote for Obama.

While the Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney has been supported by stars such as Clint Eastwood, Jon Voight, Scott Baio, Johnny Van Zant, Stacey Dash, Donald Trump, John Elway and many Olympians, rarely any celebrities have appeared in his ads.

Former professional basketball player Greg Anthony appeared in Mitt Romney’s ad, explaining why four years after he voted for Obama, he will be voting Republican.

The Republicans have attacked Obama for mingling with celebrities in the past. Earlier in the spring, American Crossroads produced the following ad to slam Obama for being a “celebrity president.” Most recently, their criticism came after the president appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman and attended a fundraiser hosted by Jay-Z and Beyonce, but did not meet with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

To Jay-Z, Obama is not a celebrity president. In his opinion, the president represents hope. “You know, the hope of people all across the country, you know, who would look and see themselves and, you know, the possibilities,” Jay-Z said.