But those farmers, hardhats and entrepreneurs in the ads aren’t always real — they’re sometimes volunteers doing their part to help the campaign widen its allure by doing a little on-camera role-playing.

“People don’t spend a s—load of money on political commercials in the same way they do with consumer ads,” said Matt McLaughlin, a Democratic ad-maker who has gained a reputation for producing movie trailer-like advertisements for political candidates such as Wisconsin congressional hopeful Randy Bryce and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. “So if you’ve got a campaign that doesn’t have a lot of money but wants to convey a message, you really are pulling all the favors you can from people.”

But operatives and ad-makers said that Wexton’s decision to have one of her top campaign aides dress up in costume portraying a police officer is not only careless but disingenuous to voters and disrespectful to the badge and uniform.

“It’s beyond stupid. I have no idea why they’d do it for a 1-second clip,” said Will Ritter in an email. “I guess buying police costumes at Party City is easier than getting support from actual police,” said the Republican ad-maker for POOLHOUSE in Richmond, which is not affiliated with any of the Virginia 10th candidates.

“It’s more than a mistake, it’s a lie, and shows how far Wexton is willing to go to appear to have support,” Ritter said.