Get ready, this is going to be a vicious cycle.
The political ad is actually an art. In a few rare cases, it qualifies as great art a la van Gogh. In other cases, not-so much. Think hard here. Unlike a steamy movie, I bet there are very few political ads that vividly run across your mind (just because…).
So, what’s in a political ad? Oh, you know, the typical boasting, over-promising, and never-ending mudslinging. There are candidates kissing babies. There are candidates sitting in green grass with their incredibly smiley families. There are catchy sound bites and cutesy slogans. There are shots of America’s most pathetic and down-trodden. All of this is supposed to invite our vote.
It’s been a while since we’ve been truly shocked by a campaign ad, wouldn’t you say? We’ve been drawn, but not shocked – which brings me to Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 Daisy ad. It aired exactly once – September 7th – during NBC’s Monday Night at the Movies. It was a shocker, all right. Take a look.
Interesting political trivia, no? I’d be curious to know your thoughts on this ad. Yes, I know it’s a different era and that the times have changed. That said, it’s not completely irrelevant. We all know that the nuclear threat exists, and now we have al-Qaeda to top things off.
Back to the ad. Too much? Just plain wrong? Effective? Interesting? Explosive?
(The other question is this: What would it take in this day-and-age to have an ad so radical that it actually gets banned after one airing?)
Sarah Lenti is the blogger behind NMPolitics.net’s The Savvy. E-mail her at sarah@nmpolitics.net.