Memorable Campaign Ads

The advent of television fundamentally changed the nature of political campaigns: Candidates were suddenly able to reach voters through paid advertisements beamed directly into their homes. More recently, the rise of the Internet and YouTube has allowed candidates to reach even wider audiences. Take a look at some of the most memorable presidential campaign spots, from Eisenhower to Obama.

I Like Ike

Dwight Eisenhower's musical ad during the 1952 presidential race profoundly changing the nature of political campaigns. The era of televised campaigns was born.

A Madison Avenue ad executive convinced Eisenhower that a campaign spot during a popular TV program like "I Love Lucy" would be a more efficient and cost-effective way to communicate to the mass of voters than the half-hour long presidential speeches that were standard practice at the time.

The song in the ad uses a catchy tune to stress Eisenhower's name, repeating "Ike for President," and "I like Ike" several times.

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Kennedy Jingle

John F. Kennedy's 1960 jingle ad is first and foremost about name recognition, inundating the viewer with images of the candidate's face and placards with his name. The song that runs throughout the ad touts the freshness of Kennedy's candidacy while also undercutting criticisms of inexperience: "Do you want a man for president who's seasoned through and through, but not so doggone seasoned that he won't try something new." The refrain repeats the Kennedy name so many times that it can't escape the tip of your tongue.

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Daisy Girl

In 1964, Lyndon Johnson ran a dramatic spot that became known simply as "Daisy." It was broadcast only once as a paid advertisement, achieving its notoriety because nightly news programs replayed the ad in its entirety. The spot depicts a young girl picking petals from a daisy before viewers here the ominous voice of a nuclear countdown and a subsequent explosion. Viewers recognized the ad as an indictment of opponent Barry Goldwater, despite the lack of context.

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Humphrey at the Convention

Richard Nixon's 1968 attack ad features a collage of the devastation in Vietnam and the violence of race riots inter-cut with pictures of a smiling Hubert Humphrey at the Democratic convention. The juxtaposition of frightening images, disorienting sounds and frenetic camera movement references the chaos of the 1968 convention and paints a tumultuous portrait of what the country would be like under a Humphrey administration. The Nixon campaign pulled the ad in response to the hundreds who called NBC to protest it as being in bad taste.

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Laughing at Agnew

In 1968 the Humphrey campaign ran an ad criticizing Spiro Agnew, the political unknown who Nixon had chosen as his running mate. In the 20-second spot, the camera zooms in on a television that reads "Agnew for Vice-President?" amidst the sound of uncontrollable laughter. Despite the overt mockery of Agnew, the ad leaves the viewer with an image emphasizing the gravity of the election: "This would be funny if it wasn't so serious."

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Nixon Now

The 1972 "Nixon Now" advertisement is memorable for its uncharacteristic nature. Not many would associate Nixon, a firm Cold Warrior who excelled at fierce anti-liberal attack ads, with a spot that scrolls from stills of young people frolicking in the sun to clips of a smiling Nixon shaking hands with constituents. All the while, a festive song hails Nixon for "reaching out to find a way to make tomorrow a brighter day, making dreams reality. More than ever - Nixon now for you and me."

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Strom Thurmond

During the 1976 campaign, South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond starred in an ad on behalf of Gerald Ford. In attempt to win over Southern voters swayed by Jimmy Carter's southern roots, Thurmond accuses the Georgia governor of being "from" the South but not "for" the South: "When President Ford talks about the issues - defense, gun control, taxes, big government, inflation - he sounds more like a southerner than Jimmy Carter."

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Nancy Reagan on Jimmy Carter

During the 1980 presidential race against Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan's aides were intent on maintaining his image as an affable down-to-earth candidate. So Nancy Reagan played the role of the attack dog, lambasting Jimmy Carter in this ad. The future first lady presents herself as deeply offended by Carter's insinuations about her husband before asking her opponent to explain "why inflation is as high as it is, why unemployment is as high as it is," and why he promoted a "vacillating, weak foreign policy."

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Reagan and the Bear

A grizzly bear slowly lumbers through the woods amidst soothing voice-over narration in this 1984 Reagan advertisement. The ad portrays the bear as a symbol of the Soviet Union without overtly mentioning the Cold War. The narrator expresses uncertainty about whether the bear is tame or vicious, concluding "since no one can really be sure who's right, isn't it smart to be as strong as the bear?" The message manages to trumpet Reagan's foreign policy approach without recourse to explicit images of soldier, weapons or Russians.

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Morning in America

"It's morning again in America," begins this iconic 1984 Reagan ad depicting idyllic images of suburban life: a man riding a tractor, a young boy on a paper route, a family moving into a new home. Heralding Reagan's role in the economic turnaround, the spot presents an inspiring vision of a confident future. By ending with the question, "Why would we ever want to return to where we were less than four short years ago?," the danger of a Democratic administration is subtly implied.

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Willie Horton

Even within the context of a campaign noted primarily for its virulent attacks, this ad struck many as shocking. In it, George Bush criticizes Michael Dukakis' controversial prison furlough program for giving weekend passes to convicted criminals. Convicted felon Willie Horton's mugshot is displayed while the narrator details the kidnapping and assault of a young couple during one of Horton's sanctioned leaves from prison. The ad uses fear-mongering and arguably racist imagery to paint Dukakis as an ineffective liberal who is weak on crime.

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Bill Clinton's Journey

This 1992 biographical video traces Bill Clinton's journey from relative poverty in small-town Arkansas to becoming the governor of the state. As Clinton fondly narrates his story, images of his modest childhood and his experience meeting President Kennedy flash across the screen. The ad makes full use of Clinton's charm, portraying the candidate as a regular American whose success resulted from hard work, determination and a commitment to public service.

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Gore Will Say Anything

George W. Bush's first attack ad on Al Gore in the 2000 campaign features a female narrator sarcastically mocking the Democrat for "re-inventing himself on television" and making outlandish claims like inventing the Internet. The ad exclusively depicts Gore through a small television set in a kitchen, presenting him as distant from regular Americans. By employing humor and an anonymous female spokesman, Bush successfully challenges Gore's integrity without betraying his image as a sincere affable candidate.

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It's a Dangerous World

At the outset of this 2000 ad, George W. Bush declares "today we live in a world of terror, mad men and missiles." Images of a young girl wandering through an abandoned facility are inter-cut with stock footage of missiles, and the focus is on Bush's professed commitment to modernizing the military. The ad concludes when the kind hand of a uniformed officer embraces the girl, emphasizing Bush's compassionate approach to a dangerous world.

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Windsurf Flip-Flopping

One of the most effective and consistent strategies of George W. Bush's 2004 campaign was the depiction of John Kerry as a "flip-flopper" who had changed his views for political gain. This line of attack put Kerry in stark contrast to Bush, a man who, his campaign insisted, steadfastly stuck to his beliefs. This video of John Kerry windsurfing in Nantucket was particularly damaging as it provided a perfect visual metaphor for that argument and also played to the notion that Kerry is an East Coast elitist.

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Swiftboat

During his 2004 race against George W. Bush, John Kerry was attacked in a series of ads by "Swiftboat Veterans for Truth," a group of servicemen who made questionable claims about his service in Vietnam. This ad juxtaposes Kerry's Senate testimony denouncing his unit's war crimes with clips of veterans accusing the candidate of betraying their trust. The portrayal of Kerry as a disloyal man who sold out his fellow soldiers proved particularly damning to his campaign.

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3 A.M. Phone Call

Hillary Clinton's principal strategy in the 2008 Democratic primary race was to emphasize the gulf in experience between her and Barack Obama. Her well-known "3 a.m." phone call ad is emblematic of those tactics. Children are shown asleep in their bed and a ringing phone is audible. The narrator asks, "There is a phone in the White House and its ringing. Who do you want answering the phone?"

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Obama: The Biggest Celebrity in the World

Throughout the 2008 campaign, the John McCain campaign depicted Barack Obama as an elitist out of touch with the concerns of average Americans. He was mockingly called "The One" and likened to Moses. In this ad that appeared only on the web, a narrator labels Obama "the biggest celebrity in the world" whilst images of massive crowds are inter-cut with clips of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. The messianic chants of "Obama, Obama" that are audible throughout are meant to contrast Obama's massive celebrity with what the McCain camp cast as his minimal experience.

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