Political Ads Through the Years

In 1952, Eisenhower was the first American presidential candidate to use the television to transmit his political message, forever changing the nature of political advertising.

In 1960 the televised debate between Kennedy and Nixon was supplemented by ads that were more about style than substance. Nixon’s serious ad, which featured him hovering over a desk and speaking directly to the camera, was a far cry from Kennedy’s bubbly jingle-like ad.

Critics deemed the emphasis on appearance as a form of brand manipulation, as viewers at the time saw political figures like movie stars. During the presidential debate, after appearing on television, many viewers claimed that Kennedy looked like a clean-cut scholar, while Nixon looked like, “death warmed over,” as Don Hewitt, a former CBS television producer, observed.

“These are the stakes—to make a world in which all of God’s children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die.” These are the words of warning spoken by Lyndon B. Johnson in his “Daisy Girl” commercial. Johnson’s attempt to depict Sen. Barry M. Goldwater as a foolish ringleader is portrayed through a little girl who while peacefully plucking daisy petals, is suddenly interrupted by a violent nuclear explosion. The explicit ad used fear as a tactic to sway the American public; the ad only ran once, but was deemed a success.

During the landmark presidential race of 1984, Reagan used an image-oriented campaign, centering on the message that the United States had once again risen to be the leader of the free world. The Democratic Party hoped to capture the votes of Americans by highlighting Reagan’s poor policies during his first term as president. Walter Mondale, Reagan’s opponent, used ads that were seen as dull and intellectual, as they outlined his views on the issues that the United States faced. The American public responded favorably to Reagan’s emotionally charged advertisements, including “Morning in America,” which was “designed to evoke emotion rather than thought or understanding.” Emotion “stays with people longer,” claimed Reagan consultant Philip Dusenbery.

Political events organized by musicians, celebrities, philanthropists and spotlight-seekers helped to change “the medium” of the message during the 2004 presidential race. Young, savvy groups, such as MoveOn.org bypassed all expenses and red tape associated with television advertising to create their own political commercials through a “Bush in 30 seconds” contest, engaging over 2.9 million young voters to select the best ad. According to The Village Voice, “The ad competition amounts to something of a newfangled hack on an old gambit,” and displayed, “how the Internet and low-cost technology are chipping away at barriers to political participation.”