The 2014 Political Ads We Can’t Stop Watching
With Election Day on the horizon, we’re once again engaged in a pastime we’ve loved ever since the controversial Wille Horton ad from 1988: watching (and rewatching) the most jaw-dropping political ads of the season.
Some have been simply tasteless, such as the ads that used imagery from the murder of journalist James Foley. Others, however, range from ludicrous to disrespectful to clever to all of the above. Call them what you will, we just can’t stop watching them.
One of our favorites, produced by a nonprofit organization “committed to educating citizens about economic policy,’’ employs a combination of hilarity and hyperbole to compare Obama’s presidency to an online romance gone bad.
“In 2008, I fell in love,’’ a smiling woman gushes. “His online profile made him seem so perfect.’’ But her glee quickly devolves into regret. “I trusted him,’’ she says. “I stuck with him because he promised he’d be better. He’s great at promises,’’ she laments before symbolically closing a laptop with an image of Obama on its screen. She ends with a pointed attack on Democrats: “I know I’m stuck with Barack for two more years, but I’m not stuck with his friends.’’
[fragment number=0]
Many of the commercials are for national audiences, but there are plenty with local appeal. In this spot set during a fictional spelling bee, a contestant is asked to spell “Shaheen,’’ as in Jeanne Shaheen, the U.S. senator from New Hampshire. After asking for a definition and hearing it used in a sentence, the child spells out “O-B-A-M-A.’’
“Close enough!’’ decide the judges.
[fragment number=1]
Here in Massachusetts, our own Charlie Baker is apparently not the only candidate who exploited his family for campaign ads. Mike Heffernan, who is running for state treasurer, showed that he is willing to do whatever it takes to save the Bay State money, including not paying for the labor of his own wife, children, and grandfather, who were used as cast and crew for a clever take on a campaign commercial.
[fragment number=2]
Other efforts that feature the candidates themselves are quite simply over the top. Iowa Senate hopeful Bob Quast, a Second Amendment fan who made term limits the focus of his campaign, brandishes a Glock in an ad and promises “to blow your balls off’’ if you threaten his family. This strategy may not be the most effective, as indicated by a recent poll.
[fragment number=3]
Apparently testicular references are a thing in Iowa, as current State Senator Joni Ernst claims in her ad that her background of castrating pigs on the Iowa farm where she grew up has properly prepared her to join the U.S. Senate and help repeal Obamacare.
[fragment number=4]
Will Brooke, a congressional candidate in Alabama, also wants to eliminate Obamacare by any means necessary. After shooting a copy of the legislation with a high-powered rifle fails to destroy it, Brooke is forced to “resort to more extreme measures to get rid of Obamacare.’’ In this case, Plan B means feeding the pieces of paper into a tree-shredding machine, sending pages of scrap paper flying into the air. Brooke’s bid ended in September, when he lost the primary.
[fragment number=5]
And then there are the cameos.
America’s favorite Nevada cattle rancher, Cliven Bundy, who once famously wondered if black people were “better off as slaves, picking cotton,’’ uses a new ad for independent congressional candidate Kamau Bakari to continue his conversation about race. Bakari, who is black, tells Bundy that “a brave white man like you might be just what we need to put an end to this political correctness stuff in America.’’ It’s unclear if that mission was actually accomplished or not in this ad, which concludes with the pair daring Eric Holder to come to Nevada to talk about race since he “wasn’t too busy to go to Ferguson, Missouri.’’ Yes, it’s as weird as it sounds.
[fragment number=6]
It takes a mock candidate—Gil Fulbright, who bills himself as an “honest politician’’—to put all of these political ads in their proper perspective. Fulbright’s satirical advertisement states that his campaign for a US Senate seat from Kentucky “is not about me. It’s about crafting a version of me that’ll appeal to you.’’ Touché, Mr. Fulbright, touché.
[fragment number=7]
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com