How To Lose An Election

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these are the two most bizarre political ads I’ve ever seen and they’re from presidential candidates who lost. The first up is this apparently drunken, one-take endorsement for Gerald Ford :




You know your campaign is in trouble when your ads include the message “And that’s why I hope that…I don’t know…please think about it.” But the oddness of Pearl Bailey is nothing compared to this surreal attack ad from Adlai Stevenson’s 1952 campaign :



So let this be a lesson to the Democratic media strategists. With the election a mere six months away, do your best to avoid advertisint that’s batshit crazy.


posted by greg on May 4, 2006 @ 9:50 pm

4 comments »

  1. Damn…whoever made that latter one must’ve been high. Gutsy, though, as any hint of homosexuality was considered a “taboo” back in the 1950s.

    Speaking of Ike, there was a campaign ad that I think Disney Studios made where the animated Uncle Sam led a parade for supporting Eisenhower. The song was “Ike for president Ike for president…” Do you have that one?

    Comment by Charles Brubaker — May 5, 2006 @ 6:04 am

  2. The “Bob and Ike” stuff is a homage to Stan Freberg’s “John and Marsha” recording, which told the story of an entire relationship with a man just saying her name, “Marsha,” and the woman just saying his name, “John.” It hit #21 on the charts in 1951.

    But who was “Bob?”

    Comment by Misplaced Patriot — May 5, 2006 @ 6:23 am

  3. I believe Bob is this guy.

    Robert A. Taft: Ultra conservative from Ohio who ran against Ike in the primary and who Ike made concessions to to help nail down his right wing during the general.

    The ad attempts to paint Ike as a tool of the rabid right.

    Comment by Night Owl — May 5, 2006 @ 9:41 am

  4. You’ve probably already done plenty of looking around at campaign ads and stuff here

    http://www.easehistory.org/index2.html

    but if not, there it is, somewhat searchable. The one with Goldwater doing a commercial speaking in Spanish cracked me up…he was pretty bad at it.

    Comment by ofuok — May 6, 2006 @ 6:29 am

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