Some political watchers are saying this could be the nastiest, most negative election season of all time. [SLYT]
posted by ennui.bz on Oct 30, 2010 - 68 comments

Beware the San Francisco values! [more inside]
posted by serazin on May 24, 2008 - 46 comments

Make your own attack ad. The Democratic party is uploading all its "tracker" videos of the top Republican candidates out on the campaign trail, for use by anyone for anything. "The party hopes that thousands of eyes might find something the mainstream media has missed, or that a new way of juxtaposing the video with something else will be revealing about the candidates," says the NYT. Gimmick or political sea change?
posted by CunningLinguist on Nov 28, 2007 - 60 comments

With nothing to lose but more of his own money, former convenience store magnate (kinda), local businessman, and independent candidate Christy Mihos has produced the 'cheekiest' political ad (so far) in the current Massachusetts gubernatorial race.
posted by scblackman on Sep 25, 2006 - 10 comments

King Mike for Monarch NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg stars in a political ad parody. From the Inner Circle, via YouTube.
posted by CunningLinguist on Mar 14, 2006 - 16 comments

Stand Up, Speak Up -- Against Racism (and for Nike) A new campaign against the ugly, very present problem of racism in the game of soccer, with soccer stars like Thierry Henry and Rio Ferdinand. An elegant (if more than a bit tame and unimaginative) new ad by Wieden+Kennedy. The campaign aims to encourage fans to wear interlocked black-and-white wristbands as a symbol of their stand against racism, which can be bought for €2, or £1.50 in the UK.
In every Nike store near you. (more inside)
posted by matteo on Feb 1, 2005 - 32 comments

A fantastic clearinghouse for thinking about political advertising can be found courtesy of the University of Iowa's Department of Communication Studies. Links include the previously discussed wonder "The Living Room Candidate" and even advertising consulting firms. Pretty good reading, with enough links to keep you busy for a while.
posted by hank_14 on Sep 5, 2004 - 3 comments

Joshua Green wrote an interesting and insightful piece regarding the current state of political advertisements. Here is an example of an ad by a media consultant he refers to, based in Pittsburgh. Another spin here. I've often wondered why they're so predictable. The Atlantic gives us a glimpse into poly. ad history and, quite possibly, its future.
posted by BlueTrain on Jul 6, 2004 - 8 comments

Richard Clarke asks MoveOn to remove his name and recordings of his voice from their new advert. MoveOn refuses.
posted by alms on Mar 31, 2004 - 25 comments

Viacom's CBS today rejected a request from liberal group MoveOn to air a 30-second anti-President Bush ad, saying the spot violated the network's policy against running issue advocacy advertising. This, despite running anti-drug and anti-smoking ads. So, is it only issues about which they disagree?
posted by dejah420 on Jan 16, 2004 - 57 comments

A restaurant's advertisement runs during a special on gay weddings, which causes a christian conservative group to mention said restaurant in a story on their web site, which might alienate some of the restaurant's patrons. So the restaurant tells the AP that the advertisement was not meant for that programming, and that the restaurant only supports "non-controversial" programming, which brings the ire of an even bigger minority group. Applebee's just can't seem to win when it comes to courting the non-mainstream market.
posted by benjh on Oct 3, 2002 - 24 comments

Oops. So, the governor of Texas appoints you as the new point-man for domestic safety in the state. Some say it's pay-back for staying out of the Republican Senate primary (where the governor's friend is running) and deciding to run for Lt. Governor. Despite some criticism, you run a four-page glossy ad in a Texas magazine touting your qualifications for Lt. Governor, including your recent appointment as the Texas anti-terrorism czar. The ad features a waving American flag and a patriotic soldier. Only one problem: it's a German soldier.
posted by conquistador on Oct 26, 2001 - 15 comments

Bill Maher calls U.S. cowardly; FedEx pulls ads from show It looks like that "Freedom of Speech" thing is too much for some people to handle. What do expect from a show like this? If you can't handle it, don't watch it.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet on Sep 19, 2001 - 86 comments

Nader's new television ad parodies those hilarious monster.com ads with the little kids hoping they'll grow up to have crappy jobs. In the Nader ad, the kids hope they'll grow up to have the same crappy politicians, sold out to corporations, with no real change.
posted by daveadams on Oct 31, 2000 - 6 comments

In the spirit of the American Memory Digital Library or Duke's Digital Scriptorium, the American Museum of the Moving Image has a new exhibit called The Living Room Candidate- a comprehensive collection of presidential campaign ads since the 1950's.
posted by kidsplateusa on Oct 23, 2000 - 6 comments

I approached this review expecting it to be of the "major media providers are the problem, not the solution" sort, but discovered something somewhat different: "It’s not that the medium of the modern political campaign–television advertising–failed to do justice to men of substance, but that men of substance failed to adapt to television advertising..."
posted by dcehr on Aug 7, 2000 - 3 comments