January 20, 2003
From the desk of Jane Galt:Pushing Up Daisies?
The group MoveOn has purchased airtime in 13 cities to run an updated version o the infamous "Daisy Ad" that Lyndon Johnson ran against Goldwater in 1964. The new version isn't getting good reviews:
What an absolutely hideous commercial! If one insists on featuring a child in a spot, I would think that one would first and foremost insist upon a child who could act. And who did not have -- as this child appears to have -- a curious facial rash. I won't even address the $7 spent on wardrobe. Let's move straight to the graphic, powerful scenes of war. Here, juxtaposed with the shots of the sweet, innocent "little girl," this war footage is supposed to fill us with terror. "If a bomb like that explodes here … that precious little girl could die!" Instead, these scenes of destruction and firepower have the opposite, thrilling effect. The poor quality of the video footage reminds us that it's been a long time since we've had a really good war. The media coverage would be spectacular, thanks to today's sophisticated digital video cameras. A new war would be great TV. Yeah, motherfucker, BRING IT ON! All the while, a voiceover drones on, hypothesizing. "Maybe‚ … maybe‚ … maybe …" By the third "Maybe" one has simply stopped listening and is instead looking at the explosions and wondering what sort of graphic design elements CNN will create when the war finally does happen. Will they include an explosion-orange color in their new War on Iraq graphics? Or is this color considered proprietary to "Connie Chung Tonight"?Alas, the greatest crime this ad commits is that it does not respect its viewer's intelligence. It uses a cheap scare tactic, an easy, manipulative play for sympathy. And it does this with production values that are far below the industry standard. I believe it is the moral responsibility of the creatives who conceived of this commercial to kill themselves. And take the little girl with them.
Posted by Jane Galt at January 20, 2003 10:10 AM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound links
By using the daisy meme, are they telling us that their ideas will handle Iraq as effectively as Johnson handled Vietnam? Seems that's what they're saying.
And the same people saying "let the inspections work" now were saying "let the sanctions work" ten years ago. Have the sanctions worked yet?
Posted by: Brian on January 20, 2003 12:20 PMI'm guessing that the daisy ads will be less effective than the daisy cutters.
Posted by: Mike on January 20, 2003 01:19 PMI'm reminded of the grim joke that started circulating as the Vietnam War escalated after Johnson's election: "They told me that if I voted for Goldwater that there'd be half a million troops in Vietnam by the end of the next year. I did, and damned if they weren't right."
These guys ought to send royalties to Bill Moyers for the new ad, since the SOB was the mastermind behind the first one.
Maybe we could take the same footage and change the dialog:
"If we sit around with our thumbs in our collective butts, we will give Saddam time to do THIS! (cut to A-bomb blast)
I missed the Golden Globes Sunday night...did anybody spout off or wear a MESSAGE T-shirt?
Posted by: Mumblix Grumph on January 20, 2003 04:06 PMThose ads have the opposite effect on me: shouldn't we take out Saddam now, before he has the chance to lob mushroom clouds our way?
Posted by: Alan M. Robertson on January 21, 2003 12:55 AMComments are Closed.