New Obama Ad
Here's a great, new Obama ad to enjoy while we're waiting for the speeches and for more news from BlueOregon contributors in Denver. I'm sure James Taylor is proud...
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August 26, 2008 |
Kristin Teigen | Comments (25 so far)
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Comments
Posted by: mike | Aug 26, 2008 3:07:03 PM
This add sucks.
The lyrics are intended to be mocking McCain, but for everyone old enough/culturally literate enough to know the song, its loving sentiment is totally at cross purposes.
Nice work, you-tube-intern, but get back to making coffee and leave the media work to someone who thinks on their own more than they google.
Posted by: Emily George | Aug 26, 2008 3:16:26 PM
I agree this ad is not effective.
The role of a negative ad is to create a negative emotional feeling about the candidate being attacked. By playing positive music, this ad may do as much the opposite, even though the text on the screen is negative.
Posted by: Emily George | Aug 26, 2008 3:17:11 PM
I agree this ad is not effective.
The role of a negative ad is to create a negative emotional feeling about the candidate being attacked. By playing positive music, this ad may do as much the opposite, even though the text on the screen is negative.
Posted by: Gregor | Aug 26, 2008 4:08:14 PM
I don't come away hating McCain. I don't think Obama's message is hatred. It mocks McCain in a cheerful way. It swats him aside like a teeny little mouse. It instantly brought up, "Loser, nothing but a loser," about McCain. Who was that, Supertramp? It's hard to take McCain seriously once you see this. I like it. The conservatives could never create anything like this.
Posted by: Mike Austin | Aug 26, 2008 4:42:39 PM
Just for the record, the song was covered by James Taylor; it's been around since the '50s, I'm pretty sure... (Didn't Herman's Hermits record it also?)
Posted by: Bill McDonald | Aug 26, 2008 5:05:17 PM
Sam Cooke wrote it and had a hit with it.
Posted by: Kristin | Aug 26, 2008 5:25:59 PM
Yeah, Sam Cooke wrote it and James Taylor covered it in what became a very popular version...
Posted by: Nick Wirth | Aug 26, 2008 5:27:48 PM
The lyrics are intended to be mocking McCain, but for everyone old enough/culturally literate enough to know the song, its loving sentiment is totally at cross purposes.
Yes, the song originally has a positive connotation and you would expect that a commercial featuring the song would portray someone in a good way. Interestingly enough though, the use of the song in this ad actually shows John McCain in a negative light by tying him to President Bush and the failed economy. Thus, there is a discrepancy between the expected result and the actual result of the ad. This is known as irony, and culturally literate people generally find it to be funny.
Posted by: Daniel Spiro | Aug 26, 2008 5:40:17 PM
Terribly ineffective. Soothing music, negative ad. Cognitive dissonance.
There seems to be a dark cloud lately that has overcome the political environment, much like the one that overcame us in '04, and '00. If I were superstitious, I'd say that some cosmic force is giving the American public what it deserves: stupid leadership for not-too-bright people.
Oh well. There are still plenty of opportunities for Barack to rebound.
Posted by: Rod Stewart | Aug 26, 2008 6:11:40 PM
I like the message, but the crapitization of THIS TUNE is hard to get past.
Posted by: Just_a_ | Aug 26, 2008 6:28:27 PM
It left out the fact that all of this economic turmoil only happened AFTER Democrats took control of Congress.
Posted by: Frank Carper | Aug 26, 2008 7:07:08 PM
This add sucks.
New rule: You don't get to be an ad critic if you can't spell the word "ad."
Posted by: Jenni Simonis | Aug 26, 2008 8:17:19 PM
The non-political people I've talked to thus far all thought it was a pretty good ad.
Also, a large chunk of the electorate has never heard the song before, so any back story that goes with the song isn't going to be known to them.
It left out the fact that all of this economic turmoil only happened AFTER Democrats took control of Congress.
Yea right. We were already headed there before Democrats took "control." And I say "control" since we many times don't have control of the U.S. Senate due to illness/death as well as the fact that it's a 49-49-2 makeup (which means we have to rely on Republicans or Lieberman to pass things). Not to mention the fact that our majority in the U.S. House isn't that big either. Much of what we've wanted to do and tried to do gets blocked by Republicans in the U.S. Senate and/or President Bush. The Democrats came in just as the "shit hit the fan," but they didn't create the situation.
Posted by: LT | Aug 26, 2008 8:30:08 PM
Thanks, Bill McD--wondered if anyone else knew this was originally Sam Cooke.
And for the folks who say "oh, no, not another negative ad", this has a catchy tune.
Posted by: Jack Bog | Aug 26, 2008 9:35:35 PM
The weakest aspect of this ad is that, in the Sam Cooke song, not knowing much about anything was fine as long as you were stupidly in love. That pretty much sums up the Republicans' view of the W. years. The parody song subconsciously reinforces it.
Posted by: Bill R. | Aug 27, 2008 6:34:11 AM
The usual stone-throwing peanut section is out in full force. Blue Oregon is generous to provide space to slimy trolls who have no one to pay attention to them, as they seem to lack the ability to make a coherent and rational statement about anything of import. They add insult to injury by insisting on making double posts. I appreciate your postings, Kristin.
Posted by: local mom | Aug 27, 2008 11:46:50 AM
Any ad that shows Bush and McCain together is effective, in my view. This one is negative without being nasty - a hard thing to do but done reasonably well here.
Jenni - I agree wholeheartedly with your analysis of "control". And because this song is one of my old favorites, I must be in the other "chunk of the electorate".
Posted by: genop | Aug 27, 2008 12:26:51 PM
I chuckled at the nostalgic lilt about knowing love while knowing little else. A velvet soundtrack with Bush love as a hammer. Works for me. I can't see the hug enough.
Posted by: Kane | Sep 1, 2008 10:19:21 AM
I don't like Obama-Biden and won't be voting for them, but this is one of the best political commercials I've seen. I love it.
Posted by: Sharon | Sep 6, 2008 5:01:28 PM
I agree with Nick. I saw the ad for the first time tonight on television and laughed my a** off. The irony was not lost on me. Culturally literate people know irony when they see/hear it.
Posted by: RW | Sep 6, 2008 8:26:28 PM
Linking McCain indelibly as interchangable with or tightly braided up with Bush and his religionist legacy is an effective tool to use in this campaign, particularly if done with some wit. Reading the Pew on relgion in America reveals that most Americans view religion as important in their lives (even if characterized in terms other than straight up religion), but the mainstream DO NOT view their particular religion as "the only way".
Knowing this, it's a good tactic to take to relentlessly identify McCain as Bush & Bush Continued. This, if the hucksters for the compaign I am going to vote for no matter what can just exercise some subtlety in their work, and not turn off the actual mainstream identified.
this is blueoregon http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
Posted by: tower defense | Apr 30, 2009 2:48:04 AM
Interestingly enough though, the use of the song in this ad actually shows John McCain in a negative light by tying him to President Bush and the failed economy. Thus, there is a discrepancy between the expected result and the actual result of the ad.
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Posted by: mike | Aug 26, 2008 3:06:32 PM
This add sucks.
The lyrics are intended to be mocking McCain, but for everyone old enough/culturally literate enough to know the song, its loving sentiment is totally at cross purposes.
Nice work, you-tube-intern, but get back to making coffee and leave the media work to someone who thinks on their own more than they google.