Negativity as an art form?

Advertising, for all its potential for raising awareness and doing so creatively, can be a very blunt instrument when used to harm others. We as a species tend to get pretty nasty when there is something we want and someone in our way. It is not our best trait. Political attack ads have been on television as long as television has been running ads. There have been some interesting takes on the truth through the years, and this year proves to be no different. The ad that seems to have hit either the high or low bar, depending on your perspective, is Daisy from 1964.

This ad never mentions the competition, Barry Goldwater, but only the candidate you must vote for, Lyndon Baines Johnson. The editing is questionable, the copy is frighteningly effective and the integrity of the message in the light of actual history of LBJ and Viet Nam is flawed at best. And in a great precursor to viral marketing, the ad ran only once, but was shown on news programs repeatedly.

This kind of advertising plays on our doubts and fears. Witness the Willie Horton ad that helped put Bush I into office. Or the Swift Boat ads that helped Bush II. Analysts say the attack ads are usually more technically accurate than the image ads. Even so, it is a grimy mirror this kind of ad puts up to society. Unless, of course, the ad is for your chosen candidate.