Monday Slightly Fun Link: The Presidential Campaign Commercials of Yesteryear
The modern-age miracle of Hulu has a nice selection of old presidential campaign political TV commercials, from little girls with flowers getting nuked to Willie Horton.
In ye olden days, I had to walk uphill both ways through the snow to spend the day at the Museum of Television and Radio in Beverly Hills to research this 1997 Reason magazine article arguing that the quality of political ads qua political ads had, despite conventional wisdom, improved in the 1990s compared to the often contentless or bizarre hysteria of the past. Now, we all have a museum of television and radio at our desks. Two cheers for the 21st century.
[Hat tip on link: Steve Finefrock]
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
The only one I remember without going back to look is the flower/nuke one, because they still play it every election.
The link to the little girl H-bomb commercial is a good time to remind everyone what a piece of crap former Johnson aid Bill Moyers is. Contrary to popular belief he was not behind the ad. But he wasn't only because he was too busy out making sure there were not any homosexuals on the Johnson staff.
As if there were ever a bad time to remind everyone what a piece of crap Bill Moyers is.
there were not any homosexuals on the Johnson staff.
Nope. Just Lady Bird as far as we know.
arguing that the quality of political ads qua political ads had, despite conventional wisdom, improved in the 1990s
Good point, one we should all keep in mind. People don't remember, or don't know, what a mud-throwing shit-wallowing exercise politics use to be. Why even your link doesn't show the worst of it
In the 19th Century they used to just pay people to vote. What is funny is that no one had a problem with it. And recent immigrants who had come mostly from Europe where the entire place was run by Royalty and no one had ever asked or valued their opinion on anything, loved it.
John|1.4.10 @ 11:10AM|#
"In the 19th Century they used to just pay people to vote."
And we still do; it's just a little delayed: "Vote for me and I'll give you free stuff!"
http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/
The Cheney "Ad" forgot to mention that he hates legislating.
And no one mentioned the foil to LBJ?:
"I was told if I voted for Goldwater, we'd have war. They were right: I did and we do."
Matt didn't even show up in person? No chance he's going to get hit in the face with a chair. What a gyp.