I really do think this may be the oddest political ad I have ever seen. It features Herman Cain’s chief of staff giving an endorsement of Herman Cain. The testimonial ends with the guy taking a drag on a cigarette and blowing the smoke into the camera. Finally, the ad concludes with the candidate giving his grin of approval.
John Huntsman had an odd ad that turned a lot of heads at the launch of his campaign, but I have to say that this Cain ad outdoes Huntsman’s.
16 Comments
Dillon
18 through about 32 watch the guy shake his head back and forth. Usually, body language would teach us that he’s saying no, no, no. I would say he’s full of, well you know, but this is a family blog. 🙂
jigawatt
You want weird campaign ads, google “basil marceaux”
RD
I completely agree, Denny. What amazes me most about the Republican process to determine a front-runner is why Mitt Romney isn’t light years ahead of the other candidates. I’m not a Romney fan, but he stands head and shoulders above the other cast of Republican odd-balls that are actively trying to become the party nominee. The only other candidate who hasn’t exhibited whacky behaviour is Mr. Huntsman.
Robert I Masters
I think you are missing the humor in the Cain train! watch his “yellow roses” video to see some of the humor.
I am one of those original never get off the Cain train supporters.
RD–I would never vote for Romney in the primary when we have a choice of other evangelical Christians
Christiane
with people out of work and suffering economically, a lot of the ‘humor’ among certain candidates falls flat . . .
Sarah
I completely agree. My mouth dropped open.
Donald Johnson
That is pretty baffling. I know Obama smokes and asks the press not to take pics of it, so that cig at the end may be a oblique ref. to that.
Barry
It was odd, but after hearing about it from the snobs on Morning Joe, I expected much worse.
Denny Burk
They are snobs, but they were right about this one. It looks like an SNL skit.
rachel
i like it! i can’t stop singing that catchy tune at the end. i think it was meant to be clever and humorous, but maybe i am giving too much credit to the Cain campaign. I am America a a …
Derek
I agree with Barry.
It’s unusual, but I heard him explain it and the basic idea is that web ads have to feel “real” and gritty or they won’t get watched.
People simply do not watch political youtube ads that look and feel like a movie trailer with special effects and the James Earl Jones voiceover.
So they literally just filmed this on the street and decided not to edit him out when he took a smoke break. The shot of him smoking was not in the original plan. I guess it sort of worked because now they have more views on this video than they ever imagined.
Nick
Denny,
If this is the oddest political ad you’ve ever seen, you clearly missed the Carly Fiorina “demon sheep” ad from a couple years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRY7wBuCcBY
You might think the worst of it is at the beginning but watch it all the way through, it gets much, much worse towards the end.
Christiane
creepy
Dillon
California – Where men are men and sheep, well, are men in cheap looking sheep costumes. Wow.
Will
Sorry Denny, you’re wrong in saying that this is the oddest political ad. It’s not even the oddest Cain political ad. Case in point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSlC7BxmSqY
Patrick Schreiner
That is so strange it is funny to watch…especially Cain’s smile at the end.