Nothing shows you who should be President better than showing why the other candidate is unfit for the job. We know these sorts of ads as "attack ads." While attack ads have existed in American politics since Thomas Jefferson and John Adams first fought for the presidency in 1800, we never truly got to experience how ferocious attack ads could be until they came to our television screens. Here are some of the most ridiculous television attack ads that show just how vicious political campaigning can be.
These campaign ads don't necessarily need to have succeeded in turning everyone against a particular candidate, they just have to go the extra mile to show how a candidate will destroy America, or the world, as some ads argue. For the most part, I'm going to be sticking to Presidential campaigning.
6. "Laughter" (Hubert Humphrey, 1968)
This ad isn't for the presidential candidacy, but I love it so much that I had to put it on. It's so simple, but so effective. It's nothing about policies and nothing about the candidate's character. All that it says is: "Oh, you were thinking of voting for Spiro Agnew? That's hilarious." After all, who wants to vote for the laughingstock of American politics?
5. "Big Bird" (Barack Obama, 2012)
Not only does this ad make the ridiculous claim that Mitt Romney is in a war against "Sesame Street," but the narrator has such an awesome voice that it makes the whole thing sound like a trailer for a summer blockbuster. Honestly, though, what audience was Obama for America trying to reach with this ad? Children under the age of four? How dare he bring Big Bird into this?
4. "Aqua Buddha" (Jack Conway, 2010)
Again, this is not an ad for the presidency, but this is probably the most "out there" attack ad that I have on this list. It's easily one of the most unintentionally hilarious attack ads that really came out of left field. It is important to note that this ad did far more damage to Jack Conway than it did to Rand Paul.
3. "Dazed and Very Confused" (Richard Nixon, 1968)
I couldn't find the actual title of this ad, so I made up my own that I think sums it up well. It seems to be trying to do some sort of subliminal messaging, so this ad is quite the acid trip. I don't know much about Hubert Humphrey, but from now on his face will always remind me of genocide, famine, and war.
2. "Daisy" (Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964)
That poor little girl was so adorable. She couldn't even count and was nuked before her life truly started. Do you know why she had to suffer this fate? It's because you had to vote for Barry Goldwater. Just remember, a vote for Barry Goldwater is a vote for nuking innocent little girls and, quite possibly, the world. They even make you stare into her eyes before she's blown up.
1. "Willie Horton" (George H.W. Bush, 1988)
The only ad more effective than the Daisy ad has to be the WIllie Horton ad. Now, there may not be the world's largest connection between Willie Horton and Michael Dukakis, but the idea is clear. If you vote for Dukakis, convicts will be let out of prison to rape, murder, and steal. Actually, this ad turned out to be very effective in helping Bush win the election. Not only hearing, but seeing the words kidnapping, stabbing, and raping just makes it hit that much harder.
