In 2024, the presidential campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are expected to spend as much as $16 BILLION on advertising, an obscene amount. On September 7, 1964, the most infamous presidential campaign television ad ran, and only one time. 

The origins of the ad was born during the Kennedy administration. A Madmen-style advertising firm, Doyle Dane Bernbach, was redefining the way items were sold via TV, particularly for Volkswagen and Avis. The medium was in its second decade, and the way to market products was evolving. Kennedy had his brother-in-law Stephen Smith contact the company and set it up with the Democratic National Committee. Ads like JFK’s 1960 ads with singing and photos would be a thing of the past. 

After President Kennedy’s assassination, the DNC and DDB worked together to find creative ways to sell a candidate, even the President of the United States, like toothpaste and soap.

Republican Nominee Barry Goldwater’s rhetoric and viewpoints gave the ad men the ammunition to make some formidable and unforgettable commercials. His chances of defeating Johnson were slim, but the Daisy ads and subsequent ones slammed the door forcefully on any chances he had.

The Arizona Senator had made ‘reckless’ statements slicing off the Eastern seaboard of the US (an ad was made for this). He was not shy about privatizing Social Security and the Tennessee Valley Authority. He voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and when he joked about “lobbing a missile into the men’s room at the Kremlin” DDB had all it needed. 

I am not a skilled enough storyteller or writer to describe the ‘Daisy Ad;’ it must be seen and heard. Goldwater’s name was never mentioned and as stated it just ran once at $24,000. The television networks then played it over and over covering it as a news story. Free media is very effective for all political campaigns. 

When you watch the ad, you must take yourself back sixty years and the perspective of the Cold War. Many of the viewers had built bomb shelters under their homes, and their children had practiced ridiculous rituals of hiding under their desks in the event of nuclear war. Over thirty years have passed since the fall of the Soviet Union. As a late baby boomer, I can assure you everyone knew that two countries had the capability of blowing up the third rock from the son. Another spot followed days later with another young girl licking an ice cream cone. 

Political ads have continued to develop. Now campaigns devise specific spots for specific geographic areas, issues, and voter groups. They have become more sophisticated and targeted. TV ads still run, but only in the states where it matters. California, Texas, Florida, and New York have over 110 million residents, but unless something drastic happens in polling they won’t see anything. Pennsylvania and six other states will be saturated. 

Ironically, bombs and advertising used to be constructed to be big and have a huge effect. Now, both are aimed at exact targets. ‘Daisy’ was a new and groundbreaking way to run a negative advertisement. Who knows what campaign ads will be devised in 2024 in America’s political atmosphere today?