The ad is harsh in every respect, from the negative mocking of the opponent to the late 60s cinema vérité look. It's hard to imagine such a raw and truthful kind of advertising making its way through a campaign committee or focus group today – but this ad was made in the closing days of the “Creative Revolution” in advertising by one of its chief practitioners, Tony Schwartz. Think Don Draper with a great idea and a bad hangover – and you get a sense of the moment in which this ad was conceived.
Speaking of complete jokes, remember the 2008 Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin? Unfortunately, we all do. How could we forget the liberal-hating, Tea Party-going hockey mom?
The similarities between Palin and Agnew are striking. As attack dogs who promoted flawed war policies, they became easy targets for both the media and their Democratic opponents.
It’s almost impossible not to laugh along with – or should we say “at” – these candidates. This 1960s gem of an ad is literally pure laughter. The guy coughing just before the final title card is the cherry on top. Watching it reminds us of 2008, when we couldn’t help but laugh at Tina Fey’s comical portrayal of Palin in the unforgettable Saturday Night Live skit.
Don’t you agree? *Share* with your friends and see if they can’t help but laugh themselves!
Although the saying goes, “any publicity is good publicity,” maybe not in this case. So, the lesson to future Vice Presidential nominees is this: avoid being the butt of every joke.
Nevertheless, the “Laughter” ad proved to be ineffective and, unlike Sarah Palin, Spiro Agnew laughed all the way to the White House as Nixon’s Vice President.
Did you know? We later learned that the implicit attack on Agnew wasn’t baseless. As Vice President, Agnew became one of the most controversial public figures of his day, firing up rallies with sharp partisan rhetoric. In fact, Agnew ended up becoming the first serving Vice President to receive a felony charge (for tax evasion), which ultimately resulted in his resignation in 1973. Gerald Ford took up the mantle as Agnew's replacement.
For this ad, the Humphrey campaign sought the services of attack ad veteran sound guy Tony Schwartz, best known for his work on Lyndon Johnson’s “Daisy Girl”.