As media consultants desperately try to get their political ads to "go viral," they are under increasing pressure to be outrageously goofy. Sometimes it works, like with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee's "2 Legit 2 Quit" music video. Sometimes it turns you into a laughingstock, like Carly Fiorina's infamous "Demon Sheep".
And when you're running for president, when a certain degree of gravitas is essential, it can be dangerous to miss the mark.
The Super Pac backing Sen. Rand Paul's presidential bid, American Liberty PAC, takes a big risk, producing an ad that turns both his campaign and the deeply serious issue of government surveillance into cheap entertainment.
The ad encourages people to watch the legislative battle over the reauthorization of key provisions of the PATRIOT Act taking place onSunday. Paul has been leading the fight to kill the NSA program that collects personal "metadata" from telecommunications, putting him at odds with both President Obama and most Republican senators.
American Liberty PAC styles the senatorial debate like a monster truck show. "Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Get ready America for the biggest brawl for liberty of the century!" blares the narrator in the classic guttural tone. One-upping the Colbert Report, a fire-breathing eagle shoots across the screen.
The rivals are introduced. "Defender of Liberty, Rand Paul" is a photoshopped creation, with a sunglass-wearing face attached to a shirtless, wrestler's body. His pitting against "Obama The Email Reader" and his "so-called conservative accomplices" like "The Capitulating Canadian" Ted Cruz.
Rivaling "Demon Sheep" for pure strangeness, the "kids" watching are encouraged to go to "the Arena of Flames" where we'll find "Lindsey Graham [as he] tries to read your emails while doing donuts in a 1997 Geo Metro, while it’s on fire!"
Humor in campaigns, even presidential campaigns, can be very effective. But it can also go terribly wrong, especially if it reinforces the worst caricature of yourself. Paul is struggling to be seen as a serious candidate who ready to govern, and not an ideologically extreme gadfly.
This wild ad may appeal to hard-core Paul fans, many of whom are young males. But it is unlikely to impress the broader, and older, Republican Party electorate that is already wary of Paul's brand of dovish libertarianism.
And when you're running for president, when a certain degree of gravitas is essential, it can be dangerous to miss the mark.
The Super Pac backing Sen. Rand Paul's presidential bid, American Liberty PAC, takes a big risk, producing an ad that turns both his campaign and the deeply serious issue of government surveillance into cheap entertainment.
Should Presidential Politics Be Like a Monster Truck Show?
The ad encourages people to watch the legislative battle over the reauthorization of key provisions of the PATRIOT Act taking place onSunday. Paul has been leading the fight to kill the NSA program that collects personal "metadata" from telecommunications, putting him at odds with both President Obama and most Republican senators.
American Liberty PAC styles the senatorial debate like a monster truck show. "Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Get ready America for the biggest brawl for liberty of the century!" blares the narrator in the classic guttural tone. One-upping the Colbert Report, a fire-breathing eagle shoots across the screen.
Rand Paul vs. Ted "The Capitulating Canadian" Cruz
The rivals are introduced. "Defender of Liberty, Rand Paul" is a photoshopped creation, with a sunglass-wearing face attached to a shirtless, wrestler's body. His pitting against "Obama The Email Reader" and his "so-called conservative accomplices" like "The Capitulating Canadian" Ted Cruz.
Rivaling "Demon Sheep" for pure strangeness, the "kids" watching are encouraged to go to "the Arena of Flames" where we'll find "Lindsey Graham [as he] tries to read your emails while doing donuts in a 1997 Geo Metro, while it’s on fire!"
Humor in campaigns, even presidential campaigns, can be very effective. But it can also go terribly wrong, especially if it reinforces the worst caricature of yourself. Paul is struggling to be seen as a serious candidate who ready to govern, and not an ideologically extreme gadfly.
This wild ad may appeal to hard-core Paul fans, many of whom are young males. But it is unlikely to impress the broader, and older, Republican Party electorate that is already wary of Paul's brand of dovish libertarianism.