My favorite ad of this campaign was Obama’s “Yes We Can” ad. I thought it was very clever how they turned his speech into a catchy song> Plus, the use of famous artists and actors endorsing him in the video spoke volumes for people because a lot of people idolize these celebrities. I also think the actual message of what he was saying was inspiring and moving
Link to ad:http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2008/yes-we-can-web#4414
Another ad that I found to be very interesting is the “Country I Love ad”. I understand that Obama had to appeal to the white audience as well so I took this commercial to be one of those kinds of ads. He is surrounded by white people throughout the entire video, he even only shows his white family members. He also speaks about values and growing up in the midwest. These things seem to me like he was trying to resonate with white families and gain their votes. There wasn’t much talk about the black community at all.
Link to ad: http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2008/country-i-love#4420
I thought the Obama ads were interesting in general because he was the first president I actually remember. Though I definitely remember his 2012 election better, these ads were recent enough that I remembered watching them real-time. As I mentioned in a previous comment, I think it’s interesting how all the candidates produce such a wide variety of advertisements to appeal to as many people as possible.
I watched that ad and I also enjoyed it. Though I don’t really remember either of his campaigns, I watched a bunch of his commercials and I thought most of them had a lot of substance and were like actually good ads.
I feel like President Obama really began the trend of high-profile celebrity endorsements in political campaigns. Before that, musicians sometimes helped with campaign songs, but Frank Sinatra endorsing JFK was the only prominent celebrity to make that kind of an endorsement. Fast forward 12 years, and celebrity endorsements were some of the most popular currency in this year’s presidential election, though I’m not sure they necessarily should be.
I really feel like incorporating music into ads is one of the best strategies from the ones I saw. Whether it’s a catchy jingle written specifically for the ad or rather an already popular song, I think that music is a way to make ads memorable.
I also really enjoyed this ad. It’s very interesting to me how much psychology plays a role in these ads. In addition the effect that having multiple celebrities in a campaign video can have