Ron Paul on the Air
A new ad, an angry reaction
Rep. Ron Paul's $1.1 million New Hampshire ad buy is kicking off with this ad, "Catching On," and it's already being blasted by YouTube commenters:
OMG! Common' guys! This is a terrible ad! My goodness. The Ron Paul revolution means a lot more than this. We will lost for sure if this ad is used...Stop, stop, stop!!! AHH!The production quality is better (and less 1982-ish) than that of Paul's first ad, but the stilted acting gives it a Waiting for Guffman feel. The YouTube reaction reminds me of the angry pushback when Howard Dean used $1.4 million of last-minute donations for the Wisconsin primary on the half-baked "switch" ads.
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I got nothin but love for Ron Paul, but this is pretty bad.
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I'd be really pissed if I had donated money for this ad. It really is a waste.
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I, like a lot of other people, have worked my ass off day and night for months just to get this guy some extra money - and if this is how he intends to use it then I honestly feel like I've wasted my time.
Whibble | October 27, 2007, 3:53pm | #
Ok, some Youtube geek in Fresno doesn't like it. What is the reaction among actual voters in NH?
Bill Mill | October 27, 2007, 4:51pm | #
That is an awful ad. The "college kid" was particularly unconvincing.
smartass sob | October 27, 2007, 6:01pm | #
Most of the political candidate ads I've seen in my lifetime (I'm a Boomer,) were usually no better than this. Such ads are almost always meaningless generalities and platitudes. What's the big deal?
Jacob | October 27, 2007, 6:20pm | #
Obligatory:
http://xkcd.com/202/
And it's all about name recognition.
Jessen | October 27, 2007, 7:05pm | #
I don't think it's that bad. Could have been better, but eh.
Seer | October 27, 2007, 7:49pm | #
That wasn't that bad. Seriously, how good are most ads?
People need to realise that Paul got across exactly what he needed to:
A) His name
B) You don't have to agree with every single one of his positions
C) Live Free or Die
Ned | October 27, 2007, 9:06pm | #
The fact that "Paulites" don't like the ad is a GOOD thing. This ad is trying to talk to NORMAL people, not people who (like me) who spend their days actually paying attention to RP.
mudpuppy | October 27, 2007, 9:20pm | #
Your MTV demographic doesn't really show up to vote in primaries. I think the ad is fine if the target is older voters. You can definitely say it's not too slick. If that's the case, though, they probably could have left out the college kid who "registered independent".
duster | October 27, 2007, 9:37pm | #
cheesy...looks and sounds like most political ads i've ever seen.
JOHN | October 27, 2007, 10:13pm | #
Who cares...he's a nobody that noboby knows and won't remember in 6 monthes.
But wait;in my opinion... he falls into that catergory of "anybody is better than this, , moron, village idiot, retarded inbred loser Bush"
stone | October 27, 2007, 10:38pm | #
I wonder if it will have the reverse effect. "wow, that ad sucked. What's that guys name? Let's look him up on the internet." Then their sold.
iih | October 27, 2007, 10:49pm | #
stone:
Like Ned says upthread, this ad is meant for those in the center. It may work well. It is simple and naive as Seer above says.
Hey, don't you think the "Head-On" ads successful? They are very successful. In RP's ad, he recognizes how normal people are, it is not meant for us Paulites. We're in the bag already.
RP Supporter | October 27, 2007, 10:52pm | #
Sure, this is no better than most other commercials, but it could so easily have been better, and that's what upsets me. Do a few more takes, get some better reaction shots, I've made movies, and it's easy to work out bad acting with a few takes. They could have done better, but I agree that this does communicate what NH voters need to know: his name, the fact that you don't have to agree with him, and the fact that you should vote in the GOP primary even if you're not normally a GOP voter.
Reinmoose | October 28, 2007, 12:01am | #
Wow, that was so...cheesy.
well, as long as it works
The Wine Commonsewer | October 28, 2007, 1:16am | #
Why the outrage? Sure, he's done better ads, but this is just bland. I wish it was better, but it is hardly worth an aneurysm.
The Wine Commonsewer | October 28, 2007, 1:20am | #
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M34mOn_P594
This is my favorite.
iih | October 28, 2007, 6:58pm | #
And here is the second one.
TerryP | October 28, 2007, 7:18pm | #
The second one is much better. The first one has poor acting and jumps around to much. You just can't have that many people talking in a thirty second ad.
The second one does a much better job as it has Ron Paul and his meassage front and center and stays on target. This second one should be run a lot as I think it will do a good job of getting him name recognition that is tied to his core issues. It is probably a good one to run in other states as well.
Christopher Monnier | October 28, 2007, 7:39pm | #
The second one is excellent--perfectly concise and relevant. And Ron Paul comes off as a confident leader. The first one is like something the LP would make...
FatDrunkAndStupid | October 28, 2007, 9:08pm | #
The ad is an abomination. Not because its "bland" or because it isn't "hip" enough or because it doesn't metion the Gold Standard or the NAU or whatever else people think us Paulites want. It sucks because it judging it strictly on what it is, it's poorly made. They used real people, and they used scripts. Any college media student would tell you that's a recipie for disaster. Real people can't act. The guy on the porch is all right. The businesswoman would have been ok had she not been imitating a chicken. The girl who has three lines reads them like those are the only three lines she said at the table that day when it was supposed to look like an edit from a real conversation she was having. The college kids are lame. And the bearded guy scares the hell out of me. Of all the schmucks in that video why the hell would you pick him to read that final, dubious "he's catching on, I'm telling you" line.
James Anderson Merritt | October 29, 2007, 9:49am | #
I like the idea mentioned above of the "Head On" ads. Perhaps a 10-seconder that has a voter at one of those new-fangled touch-screen voting systems, pressing Ron Paul's name and picture: "Ron Paul, Apply Directly to Washington; Ron Paul, Apply Directly to Washington!"
Something like that could be really funny and spike the name recognition. I wonder if the Doctor would personally approve that message ... ;-)
Taktix&174 | October 29, 2007, 10:11am | #
I half expected, in true infomercial style, that they'd cut to a black and white shot of "the other guys" being stupid in a hyperbolic fashion.
Now obviously this ad isn't winning an Oscar anytime soon, but small-town folk eat this shit up.
If they didn't, why would QVC, et al be such massive, profitable companies?
Taktix (imagine trademark symbol here) | October 29, 2007, 10:12am | #
Boo to reason.tv for not allowing HTML in the name field!
iih | October 29, 2007, 9:00pm | #
James Anderson:
Ha Ha! It would at least have the stickiness effect that many advertisers (a la the "Head On" ad) desire.
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