Herman Cain's cigarette-fuelled campaign ad
There’s a new campaign ad setting tongues wagging this week, and for once the hoopla has nothing to do with a politician slinging mud at one of his fellow candidates.
Designed to help promote Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, the ad features Cain’s campaign manager Mark Block, who extols his candidate’s virtues in extreme close-up.
While Block’s on-camera claim “I really believe that Herman Cain will put ‘united’ back in the United States of America, and if I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be here” is standard content for a campaign ad, everything else about the clip feels unpredictable.
The most-talked about moment arrives near the end of the spot, when Block concludes his endorsement, takes a deep drag on a cigarette and then exhales, as the song “I am America” swells on the ad’s soundtrack before a final cutaway to a smiling Cain.
The ad, which reportedly appeared on Cain’s YouTube channel on Oct. 19, is generating a lot of discussion this week, with political commentators weighing in on the effectiveness of the spot.
Over at the Washington Post, Insiders bloggers Carter Eskew and Ed Rogers are debating whether the ad is downright insane or something more rebellious and anti-establishment.
We’re curious to your impressions. Who do you think Cain is trying to target with this campaign ad? And what’s your take on the presence of the cigarette in the clip? Share your comments below.
(This survey is not scientific. Results are based on readers' responses.)
