Gaining some perspective.

Housewife: To be happy, it’s important to like your neighbors and for them to like you. So think how really important it is for the whole world to like and respect the President of the United States. No American has ever won greater respect for our country than President Eisenhower—and that could mean the difference between war and peace. That’s why I’m voting for Ike.

We have another Presidential election rapidly bearing down upon us and I came across this exhibit I thought I would pass along.

SONG: Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy can, etc. Do you want a man for president who’s seasoned through and through, But not so doggoned seasoned that he won’t try something new? A man who’s old enough to know, and young enough to do? Well, it’s up to you, it’s up to you, it’s strictly up to you. Do you like a man who answers straight, a man who’s always there? Well, measure him against the others and when you compare, You’ll cast your vote for Kennedy and the change that’s overdue. So it’s up to you, it’s up to you, it’s strictly up to you. Yes, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy can.

We have the benefit of looking back through history and comparing the predictions of these ads to the reality that followed – but in doing that, we arrive at a cautionary tale.

GROUP [singing]: There’s a change that’s come over America, a change that’s great to see. We’re living here in peace again, we're goin’ back to work again, it's better than it used to be. I’m feelin’ good about America, and I'm feelin’—
FORD: Today America enjoys the most precious gift of all. We are at peace.
ANNOUNCER: We’re at peace with the world and at peace with ourselves. America is smiling again. And a great many people believe that the leadership of this steady, dependable man can keep America happy and secure. We know we can depend on him to work to keep us strong at home. We know we can depend on him to work to ease tensions among the other nations of the world. We know we can depend on him to make peace his highest priority. Peace with freedom. Is there anything more important than that?

Basically, we are reminded we should put no more stock into the claims of many political ads than we should in ads for any other product we are besieged with on a daily basis.

MALE ANNOUNCER: 1982. Reaganomics sinks our country into the deepest recession and unemployment in fifty years. Now Ronald Reagan says the economy is moving up. It is: up on a mountain of debt and record Reagan deficits. More borrowing than all the other presidents in history combined. That'll drive interest rates up, slow the economy down, and then —
ANNOUNCER + title: If you’re thinking of voting for Ronald Reagan in 1984... Think of what will happen in 1985.

Ads are ads, and whether it’s soap or cereal or a candidate for office... everything should be taken with a grain of salt.

MAN: Even with two paychecks coming in, still there’s not a lot left, and less and less all the time.
WOMAN: I think that George Bush has forgotten about a good portion of us.
WOMAN:I find the health care costs are just outrageous.
MAN: George Bush has turned his back on the health care needs of the American people.
MAN: People of Wisconsin cannot afford another four years of Bush.
WOMAN: It definitely is time for a change in America.
MAN: Bill Clinton is definitely our hope for the future.

This exhibit is up on the Museum of the Moving Image site. It’s title The Living Room Candidate - Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2004 and really is worth taken a long look through when you have the time.