First, here’s the creepy campaign ad. Definitely the creepiest moment of the republican campaign thus far.
Now like many of us…this ad probably creeps you out. Mainly the creepy grin (or smile) in the end. In fact, I planned to blog about this days ago but after waiting and watching a few more times, here’s my analysis (other than it’s creepy).
The ad works for him with conservatives who are his base. It may seem ultra weird, but I bet it works for those Christian conservatives in states like…South Carolina. He is showing that a white guy is willing to work for Herman Cain’s campaign thus making the cultural conservatives feel a little better. And the camera is zoomed in on the guy’s face and showing his tough exterior (wrinkly, imperfect skin), thus making him come off as a regular everyday guy that’s working for a man he truly believes in. The testimony he gives is pretty good and honestly doesn’t come off as contrived as it could have been. Also, notice the guy takes a smoke in the end, I thought it may be interpreted as the guy being stressed so much to make a fake testimony that he needs a smoke…but to the “real Americans” in the south that comes off once again as him being a normal guy (either with an imperfection like a smoking addiction or someone that they can imagine standing outside, talking and smoking with). Now, the music is also very Americanized and plays to the younger Christian conservative crowd. Though she is singing about America being united, I also felt the Christian Rock genera vibe. And the Herman Cain grin shows that he’s kinda nice and not all his teeth are straight and perfect like Barack Obamas’. This gives the impression that he is a manly man who doesn’t care about straightening his teeth because he is too busy working hard to put food on the table for his family.
But the most important thing this ad does is grab media attention to take away from the talk about how he may have flip flopped on important issues like abortion and how his 9-9-9 and 9-0-9 plan is horrible for America.
I agree that his testimony does not come off as contrived, but his smoking at the end seems extremely fabricated. It reminds me of high school when the “rebel, bad boys” would sneak outside to take a smoke. Cain is the anti-establishment candidate; he doesn’t have to obey the traditional political rules and protocols. His campaign manager doesn’t have to obey any bans on smoking either.
The slow creepy smile at the end will haunt my dreams.
When I first saw this ad, I honestly thought it was a joke or a skit from comedy central (granted someone showed it to me on youtube, hence the suspension of disbelief). I guess it kinda would resonate with the everyday joe, but this ad pretty much sums up hermain cain to me. He can talk without saying much substance