This election cycle has featured more ads trying to make use of humor than I can ever remember. In my opinion, the funniest one is still Ned Lamont's "Wang Chung" ad, which was made even funnier because that was the song they played in the ballroom after Ned Lamont gave his victory speech. This ad from Cranley is different not only because it makes use of humor, but also because it uses a celebrity impersonator to mimic Bush. Basically, it the same sort of ad you would expect to see in a political campaign, but instead the candidate or a voice-over, this ad has someone impersonating Bush saying it instead.
I think it works. This ad is having a strange ability to stick in my mind. It isn't that funny, but it has kept me quietly giggling and smiling for about fifteen minutes now. It seems to have more of an endurance, slow-twitch muscle fiber quality to its humor, rather than being built for a sprint. Overall, I think this ad will be effective because it shows just how much Cranley opposes Bush. Because he makes fun of Bush, you are left with the impression that Cranley really doesn't like Bush at all, and even shares some of the cynicism about candidates who say they oppose Bush, but don't actually do anything to show it. It also gets a nice dig in on Chabot by having Bush nickname him "Chabby," which is a thinly veiled homonym for "shabby."
