As I've thought back on the 2008 election cycle, I began to think about what the best ads we've seen this year have been. The big question, of course, is how does one define "best." Seems to me there are two main qualities that define a good ad: the ad must be memorable and successful. Memorable is, of course, by definition subjective and for me an ad must either be out of the ordinary or provide an unexpected emotional jolt to stick in my memory banks. The success of an ad can be judged to some degree by an objective measure: whether or not the position of the ad prevailed on election day, although clearly it's difficult to measure the extent to which a single ad contributed to a candidate's victory or defeat.
A third factor that goes into judging an ad, for me, is whether the message has integrity or whether the purveyor of the ad is simply being manipulative. Two of the most memorable ads of the cycle, both of which might be said to have been quite successful in the short term for their respective candidates, are also two of the worst ads of the year: Hillary Clinton's 3AM ad and John McCain's Celebrity ad.
Join me over the flip for 3 of my top ads of the cycle. Nominate yours in the comments.
Update [2008-11-28 19:46:49 by Todd Beeton]:In the comments, Jerome reminds me of Al Franken's Running Man ad, which was definitely a good one. I think I prefer the DSCC's "The Anderson's" ad though. "Norm's gotta go" is one of the most memorable closes to any ad this cycle. I've added both over the flip.
Alan Grayson (FL-08) ad:
Tom Udall (NM-Sen) ad:
DSCC ad for Al Franken (MN-Sen) "The Andersons":
Al Franken ad (MN-Sen) "Running Man":
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