Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain (former CEO of Godfather's Pizza) has released the most unusual campaign ad I have ever seen. Though the ad is not entirely bad, it ends on a confusing note. Featuring Cain's campaign manager, Mark Block, in a narrative about Cain and his ability to unite the country, take the White House, and "take this country back" (whatever that means). The oddity of the well filmed and well scripted video is not in the narrative, but in the fact that after Block speaks, the camera closes in on his face as he smokes a cigarette while the background vocals intone "I am America, one voice, united we stand" to a well orchestrated and catchy tune. After a few seconds, the camera cuts to a closeup of Mr. Cain, who, over the course of about 8 seconds, gradually forms a smile to end the video.
So, just what, exactly is the message that the campaign is trying to communicate with the "smoking man"? Is he portraying rugged individualism, opposition to anti-smoking legislation, the X-Files, or just shilling for Phillip Morris (one of Cain's larger campaign donors). I just don't get it.
No comments:
Post a Comment