Big O, Say It Isn't So: Obama 2012 Planning Smear Ads

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By: Dwayne W. Waite Jr.

Yes, the guy known to Bill Mahr's fans as "Chocolate Thunder," to liberals the "change you can believe in" and to conservatives our modern-day Hitler, Obama and his campaign may actually turn to the dark side come 2012.

Reports from PR Daily and Politico say, from Obama campaign sources, that Barack's re-election campaign will focus less on change and his record and more on discrediting his opponent. As of right now, it looks that his Republican adversary will be Mitt Romney.

The sources say that the Obama campaign plans to show Romney as unprincipled (which Romney does a decent job in assisting) and weird.

So why is this showing up in an advertising blog?

When the public thinks of advertising, it never brings up the good. Like any situation, humans have the tendency to remember the bad things better than the good. And as the political season ramps up, and signs show that it is going to be a really ugly one, that shroud of terrible smear campaigns wrongfully hovers over the advertising industry.

And here we go: the Obama campaign's leader, Jim Messina, who has a background only in political science, will be the mind behind the ads. We have non-advertising people creating, again.

Should ad people jump in the mix to fix this broken ship of political advertising? What if Madison Avenue stood up for good (or at least creative) political advertising and said NO to smear ads?

Ah well. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

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About the Author

Dwayne W. Waite Jr. is partner and principal at JDW: The Charlotte Agency, a marketing and advertising shop in Charlotte, NC. He enjoys consumer behavior, economics, and football.

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