Pro-Obama Ad Features Children Singing About America Where 'Sick People Just Die'
Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein, the founders of the advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, have just released a pro-Obama commercial eerily reminiscent of Lyndon Johnson's controversial Daisy ad featuring children singing about a variety of horrors including an America - supposedly under President Romney - where "sick people just die" and "oil fills the sea" (video follows with full lyrics and commentary):
Imagine an America
Where strip mines are fun and free
Where gays can be fixed
And sick people just die
And oil fills the sea
We don't have to pay for freeways!
Our schools are good enough
Give us endless wars
On foreign shores
And lots of Chinese stuff
We're the children of the future
American through and through
But something happened to our country
And we're kinda blaming you
We haven't killed all the polar bears
But it's not for lack of trying
Big Bird is sacked
The Earth is cracked
And the atmosphere is frying
Congress went home early
They did their best we know
You can't cut spending
With elections pending
Unless it's welfare dough
We're the children of the future
American through and through
But something happened to our country
And we're kinda blaming you
Find a park that is still open
And take a breath of poison air
They foreclosed your place
To build a weapon in space
But you can write off your au pair
It's a little awkward to tell you
But you left us holding the bag
When we look around
The place is all dumbed down
And the long term's kind of a drag
We're the children of the future
American through and through
But something happened to our country
And yeah, we're blaming you
You did your best
You failed the test
Mom and Dad
We're blaming you!
Where strip mines are fun and free
Where gays can be fixed
And sick people just die
And oil fills the sea
We don't have to pay for freeways!
Our schools are good enough
Give us endless wars
On foreign shores
And lots of Chinese stuff
We're the children of the future
American through and through
But something happened to our country
And we're kinda blaming you
We haven't killed all the polar bears
But it's not for lack of trying
Big Bird is sacked
The Earth is cracked
And the atmosphere is frying
Congress went home early
They did their best we know
You can't cut spending
With elections pending
Unless it's welfare dough
We're the children of the future
American through and through
But something happened to our country
And we're kinda blaming you
Find a park that is still open
And take a breath of poison air
They foreclosed your place
To build a weapon in space
But you can write off your au pair
It's a little awkward to tell you
But you left us holding the bag
When we look around
The place is all dumbed down
And the long term's kind of a drag
We're the children of the future
American through and through
But something happened to our country
And yeah, we're blaming you
You did your best
You failed the test
Mom and Dad
We're blaming you!
Story Continues Below Ad ↓
<script
language="javascript"
src="http://adserver.adtechus.com/addyn/3.0/5235/1131671/0/0/ADTECH;loc=700;cookie=info;target=_blank;key=key1+key2+key3+key4;grp=[group]"></script><noscript><a
href="http://adserver.adtechus.com/adlink/3.0/5235/1131671/0/0/ADTECH;loc=300;key=key1+key2+key3+key4;grp=[group]"
target="_blank"><img
src="http://adserver.adtechus.com/adserv/3.0/5235/1131671/0/0/ADTECH;loc=300;key=key1+key2+key3+key4;grp=[group]"
border="336" width="280" height="0"></a></noscript>
Remind you of anything?
How about Lyndon Johnson's Daisy ad warning Americans in 1964 that if Barry Goldwater were elected, he'd start a nuclear war?
Another voiceover (sportscaster Chris Schenkel) then said, "Vote for President Johnson on November 3. The stakes are too high for you to stay home."
Sound a lot like what Goodby and Silverstein have done 48 years later?
The campaign is called The Future Children Project, and it claims, "Re-electing President Obama is a momentous decision that will require every single voter. What would the children of the future say if we let them down this November?"
For those unfamiliar Goodby and Silverstein, their ad agency is responsible for campaigns such as "Got Milk?" They also created the Slowskys for Comcast, Denny's free grand slam promotion, and the Budweiser lizards.
Yet according to the San Francisco Chronicle, Silverstein is a Republican.
In name only I quite imagine.
But more importantly, it's one thing to write such disgusting lyrics. It's quite another to get children to sing them.
If the folks at this agency possess such a thing, they should be ashamed of themselves for involving youngsters in this project.
Or do they believe like Goebbels did that it's okay to involve children in spreading propaganda?
Whatever the answer, LBJ's Daisy ad was considered so over the top that the campaign only aired it once.
How many times will Americans be subjected to this new piece of filth?
*****Update: New York magazine columnist Frank Rich in June called for Obama to create and air a series of attack ads in the style of "Daisy" to "nuke" Mitt Romney. I guess Frank is getting his wish.
*****Update II: The original version of this article said the Future Children Project ad was created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. The agency's communications coordinator Meagan Phillips has informed me via email, "It is an independent project of our co-founders and the work is not attributable to our agency." The article has been amended to reflect this.
Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2012/10/27/pro-obama-ad-features-children-singing-about-america-where-sick-peopl#ixzz2AcrKpz73
No comments:
Post a Comment