For my paper, I am going to be working on the closely related series option. I am going to use several ads from the presidential race between Lyndon B. Johnson and Barry Goldwater that were put out by President Johnson against Barry Goldwater. All of the ads I will be using have the same basic message, that Barry Goldwater was too dangerous and unpredictable to be in charge of the country.
My ad of focus is called “Peace Flower Girl (Daisy)” and shows a little girl counting the petals on a flower. Then, that counting up petals turns into a loud countdown leading into an atomic bomb explosion. The most interesting part of this ad, to me, is the juxtaposition of peace and violence, creating an idea of what the ideals of America are, and what the actuality of America could be under Barry Goldwater.
An ad I would like to compare is called “Ice Cream.” In this ad, the only visual is a little girl eating an ice cream cone for the entirety of the minute-long ad. However, an adult voice is speaking to the girl and telling her about poisonous chemicals from the atomic bomb and how they used to have an effect on children. Luckily, “the people got together and signed a treaty,” and the chemicals went away. The voice then goes on to tell the little girl that Barry Goldwater wants to bring back atomic bomb warfare and the “radioactive poison.”
A third ad I am interested in is titled “Poverty.” While this one doesn’t necessarily go along with the bomb theme, it follows the theme of the effect of the presidential election on children. While the ad discusses the vileness of poverty and Lyndon B. Johnson’s “war” against it, many photographs of impoverished, destitute children are shown. The ad piles on more and more sad photographs, reminding you that Johnson, not Goldwater, is going to work to fix it.
I may or may not add on others to this assignment in the future, but for now, I think these three can work well together to reinforce the idea of personhood from the stance of children. Johnson definitely used the wellbeing of children as leverage for his political campaign, and I think it would be interesting to look further into that.
word document:
All three ads you chose are very similar both visually and aurally. They are centered on the same main point. They focus on making sure that an element of fear is felt by whoever watches them, and by watching these ads the person would make the decision to vote for Prez Lyndon B. Johnson so as to curb a presumed annihilation of the United States. The first two ads you chose are very similar in the message they try to convey. They both focus on atomic bombs with the third one widening the range of issues a little bit. The third ad you chose might serve as a way for you to use Lyndon B. Johnson’s message of the atomic bomb fear and the annihilation of the United States by his opponent to tie into his concerns about poverty.