The Top 10 GOP Campaign Ads of the Year
Not the best or the worst, but these ads are easily among the top Republican presidential campaign ads that got people’s attention this year.
10: The Mitt Romney family man ad
Mitt Romney took a subtle dig at the rising Newt Gingrich with this video. The ad portrayed Romney as consistent family man married to the same woman for 42 years and attending the same church all of his life. Oh.
9: Enter Jon Huntsman
As Huntsman buzz was rising, the campaign released this video of man in a motocross suit riding a motorcycle across the barren desert. The ad’s message: “Huntsman didn’t become famous for playing in a band called Wizard.” It was a debut that left everyone scratching their heads.
8: Mitt Romney: Former Mexican President likes Rick Perry
Remember when Mitt Romney was afraid of Rick Perry? When Rick Perry was riding high in the polls, Mitt Romney launched this ad reminding voters that former Mexican president Vicente Fox endorsed Perry’s Texas tuition plan for illegals.
Even the New Hampshire “elves” supporting Gingrich sound a bit nervous in this video… but the brake dancing head elf just knows that this sucker is gonna go viral.
6: Herman Cain: The smoking man, Mark Block
Which was worse? Mark Block smoking a cigarette or the fact that after watching this ad you couldn’t get that song out of your head? For a moment, everyone was talking about this ad but in spite of its bizarre nature, it wasn’t the most viewed ad of the year. Jon Huntsman’s daughters capitalized on the buzz, creating a video of their own . . blowing bubbles.
Why did the campaign turn off embedding? Click here to view the video.
5: Tim Pawlenty: Courage to Stand
Most pundits said Pawlenty was too “vanilla” and “boring” to win. But with a little help from Lucas Baiano, he looked like the President from the next Michael Bay movie. This ad cranked the sleepy political ad format to eleven, sparking similar ads from fellow Republicans.
Pawlenty eventually folded, but not Baiano… he was hired to make an even more extreme ad for Rick Perry.
4: Ron Paul: Big Dog
This Ron Paul ‘tough guy’ ad was designed to appeal to hard core conservatives, criticizing his rivals as little Shih Tzus.
This funny ad was only topped by Conan’s hilarious parody.
3: Romney: Believe in America
Liberals threw a fit over this ad for snipping a quote from Obama out of context saying “If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.”
Obama’s full quote was from 2008 regarding Sen. John McCain. “Senator McCain’s campaign actually said, and I quote, ‘If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.’”
2: Rick Perry: Strong
It’s the most viewed ad of the 2012 political cycle so far on YouTube. (currently at 7,399,903 hits) It is also the most disliked. (723,648 dislikes).
Perry’s “Strong” ad featured the candidate vowing to fight against President Obama’s “war on Religion.”
“You don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.” Perry said.
The ad sparked incredible internet backlash against Perry’s campaign, spawned multiple parodies and even had campaign staffers disavowing it.
1: Ron Paul attacks Gingrich for ‘Serial Hypocrisy’
When Newt Gingrich was leading in Iowa, Ron Paul emerged with this hard hitting ad reminding voters of his big government record. Until this point, Paul hadn’t launched any hard-hitting attacks against his opponents. Gingrich’s support was never the same afterwards.
