Thursday, December 20, 2007

The Worst Christmas Ad in the History of the Planet

For those of you joining the program, this is the season of Christmas ads. Not just Christmas adds, but political Christmas ads. Not just political Christmas ads, but Christmas ads which are supposed to appear to be apolitical. The first of these was Mitt Romney's (actually being played more around Thanksgiving) featuring the sixty-year-old former governor reading a story to his grandchildren in a video that could have been lifted from the 1950s. Then there was Ron Paul a few weeks later, who ripped off Gov. Romney's ad by "taking time off of his campaign" to wish everyone, in a very cheesy grin, a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Mike Huckabee soon followed with his "stick-it-to-the-man" style, here demonstrated by mentioning Jesus. (Not that I have any problem with celebrating Christmas as the Birth of Christ; after all, that's what it's about, but the problem is that Mr. Huckabee's fishing pole is bated for evangelicals and his hunting rifle pointed at Mr. Romney.) Then there was Barak Obama's "Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays"--I suppose that his aids thought "happy Hanika and delightful Quwansa" was a bit heavy-handed. But the prize of them all was Hillary Clinton's. She ought to get the Golden Raspberry Award, not only for worst ad, but also for worst actress.

If you haven't seen the video, I suggest that you check it out on YouTube (typing "Hillary Clinton AND presents will probably get you there.) In summary, the commercial featured the New York senator wrapping Christmas parcels with her proposed policies attached to the cards ("Bring the Troops Home," "Universal Health-care," "Universal Pre-K," etc.) I reiterate: This was the worst holiday ad yet, and I've seen Mike Huckabee's and Ron Paul's.

The problem with this ad was that, where the other ads were at least pretending to be apolitical, this one had no such vibe. I think that what Hillary Clinton was trying to say with it was that we're all a family and that her platform is a gift to America, blah, blah, blah. But she only succeeded in making herself appear more soulless. A good holiday ad for her would have had her pulling cookies out of the oven; then maybe Bill could enter the room and say, "Oh, my favorite!" and she could have said that they were for her daughter and future son-in-law and he could have theatrically displayed his disappointment. This would have humanized her, or at least demonstrated that she has a personal life. Instead, she made a commercial which served to confirm what people had suspected all along: she has no life other than her political career.

Also, on this note, Hillary's commercial left people with a bad taste of Christmas spirit. People like hanging out with their families during Christmas (unless you're Rudolph Giuliani or maybe Hillary Clinton--and I doubt that the senior senator from New York or Joe Lieberman celebrate Christmas) as in the ads of Mitt Romney, Ron Paul or Barak Obama, but wrapping presents is a task which is associated with Christmas matters, not Christmas spirit.

To her credit, the senator did try to appear sympathetic for one moment when she searched for "Universal Pre-K," but her most personal moment was the least convincing moment in the entire video. Then come the Tim Burton-esque letters at the end wishing everyone "Happy Holidays". Would someone please shoot me?

Trivia Question: Who is the senior senator from New York?

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