TPM: New Obama ad is "in a league of its own" according to film directors

[highplainsdem]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/07/in_a_league_of_its_own.php

In A League Of Its Own
David Kurtz
July 15, 2012, 9:46 AM


-snip-

But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what a couple of directors I was talking to had to say about it:

-snip-

This “Firms” commercial seems to me to be in an altogether different league. I was struck immediately. And yes, I was impressed with the matching of the voice to the visual, but also just the visuals.

Opening shot of Obama with columns that suggest the White House? Brilliant. The Swiss flag flying when he sings the words, “America, America” and you hear it flapping in the breeze? Wow. The visual of the office for the India graphic? It immediately conjures up Indian call centers. Even bringing in the text to focus on the Bermuda visual is subtle. And very smart.

Whoever put this ad together is playing Star Trek chess. And winning.

-snip-

[loudsue]

1. Can I get a link to the "Firms" commercial?

I've seen a lot of talk about it on DU, but haven't seen the commercial. I'd love to see it.

[ProSense]

3. Here:

Gives me chills!

[Generic Other]

50. 32 second soundbite bites Mitt in the ass

Yes. Extremely well done.

I wonder how the other side perceives it as they are the voters who must be persuaded.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

80. "I wonder how the other side perceives it"

I can tell you that right now, "Goddamn Liberal Hollywood!!!"

[nxylas]

84. Undecided voters are the ones who "must be persuaded"

"The other side" are going to vote for Rmoney no matter what. Apart from the Freepers, who will stay at home because RimJob told them to. But Free Republic is not the force it pretends to be, and other conservative sites are, predictably, either supporting Romney or not mentioning him and hammering Obama (if you can't persuade people to vote for Romney, persuade them to vote against Obama).

[Ian_rd]

95. This is definitely going to be an Obama vs. Not Obama election

Just as John Kerry vs. Bush was mostly Bush vs. Not Bush. And that won't get you over the top.

Only two things will put Romney in the White House: His money advantage thanks to unlimited anonymous donations, or voter ID laws.

[highplainsdem]

59. Gives me chills, too. Best political ad I've seen in many years.

[Honeycombe8]

76. I said that the first time I saw it. Looks like an ad we'll see replayed in the future as an example

of a good political ad, along with that ad of the little girl picking flowers before the bomb goes off.

[Maraya1969]

109. Romney's voice takes on a creepier tone as each frame goes by.

For some reason the mood of it reminds me of the last scene in Citizen Cane.

[Number23]

77. Amazing ad. Simple and concise. It's extraordinarily well done.

[roguevalley]

78. whoa. sounds like he's singing as the last man on earth, a sort of echo.

I have always liked Obama even if I felt low many times but I love this version, the fighter. Well done.

[seabeyond]

102. that is good. nt

[Tennessee Gal]

5. Try this:

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/new-obama-ad-bashes-romneys-jobs-record?ref=fpblg

[mucifer]

7. Here it is. You know you can go to youtube and google it or look

in the video section of DU:

&feature=player_embedded

[loudsue]

18. Thanks! I wish the dems would start turning the entire reagan message into:

Government isn't the problem: republicans running the government is the problem.

[Cracklin Charlie]

22. Damn!

That is really good. Short, sweet, and straightforward.

[loudsue]

28. We should make some bumper stickers & signs?

I'm on.

Here's another: [h1]AN EAGLE CANNOT FLY WITH TWO RIGHT WINGS.[/h1]

[aquart]

32. Or two left wings.

Be careful not to give them ammunition from your own gun.

[loudsue]

39. That isn't the goal of the democrats, but it is certainly the goal of the conservatives...

as is obvious by the fact that, since the 1970's and the Powell Manifesto, all the way through the PNAC documents, the stated and intended goal of the republican party was to infiltrate the democratic party, to have corporations take over everything, to create a one-party government, to take over schools and colleges.

The republicans are the greatest threat to freedom and world peace that has ever existed, and they have become a serious danger to the country and the world.

We can't all go through too many more wall-street melt-downs and buyouts, or any more bush family mafia games.

[Scootaloo]

86. Well, it's MY goal

Frankly, we've seen everything the right has to offer... and it amounts to death, misery, and destruction for America, its people, and even people in other nations.

It's time to stop wringing our hands about how "fair" we look. Fuck fair. I don't want to play fair with these fucks anymore. I don't want to try to find common ground, because all that does is make my position worse. I don't want bipartisanship, I want the Republicans filed next to the Whigs, the Know-Nothings, and the Anti-Masonic party as "failed and extinct."

Basically, we need to veer in the absolute opposite direction these assholes have been taking us for thirty years. And we're just not going to manage that if we keep tugging our forelocks and bowing to them. There is no middle ground, and there never really ways. Oneside is the party of popular government working for the needs of the people that make it, the other side is "JESUS RODE A DINOSAUR AND HATED GAY MEXICANS!!!!!"

So... Yeah. I'm ambivalent about a "single party" situation, but I'd be perfectly happy if it were leftism across the board.

[loudsue]

93. Good post! And I totally agree.

[DemocracyInaction]

24. loudsue

dear god....that IS the message we have all fumbled around to express all these years! You nailed it.....brilliant

[loudsue]

30. Thanks! Send it to the DNCC! Send it to team Obama! Use it locally! And here's another:

[h1]AN EAGLE CANNOT FLY WITH TWO RIGHT WINGS![/h1]

[mzmolly]

65. Indeed. Why would we let people who hate government,

run it?

[madmom]

94. I've been saying this for years... if they hate government so much, why

do they so desperately want to be a part of it? or

If the game is so bad, why do they want so badly to play it?

[mzmolly]

99. Exactly. And why don't

Democrats hammer this home? If they hate Government they don't want it to be effective. They want it not to work well.

[lovemydog]

82. Brilliant,

concise & witty.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

103. First, you should call the DNCand Obama campaigns and suggest this to them. It's brilliant!

Second, that's a great bumper sticker or t-shirt slogan.

Thanks!

[Kahuna]

13. It may go viral on youtube. In one day it has over 500K views.

[Oilwellian]

16. 500,000 in one day?

That IS viral.

[unc70]

41. Several copies on YouTube - 1 million plus

There are a couple of copies of the ad posted on YouTube. They combine for well over a million hits in 24 hours.

[Kahuna]

47. WOW! Repukes aren't gonna like that

[mucifer]

2. Seems like the Hollywood Liberal connections are paying off.

[patrice]

40. As a family member of hard working independent film professionals, I must tell you that

your characterization is rather prejudiced.

If you look honestly at this little bit of film you will notice that there REALLY isn't very much to it technically. It's significance and power comes from highly acute, very "granular", conceptualization, a trait of any talented brain, whether they worked for liberals in Hollywood or not.

[mucifer]

43. I didn't say it is a bad thing to have Hollywood support.

That was your interpretation of my post.

I am a liberal myself.

You shouldn't fear the word liberal but embrace it!

[patrice]

46. Sorry!! I've been living in red-state Hell toooooo long. nt

[BlueToTheBone]

4. Seems as though President Obama's base

is about to get fed deeply with the red meat of hard ball politics.

[magical thyme]

37. I think it's more than red meat for libruls, lol

I wrote this elsewhere, but I think it bears repeating:

People don't tune into American Idol to watch the future superstars.

They tune in to watch the no-talent wanna-be's make idjits of themselves.

Think about it. The rw nutcases will first think its an American Idol ad. Then they see who it is. And realize they're laughing at their hold-their-nose pick. Torn between laughing at the Idol wanna-be and saluting their anointed one, they'll be deer in the headlights, trapped and staring at the screen with the short, large print , easy to read and digest messages. Enough of that ad, and come November they'll be hiding underground in mom's basement.

[BeyondGeography]

6. They hollowed out the sound of his already hollow voice as well

As if he was singing in one of Bain's emptied factories, one of the first images you see.

It is brilliant.

[CTyankee]

8. A little echo chamber, the flapping Swiss flag, the lapping waters of Bermuda and the Caymans.

That decaying factory, a little wind noise. This thing is a masterpiece of political advertising.

[coalition_unwilling]

9. My take also. It reminds me of LBJ's 'Daisy Petal' ad of 1964 (which

had to be pulled after one airing, IIRC, because of the outcry from Goldwater's campaign).

At least as devastating to Romney as the Willie Horton spot was to to Dukakis back in 1988. Needs to be run continuously in every red state that is still in play from here through November.

[BeyondGeography]

11. Absolutely...this one merits a long shelf-life nt

[NJCher]

25. off key

Symbolic of the fact that he just doesn't get it.


Cher

[Zalatix]

51. This ad is an utter curb stomp.

[Romulox]

10. With the economy this way, I am personally not impressed by this line of argument.

Go ahead and flay me. I am being honest.

[CherokeeDem]

53. And exactly who created the economic crisis of today....

While there are Democrats who are not blameless in helping create this economic situation...I believe this ad is very truthful in discussing how one company and one individual can impact the economy detrimentally and reap the benefits of their actions. The ad also illustrates the lies that Romney continues to spout regarding his record.

I think the ad is brilliantly done and will be very effective.

[Tarheel_Dem]

60. You're not impressed? I'm shocked!

[SidDithers]

61. Heheh...

nailed it.

Sid

[Tarheel_Dem]

63. Sid, were you "impressed"?

As a supporter of the president's reelection, I was thoroughly "impressed". I hope the producers of this ad have been retained for the duration. It doesn't get much better than this.

[Romulox]

98. A "centrist" is pleased with the status quo? Stop the presses! nt

[Tarheel_Dem]

106. A "faux progressive" is outraged? Stop the presses again!

[Romulox]

112. You don't need the quotation marks if you say "faux". It's similar to a double negative, the way

you've typed "faux progressive".

[Tarheel_Dem]

115. And a "faux instructor" as well. You're just the smartest thing since sliced bread, you are!

[Romulox]

116. I know. Smilies are *so* much easier. You keep at it, though. nt

[Tarheel_Dem]

120. I bow to your superior, albeit a bit precious, knowledge.

[Romulox]

121. There's *another* lesson for you, below! Thank me later! nt

[Romulox]

97. Unemployment rate: 8.2%. That's really bad. nt

[Tarheel_Dem]

105. So is 115 degree heat in Delaware. Can't change that either. What's your point?

[Romulox]

111. LOL. The only thing our politicians can do is bail out BANKERS, apparently. Unemployment?

Unemployment is like a force of nature? Bizarre worldview!

[Tarheel_Dem]

114. What's even more "bizarre" is your inability to acknowledge the obstruction at every turn.

But then I've come to expect nothing less. Not sure what this particular ad has to do with what the hell you're talking about, but please do ramble on.

[Romulox]

117. Then it doesn't matter who is President. nt

[Tarheel_Dem]

118. Truth be told, I don't think it ever really mattered to you. Which begs the question.....

[Romulox]

119. That's not how "begs the question" is used, actually (I know, I know, it isn't cool to "know stuff")

You're just proving yourself a person of letters many times over!

Begging the question (Latin petitio principii, "assuming the initial point&quot is a type of logical fallacy in which a proposition relies on an implicit premise within itself to establish the truth of that same proposition. In other words, it is a statement that refers to its own assertion to prove the assertion. Such arguments are essentially of the form "a is true because a is true" though rarely is such an argument stated as such. Often the premise 'a' is only one of many premises that go into proving that 'a' is true as a conclusion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question

[Tarheel_Dem]

122. LOL! Good luck connecting with us "common folk". I'm learning so much from you!

[Downtown Hound]

68. It's people like Romney that created the economic mess

Paying substandard wages, outsourcing, (excuse me, I mean offshoring), worshiping at the altar of unregulated capitalism, and sabotaging Obama at every turn in his effort to get the economy back on track.

So yeah, with the economy the way it is, this line of argument IS MOST DEFINITELY APPROPRIATE.

[gkhouston]

69. Your candor is noted. n/t

[uponit7771]

12. The latest add is the best one, rep or dem, that I've seen in years...shows rMoneys own words...

..and papers that go against it.

[Wait Wut]

14. Damn. That gave me chills.

They added a dark filtering to the video and an eerie effect to his voice that rivaled most horror movies I've seen. Incredible job and powerful message.

[CANDO]

15. They have to go national on this ad buy.

Play it so many times that it becomes ingrained in the psyche of our nation.

[malaise]

17. It is absolutely fugging

brilliant

[Brickbat]

19. This ad is a home run except for one thing.

It needs a period or semicolon after "solution" in the words at the end. Drives me up the wall every time I see it.

[glinda]

20. This commercial needs a lot of TV play. Excellent job!

[Liberal_in_LA]

52. It's got 600K hits on youtube. and only posted yesterday

[glinda]

81. tv play especially

[NJCher]

21. they showed it on "Meet the Press"

Even corporate schill Bob Schieffer was amused.


Cher

[southernyankeebelle]

23. This ad is so good that even some of the lower income whites will vote for Obama. This ad

is so cut and dry and so easy to understand.

[ananda]

26. That WAS a great ad!

I haven't seen any ads except here.

[NoMittens]

27. A Phenomenal Ad!

...keep 'em coming!

[NNN0LHI]

29. playing Star Trek chess

[kentuck]

31. This is the most effective ad run in this campaign...

thus far. It mocks Romney with his own voice.

[magical thyme]

33. Romney HATES being pranked.

Boy is he pranked here. Mocked in his own voice, indeed.

If he's seen it, he's probably been spitting nails all weekend.

[Change has come]

42. He doesn't look very happy!

[IMG][/IMG]

[LibGranny]

34. to get this ad (and one like it) to run nationally,

we all should donate to the Obama Campaign! I'm retired but I donate every month because Obama is the only person I want as President! Remember what he said last campaign about "small donors"? We can make a difference!

[nolabear]

35. Yes, the psychological impact of the images is outstanding!

Look at Obama in his presidential walk, looking burdened but strong. Hear Mitt go off key when he sings America. He rushes it, does it like an automaton. The closed factory, Swiss flag, empty rooms, simply letting him sing for himself. All have impressive power in a short ad. And really, after hearing that voice a few times don't you really want that thing (and that man) to go the hell away?

[Iliyah]

36. Oh SNAP

chilling......................

[mnhtnbb]

38. It's a brilliant ad. Makes me get out the checkbook so it can run in every swing state.

[klook]

44. Fascinating, especially the audio info in the links on TPM

That comment from one reader that the voice quality is as though Romney's in the front office singing over the P.A. system while the factory rots -- just brilliant.

I love the info about convolution reverb and its psychological effects also. Great stuff; thanks for bringing this behind the scenes info to our attention.

[DearAbby]

45. Did you all notice when Mitt was singing

the out doors shots of the Caymans and Bahamas ..his voice echoed? It was Brilliant.

[unc70]

71. They made him sound far, far way in those shots

A friend is an expert in this stuff. Can't wait to talk with her about it.

[Spazito]

72. And you can hear the sound of waves on a beach too...

it is an amazing ad.

[Ruby the Liberal]

48. Fascinating information at that link

I really liked the pieces he linked to the professionals talking about how those sound effects were done.

Listened to the ad again and the conference room/speaker phone effect had escaped me the first time.

Whatever team in the campaign did this - I hope they have signed on for the long haul. Looking forward to more great pieces like this one!

[Liberal_in_LA]

49. star trek chess - chess in 3-D with three boards layered horizontally? lol

for those who aren't Trekkers.

[lunatica]

54. Astro Chess!

[Firebrand Gary]

55. During the singing, Romney's voice echoes in the EMPTY factories and offices! Brilliant!

There are so many incredible layers to this ad, LOVE IT!

[backscatter712]

56. This ad is BRILLIANT!!! Poli sci professors will be talking about this ad 20 years from now.

It's up there with Willie Horton and Daisy as far as being a brilliant attack ad!

[broiles]

57. I would like to think-

that part of that ad was paid for by my contribution to Obama. I think I'll give some more.

[drm604]

58. Wow.

I've watched that ad a number of times but didn't even catch the audio changes. The singing echoes through that empty plant, and in the office scene it sounds like a speaker phone.

It's subtle but probably very effective psychologically.

[HarveyDarkey]

62. Stellar ad, hits all the right notes

even though Rmoney hits none of them.

[riverbendviewgal]

64. This so good.

I wonder if the Rommeys will steal the same company who made it.... They can buy them out...sadly.

[liberalmuse]

66. The ad gave me chills.

It is that good. It should win an award or something. Seriously.

[Politicub]

67. Already has more than 750,000 views

It completely damns Romney.

[gkhouston]

70. I liked that they opened with a visual of Obama,

as the "I approve this message" ran. It implied, "hell, yes, I do approve of this," as opposed to some commercials which have voiceovers at the end which are the audio equivalent of mice print.

[MADem]

91. He's doing the slowed-down strut, too--like he owns this 'un. nt

[soccer1]

73. Video has an eerie quality to it......

It's as if Romney's singing is disconnected from the visuals....like a specter haunting the scenery. Really good.....

[Carla in Sequim]

74. I'm Carla in Sequim

and I approve this message!

[Honeycombe8]

75. Looks like we'll be seeing replays of this one in the future,

along with the child-bomb ad that gets replayed as an example of an effective ad decades ago.

Well done, whoever conceptualized and put together that ad. A picture is worth a thousand words. And the haunting echoing sound of Romney's off key voice while pics of empty work places are shown.....makes the point very well.

[bayareamike]

79. Great ad, one problem with it though:

at 0:22 into the ad, it lists one of the sources as "Vanity, August 2012".

[lovemydog]

83. It says Vanity Fair

in the version I just stopped & paused.

Romney's screeching voice can distract.

[bayareamike]

104. I was referring to

the "August, 2012". Why is it citing next month??? Has that edition been released already?

[Son of Gob]

108. Yes, that's how most magazines work.

In the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, the standard practice is to display on magazine covers a date which is some weeks or months in the future from the actual publishing/release date.

There are two reasons for this discrepancy: first, to allow magazines to continue appearing "current" to consumers even after they have been on sale for some time (since not all magazines will be sold immediately), and second, to inform newsstands when an unsold magazine can be removed from the stands and returned to the publisher or be destroyed (in this case, the cover date is also the pull date).

Weeklies (such as Time and Newsweek) are generally dated a week ahead. Monthlies (such as National Geographic Magazine) are generally dated a month ahead, and quarterlies are generally dated three months ahead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover_date

[bayareamike]

123. Gotcha, thanks for clearing that up. nt

[IndyPragmatist123]

85. From a technical perspective, it's great....but...

I don't think the message works. People have known about Bain Capital and Romney's off-shore bank accounts, yet the polls are still close. If people cared about this stuff, we would have seen movement in the polls, yet it's still neck-and-neck.

I know its tough for Obama to talk about the economy because the Republicans have obstructed everything the Democrats have tried to do, but that's the issue here. Everyone knows Romney is a sleazy guy, but so was Clinton, and he was a great President. Bush was seemingly a nice guy, but a terrible President. There are going to a lot of people that like President Obama as a person, but will still vote for Romney.

I don't know, this just seems like a weak message. Extremely clever, but not exactly the best political ad.

[TalkingDog]

87. You have to wait for saturation to see if Bain or the offshore $$ is going to make any difference.

And by saturation I mean when Jay Leno and David Letterman start cracking wise on the subject.

When it reaches the level where those jokes are understood by that varied of an audience, it means they understand the content and context of the information; whether they agree with it or not.

If that doesn't happen, then you may be right. It might be too esoteric. But if it does, that's when you should look for the polls to start shifting.



As far as the strength of the message, I don't agree. NC (where I live) is a battleground state and the earlier Bain/Outsourcing Ads running here are shifting the polls. Only slightly so far, but there is movement.

Welcome to DU

[IndyPragmatist123]

89. Funny you mention Leno

I rarely watch his show, unless there is a guest I would like to see. However, I watched the monologue about a week ago and Leno tried to make a joke about Fast & Furious. It really wasn't a political joke at all, it was just a joke about guns, and to get the joke, all you needed to know was that Fast & Furious was about guns. I don't remember the joke itself, but I do remember that it was worth a chuckle.

The crowd was completely silent. It seemed that nobody in attendance had a clue what Fast & Furious was. Leno made a comment about "This is what happens when we try and increase the level of our jokes." and moved on. It was pathetic. Regardless of your opinion of Fast & Furious, you should at least have an idea of what it is. It really saddened me that nobody had a clue.

So, I guess I'm saying, you may be right, the late-night show watchers seem to have very little political awareness and it may take their jokes for some people to understand what is going on.

[Bohunk68]

88. Those polls that you

are talking about, were they taken after this ad ran? If not, then how long a time period do you think we should wait before assessing whether or not an ad is effective? You come across as if the ad ran 10 seconds ago, ergo the polls taken a week ago show that the ad is not effective.

And, I don't consider Clinton a great president, his lack of a veto for DADT, DOMA, and NAFTA just because he thought they would pass anyway over a veto, shows lack of spine. Although, I guess his dick got hard enough.

[MADem]

90. The message works. It's TRUE, that why. The ad is a home run.

I think the "weak message" is coming from you, frankly. Nice try, if blatantly obvious--but no Monopoly Man Big Money cigar for you, though!

[soccer1]

96. I disagree...

with you on a few points you've made. Certainly many people are not/were not aware of the nature of Romney's work at Bain or of his off-shore accounts. People do care about HOW people make their money and if a person running for POTUS evades paying taxes, legally or otherwise. Comparing Clinton's "sleaziness" ( sexual and personal) to Romney's "sleaziness" (financial) carries no weight. as a basis for comparison.

We all know the economy is the big issue....and certainly, Romney claiming to be the "go to guy" to "fix" the economy and job market is directly related to any Dem ads that show how Romney handles his money and how he made his money. Romney's record is his worst enemy, in many ways and the Dems do not have to stretch the truth or exaggerate how he made his living at Bain and what he has done to protect his wealth.

Of course many people who like Obama will vote for Romney. And many people who like Romney as a person will vote for Obama because they believe Romney is not the better choice to get our economy on track.


In the end, the economic recovery plans that Romney and Obama offer this nation will bear the most weight in deciding who will be elected. However, Romney has consistently changed his stance on many positions throughout his political career. Any political ads or Dems who point this out, are right to do so.

[highplainsdem]

92. Another article about the ad from TPM, quoting another director:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/07/ringers.php

Another top director emails in about the new Obama ad — “Firms” — and points to another recent Obama ad that jumped out to him as having higher-than-usual production values. He wonders if Team Obama has recruited some ringers from Hollywood to up the game on the quality of ads to compensate for being outspent by Team Romney on quantity:

Building on what was said by other directors in your posts about the Romney singing ad’s production values, I’d point you to the previous “He’s the problem” ad to show that a trend is developing here:

-snip-

In the body of this spot, it’s all the standard cliched elements … stock shots of empty factories and offices, a newspaper front page, some boring SEC documents, and a photo of Romney. But, Obama’s guys have the skill through their use of color, depth, and motion to take those stale elements and make them something fresh. To me, it actually looks more like the title sequence of a network TV crime show than your standard flat, boring political ad. On a low budget with probably a day to put everything together, this level of detail and sophistication takes serious talent.

-snip-

If so, it would be a very smart reaction by the campaign to the realization that they’ll be massively outspent. If you can’t buy as much ad time as your opponents, you have to make each ad you do run that much better. Even if it means paying twice as much for an A-list editor’s hourly rate, that’s peanuts compared to the millions you’re spending on each media buy.

-snip-

That TPM article also says they have a reporter working on finding out who deserves credit for the "Firms" ad, and they hope to have that information later today.

[Ruby the Liberal]

100. Thanks for that update.

Of course, no matter who the team is, the (R)s will be shreiking about Hollywood being in the tank for Obama, but point well made about quantity v quality in light of the money issue.

Edit - just saw this update at the link:

Late Update: The Obama camp tells us that, no, no ringers were involved in the production of these ads. Same crew the camp has used all along.

Sounds like a few folks just carved out a post-election career for themselves.

[DainBramaged]

101. The ad needs to run in every State on every station till election day

or until Mitt quits.

[malaise]

107. Ed Shultz will have a discussion on this n/t

[highplainsdem]

110. From TPM -- the new ad was produced by the same ad team the Obama campaign has been using all along.

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/obama-ad-firms-production.php

Last week’s political fisticuffs over Mitt Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital came to a head on Saturday with the Obama campaign’s release of a devastating new ad.

The ad, titled “Firms,” mockingly plays Romney’s rendition of “America the Beautiful” from the campaign trail over scathing headlines and empty factory floors. Waves gently crash ashore as the ad points out that Romney stashed some of his considerable wealth in the Cayman Islands.

The high production value of the new Obama spot led some to wonder: Did the campaign outsource the ad to slick Hollywood ringers? In fact, John Del Cecato at David Axelrod’s firm, AKPD Message and Media, produced the ad. The Obama campaign told TPM on Monday that it used the same ad team it has all along.

A team of five or six people worked on the ad. The team is sometimes tasked with producing an ad in an hour. This one took a few days. An Obama adviser admitted that the ad relied on considerable sound design to create something that looked and sounded different from other political ads on the air. “We set out to make something that would cut through the clutter,” he said.

-snip-

[Skidmore]

113. Bet you that you never hear Mitt sing that song again.