"His Choice" - The Hidden Message You Missed

Now, I'm just sayin'...

On its surface this ad is pretty good. No dialogue, no narration, just McCain's own words used against him and a reminder of his joke of a VP pick - an embarrassing example of his bad judgment.

Below its surface, though, it's even better than you first thought (even if it's just from a political ad-making standpoint).

Now, I've seen a lot of discussion on other sites about this ad. In today's Washington Post, Howard Kurtz even has a blurb on A3 about it. The consensus seems to be that it's a great ad: simple, damaging, aggressive, and with a little levity/terror at the end with Palin's wink. It concretely defines McCain as weak on the economy and it highlights his thin bench...

Wait... what was that last part?

Here's where we get into what you missed on first viewing. To illustrate my point, begin by asking yourself this: What is the biggest fear about Sarah Palin?

That McCain will die in office and she will be our (gulp) president.

So. Watch the ad again and listen closely to the soundtrack. With no dialogue or narration to cloud your ears and the words on screen to distract your attention, a new side of the ad emerges.

Hear that? The steady bass thump behind the strings? Like the lub-dub of a heartbeat? The subtle rhythm-keeping clicking? Like the ticking of a clock? The message below the surface, in the periphery of viewer's attention, is a dramatic reinforcement: that if John McCain dies, Winky McMooseburger is the new Commander-in-Chief. This ad isn't just a commentary on economic policy and who is prepared to lead us out of a recession. This ad has now evolved into something even more clever. It asks an even more fundamental question, past McCain's judgment: "President Palin?"

As we begin the ad, the heartbeat and ticking clock keep a steady cadence. They continue through McCain's lonely quotes, ostensibly focusing us on his economic inexpertise. (McCain seems to be solemnly looking at the quotes, too - or are his eyes closed? Is he embarrassed? Or are his closed eyes foreshadowing something else?). The heartbeat and ticking pump through 2005. They patter on through 2007. But there's a change near the end. Listen closer. At the text of "Vice President", the heartbeat skips just slightly, but then quickly resumes its normal rhythm. In the next shot, however, the heartbeat becomes momentarily distressed, irregularly accented and stopped for a panicked, uncomfortable moment when Palin appears on screen, thoughtlessly running her mouth with a rehearsed wink. The moment is accompanied by a discordant, lower guitar note (unheard until this moment) that transitions into the end of the ad.

In sum, clever sleight of hand has turned this ad on economic trust into one that is more striking, more damaging, and posing a scenario more disastrous in its consequences than what lies on the ad's surface.

Just brilliant ad craftsmanship.

I'm just sayin'...