Humor in political advertising, if done right, is the best weapon for a shoestring budget campaign. It can make a TV ad so memorable it need be seen only once to be remembered and shown only 4-5 times to completely permeate the public subconscious. This is because a truly funny political ad prompts viewers to talk about and seek out the ad, as opposed to the traditional sprint for Funions that most people do the millisecond red, white, and blue flags pop up on the tube.
Funny ads (again if done right) can completely take the edge off of a negative attack. You can get nasty on somebody and somehow it doesn't offend if you can just get people to laugh in the process.
Here's a classic example courtesy of John McCain's consultants:
Unfortunately for Dr. John McGoff, a humorous ad can't just be humorous. You can't say, "A priest, a rabbi, and Dan Burton walk into a bar...vote John McGoff!" The ad has to have meaningful content woven throughout that moves votes. As much as I'd like to see Representative Dan Burton retire, Dr. McGoff's ad fails completely on that score.
Dan Burton vs. The Appendix from John McGoff on Vimeo.
However, I do have a great follow-up idea for Dr. McGoff. He should compare Dan Burton to a large intestine and say that while they both started off digesting things and eliminating fat from the body politic, in the end, they both turned into a-holes people were constantly cleaning up after though nobody wants to see them publicly.
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