The “Daisy Girl” and the Politics of Fear

Remember the Daisy Girl ad?

It’s known as the commercial that ushered in the age of the “attack ad,” run during the 1964 presidential election by the (incumbent) Lyndon B. Johnson campaign , and it changed the course of campaign advertising in politics.

The ad was a response to suggestions or hints by Republican opponent Barry Goldwater that the U.S. could use a nuclear weapon to end the Vietnam war. The ad clearly indicates (without mentioning Goldwater by name), if you vote Republican, he’ll take us into nuclear Armageddon and everything you love will be destroyed.

Goldwater cried foul, but the damage had been done.

The campaign only aired once, on Sept. 7, 1964, but was replayed over and again by media outlets (local news broadcasts–remember those?) due to its startling and controversial content.

It’s also credited with helping Johnson defeat Goldwater–by a landslide.

In political advertising, fear and negativity works. And, you could argue, sometimes the end justifies the means–especially if we have something to truly be fearful about.

And apparently, creepiness does too.

The attack ad is now a staple of American politics. It all started with the Daisy Girl.

Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbIfVEboAzg

And here’s an interesting interview the “Daisy Girl” actor, Monique Luiz, gave 50 years after it aired. Interestingly, the actor and her parents had no idea the commercial was going to include an image of a nuclear explosion, nor even that it was a political commercial. Just picking flower petals, after all.

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