Relax. I’m not going to express my political views one way or the other on this blog. I would never deign to suggest that my worldview makes more sense than somebody else’s, so that isn’t what this is going to be about. That said, Pete Hoekstra has now come out with two truly terrible commercials bashing current Michigan U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, and I will no longer stand for such inept advertising.
The first misstep, obviously, came way back in February during Super Bowl XLVI–the much-maligned “Debbie Spend-It-Now” ad. In case you (mercifully) did not have to endure it the first time:
Hoekstra took a lot of heat for playing a clearly racist advertisement during the Super Bowl, not to mention taking criticism for being misleading (no comment), flat-out lying (still no comment), and for intentionally mongering fear (which is absolutely true). They say all publicity is good publicity, but “they” don’t know what they’re talking about. Hoekstra alienated an entire demographic of voters with this ad, which is the same as a company alienating an entire demographic of consumers. It’s idiotic on every level, and frankly, even more idiotic when we’re talking about voters–unlike McDonald’s or whoever, Hoekstra only has this one shot to appeal to as many people as possible, and this was just about the worst way he could have done so.
My point is, I assumed that Hoekstra would learn from this and go back to only airing safe, factual (well…allegedly factual), and frank advertisements about why he should be Senator. You know, as though he would want people to view him as a sensible, serious-minded guy, and not some cartoon-y farce.
I was so, so wrong in that assumption.
The Olympics-themed commercial at the top of this article is utterly sloppy. Right away, the idea of Congress getting medals is absurd–nearly everybody tends to view Congress as a bunch of inefficient buffoons who wouldn’t even deserve a Certificate of Participation. Also, the torch-runner’s hair looks like it’s growing from out of her face, which is odd. Secondly, it’s not as though Congress is an individual event–it’s a team sport, right? And then he starts talking about her voting on some act to study “the division of labor among ants”…who cares? The worst part about the entire ad is the bad animation of a still-life of Stabenow’s head on some other person’s body. It looks like something you would see on JibJab.
Overall, the entire commercial just looks hokey and unprofessional. After such a serious lapse in judgment back in February, I couldn’t believe that Hoekstra was spamming YouTube with another ill-conceived commercial. This is not the way to win voters, and I would have to believe that he’s lost more than a handful of them with this latest pitiful effort.
Frustration Index Meter: 7/10
These Commercial Messages 