Editing Attack ad (section)

===United States===
The first onscreen attack ads in the U.S. are usually traced back to the [[1934 California gubernatorial election]]. [[Socialism|Socialist]] author [[Upton Sinclair]] was running as the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] candidate against [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Frank Merriam]]. It was the depths of the [[Great Depression]], and Sinclair's [[End Poverty in California]] (EPIC) campaign platform had attracted widespread support. In response, the [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] film studios, led by [[Louis B. Mayer]]'s [[MGM]], raised funds to create a series of anti-Sinclair attack ads in the form of [[Short film|short films]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Critchlow |first1=Donald T. |title=When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics |year=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=26–27 |isbn=978-1139027106}}</ref> Produced by [[Irving Thalberg]], the shorts were titled "California Election News" and "were shown in almost every [movie] theater across the state."<ref>{{cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Greg |title=How Hollywood producers created the first conservative political attack ads |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-10-01/hollywood-producers-first-conservative-attack-ads-upton-sinclair-california |date=October 1, 2022}}</ref> This pioneering use of [[negative campaigning]] was depicted in the 2020 [[Netflix]] film ''[[Mank]]'',<ref>{{cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Greg |date=December 7, 2020 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/movies/mank-upton-sinclair.html |title='Mank' and Politics: What Really Happened in 1934 California |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> as well as in the 2022 [[PBS]] documentary, ''The First Attack Ads: Hollywood vs. Upton Sinclair''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/show/first-attack-ads-hollywood-vs-upton-sinclair/ |date=October 2022 |title=''The First Attack Ads: Hollywood vs. Upton Sinclair'' |publisher=[[PBS]]}}</ref>

[[File:Daisy (1964).webm|thumb|left|thumbtime=3|"Daisy" advertisement]]
One of the earliest and most famous television attack ads, known as "[[Daisy (advertisement)|Daisy]]", was used by [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] against [[Barry Goldwater]] in the [[1964 United States presidential election|1964 presidential election]]. The ad opened with a young girl innocently picking petals from a daisy, while a man's voice performed a countdown to zero. It then zoomed in to an extreme close-up to her eye, and cut to an image of a [[nuclear explosion]]. The ad was shocking and disturbing, but also very effective. It convinced many that Goldwater's more aggressive approach to fighting the [[Cold War]] could result in a [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear conflict]].<ref name="daisy">{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er5h_TXun6o |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Er5h_TXun6o |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Daisy Girl|medium=Television ad|people=Schwartz, Tony (director)|year=1964}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

During the [[1968 United States presidential election|1968 presidential election]], Vice President [[Hubert Humphrey]] made a political ad against candidate [[Spiro Agnew]] with Humphrey laughing on the TV screen showing the text "Agnew, for vice president?". The ad ended with a quote "This would be funny, if it weren't so serious..." and it also ended with Humphrey coughing due to his non-stop laughter.

Attack ads were used again by the campaign of [[George H. W. Bush]] against Democratic candidate [[Michael Dukakis]] in the [[1988 United States presidential election|1988 presidential election]]. The two most famous were the "Willie Horton" and "Tank Ride" ads. The "Willie Horton" ad began with a statement of Vice President Bush's support of the death penalty. Then it described the case of [[Willie Horton]], who was convicted of murder. The ad stated that Governor Dukakis's prison furlough program (unsupervised weekend passes from Massachusetts prison) released Horton ten times; in one of those furloughs, he kidnapped a young couple, stabbed the boy and repeatedly raped the girl. The ad ended with, "Weekend prison passes. Dukakis on crime."<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTdUQ9SYhUw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/wTdUQ9SYhUw |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|chapter=Analysis of a "Willie Horton" ad from the 1988 campaign|title=Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story|publisher=InterPositive Media|year=2008}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The "Tank Ride" ad<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0309/lm10.html |title=Michael Dukakis, 1988 – Another Landmark Image |work=100 Photographs that Changed the World |publisher=[[Life (magazine)|Life]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801060800/http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0309/lm10.html |archive-date=August 1, 2015 }}</ref> from 1988 was an attack on Dukakis by the [[Republican Party (United States)|GOP]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://presidentialcampaign2004.coas.missouri.edu/general/spots_analysis/bush88tank_movie.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080202175405/http://presidentialcampaign2004.coas.missouri.edu/general/spots_analysis/bush88tank_movie.html|archive-date=2008-02-02|title=Presidential Campaign 2004 – Their Message and Their Analysis|publisher=TV Spot History}}</ref> It created a lasting negative impression and helped guarantee Dukakis' defeat. The ad suggested that Bush was more supportive of [[military spending]] and weapons programs than Dukakis. The footage, pulled from the news media, showed Dukakis riding a tank in his attempt to counter the claim that he was weak on defense. He wore a large, oversized helmet and a wide smile, which was used by the GOP to insinuate that he was a fool. The GOP also added gear sounds from an [[Semi-trailer truck|18-wheeler truck]] to imply that Dukakis could not run the tank smoothly – although tanks do not have gears that grind.<ref>{{cite book|author=Geer, John G.|year=2006|title=In Defense of Negativity: attack ads in presidential campaigns|location=Chicago|publisher=the University of Chicago Press|isbn=9780226284996|pages=127–128}}</ref>

The [[Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2008|2008 Democratic presidential primaries]] featured an ad by [[Hillary Clinton]] directed at her main rival at the time, [[Barack Obama]], which aired days before the [[Texas Democratic primary and caucuses, 2008|Texas primary]]. The ad began by showing children asleep in bed while a phone rang in the background. A [[voice-over]] stated that it was 3 a.m., the phone was ringing in the [[White House]], and that "something's happening in the world". The voice-over then asked voters if they wanted someone who "already knows the world's leaders, knows the military" and is "tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world" to pick up the phone.<ref name="oldref8">{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yr7odFUARg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/7yr7odFUARg |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Hillary Clinton Ad – 3 AM White House Ringing Phone|year=2008|publisher=Hillary Clinton campaign}}{{cbignore}}</ref> While Obama was never mentioned by name, the implication was clear and the ad set off a firestorm of discussion and controversy, causing even Obama himself to respond and describe it as an ad that "play[ed] on people's fears", predicting it would not work.<ref name="oldref9">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/us/politics/01campaign.html?_r=1|author=Seelye, Katherine Q.|author2=Zeleny, Jeff.|date=March 1, 2008|title=Clinton Questions Role of Obama in Crisis|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Later in the campaign, after Obama had become the Democratic nominee, Republican nominee [[John McCain]] echoed a similar sentiment. In a controversial ad called "Celebrity", McCain's campaign asked, "[Barack Obama] is the biggest celebrity in the world. But, is he ready to lead?" The ad juxtaposed Obama supporters with photos of [[Britney Spears]] and [[Paris Hilton]].<ref>{{cite web|title=McCain calls Obama the biggest celebrity in the world|url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/07/30/mccain-ad-calls-obama-biggest-celebrity-in-the-world/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080805072508/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/07/30/mccain-ad-calls-obama-biggest-celebrity-in-the-world/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 5, 2008|work=CNN Politics|publisher=CNN}}</ref>

By 2010, attack ads had spread online as political candidates published their ads on [[YouTube]]. [[Carly Fiorina]], a Republican candidate from California, released a video on YouTube depicting former Republican opponent [[Tom Campbell (California politician)|Tom Campbell]] as a "[[Fiscal conservative]] in name only”.<ref name="oldref5">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/us/politics/21ads.html|author=Steinhauer, Jennifer|date=March 20, 2010|title=Dose of Venom for Candidates Turns Ads Viral|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>