Lena Dunham compares…well, you’ll see. (Sorry about the beginning advert; just click on through.)
CNN says Republicans find the ad shocking! I guess anything sex negative is OK, but sex positive? Whoa!
The criticism in comment #5 is very important, I think. A different word or two could have made it much better, but I suppose there’s some political ad rule about keeping the message simple. Still…
It’s hard not to think that the person who thought this up had seen the “original”, which you can find here:
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/10/25/is_obama_taking_ad_ideas_from_vladimir_putin
(I think this one is a bit less disturbing than the Putin one, but must admit I don’t like either one.)
Hi Matt, my first reaction was not positive, but I think there are ways in which it might carry an important set of messages – e.g., what she does sexually is her business, the policies Obama promotes protect her choices, etc.
Your link now has an update that traces the ad to Reagan.
Matt, I believe the “compare it with sex” advertising idea has been independently invented several thousand times.
Ronald Reagan’s first time: http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/10/lena-dunham-first-time-ronald-reagan.php
I must confess, I didn’t like the “with a guy” part. I know that all the candidates are male in this election, and most women consider their first time to be with a guy, but I want to think the first time I vote might possibly be with a woman candidate, and one day woman-woman sex will be considered legitimate enough to have a “first time”. I know, I know, I’m a spoil-sport, but the line just hits home that women might have some sexual and political choice these days (yay, progress!), but there’s still a long way to go!
No G, I completely agree. It is very traditional heretosexual normative all the way through. That bothered me too.