Smoking Man: Political Ads That Changed the Game

ARCHIVAL (NOW IS THE TIME FOR ACTION, 2011):
MARK BLOCK: We need you to get involved, because together we can do this – we can take this country back.

MARK BLOCK: Have you ever tried to autograph a cigarette?

IMAGE MAKERS: POLITICAL ADS THAT SHAPED THE BATTLE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE

MARK BLOCK (CHIEF OF STAFF, CAIN 2012): We’re sitting in the restaurant at the Wynn in Las Vegas the morning after the debate and Cain did a really, really good job.

ARCHIVAL (CNN, 6-13-17):
ANDERSON COOPER: Would you build an entire fence along the entire border, and would it be electrified?
HERMAN CAIN: Allow me to give the serious answer: Yes, I believe we should secure the border for real. I don’t apologize at all for trying to protect the American citizens, no.

CHRIS BURGARD (DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC MEDIA, CAIN 2012): I go, “London, where’d Mark go?” And he goes, “He’s smoking.” So I go outside to the front of the Wynn Hotel at the valet parking.

MARK BLOCK: Chris came and tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Cain’s tied up right now. You’ve always wanted to send a message to your supporters."

ARCHIVAL (NOW IS THE TIME FOR ACTION, 2011):
MARK BLOCK: Mark Block here. Since January, I’ve had the privilege of being the Chief of Staff to Herman Cain.

CHRIS BURGARD: If you see the way we shot it, it’s like the camera comes in and goes out. And that was because we had to do it in between the cars that were coming from the front of the casino. “Okay, there’s a taxi coming right now so we’ve got six seconds, go.”

ARCHIVAL (NOW IS THE TIME FOR ACTION, 2011):
MARK BLOCK: We can do this – we can take this country back.

LINDA HANSEN (DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF, CAIN 2012): They came back and they both had these mischievous expressions on their face. They said, “We left the cigarette in. We need a homeschool mom’s opinion.” It just reminded me of kids that got caught with their hand in the candy jar. I said, “I don’t like smoking. But this is who we are.”

CHRIS BURGARD: It wasn’t a paid television announcement.

MARK BLOCK: It wasn’t meant to be broadcast. It was just an email out to our supporters.

CHRIS BURGARD: I’ve got all these messages on my phone, and our PR guy is going, “The video’s great!” And I’m like, I call Block and I go, “Dude, which video is he talking about?” You know? He goes, “I think it’s the smoking one.”

ARCHIVAL (COMEDY CENTRAL):
STEPHEN COLBERT: Wow. I don’t know what it is, but something about that guy just seems cool.

ARCHIVAL (NBC):
ANDY RICHTER: And that’s real.
CONAN O’BRIEN: Yes, that is absolutely, 100% real. Yeah, it’s crazy!

ARCHIVAL (CBS NEWS, 10-30-11):
HERMAN CAIN: This wasn’t intended to send any subliminal signal whatsoever.
BOB SCHIEFFER: But it does. It sends the signal that it’s cool to smoke.
HERMAN CAIN: No it does not.

CHRIS BURGARD: The anger was surprising. Mr. Cain’s like Mark smokes. That’s just what he does. It’s still legal to do that in most places in the country. And I think that’s what really resonated with people, was it wasn’t politically correct. It wasn’t slick, it wasn’t polished, but it was real.

MARK BLOCK: We had breakfast with Henry Kissinger. Kissinger was talking about Russia and China and Afghanistan and he stopped and he turned and he said, “Son, that cigarette thing was brilliant.”

CHRIS BURGARD: It was a rebel yell. It definitely was.

MARK BLOCK: And it, believe it or not it really helped the campaign.

CHRIS BURGARD: If the proverbial feces wouldn’t have hit the fan, I have no doubt that Mr. Cain would have been the next president.

ARCHIVAL (MSNBC):
RACHEL MADDOW: A press conference was scheduled today to hear further allegations of sexual harassment concerning Herman Cain.

ARCHIVAL:
SHARON BIALEK: I said, “What are you doing?” Mr. Cain said, “You want a job, right?”

ARCHIVAL (FOX NEWS):
HERMAN CAIN: God bless you, I love you, and thank you.

LINDA HANSEN: The day that Herman Cain stepped out of the race, it was heartbreaking in a lot of ways.

CHRIS BURGARD: The legacy of the smoking man commercial is: the world has changed. This isn’t your grandfather’s political race anymore.

ARCHIVAL:
VOICEOVER: Jeb, for all your sleeping needs.

CHRIS BURGARD: It’s a youtube generation, man, and that’s how you have to just look at the world.

MARK BLOCK: You’ve got to think outside the box in politics today. And if you don’t you’re just another one of the people that are running.

(END)