In the 2012 Republican primary, Herman Cain’s campaign produced an unusual video featuring Cain’s chief of staff, Mark Block, giving a pep talk while smoking a cigarette.
In partnership with NBC
Smoking Man: Political Ads That Changed the Game
Producer: Matt Spolar
Editor: John MacGibbon
The spot stands as a forerunner to anti-establishment mood that dominates today’s politics as well as the effectiveness of the fast, low-cost speed of communications today. This series of mini documentaries on ads that changed the political landscape was created in partnership with NBC News.
Part of the Image Makers Series
Image Makers
From Lyndon Johnson's “Daisy” to Hillary Clinton's “It's 3 am,” Image Makers goes behind the scenes of some of our most historically influential political ads with the people who made them. This series of mini docs was created by Matthew Spolar in collaboration with NBC News.
More Like This
How Black Women Fought Racism and Sexism for the Right to Vote
African American women played a significant and sometimes overlooked role in the struggle to gain the vote.
What the Bungled Response to HIV Can Teach Us About Dealing With Covid-19
Politics, public health and a pandemic. What we didn’t learn from HIV.
Mini-doc
How Biden vs. Sanders Echoes a 1964 Republican Party Split
Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are the icons of an ideological split among today’s Democrats, echoing a similar split in the Republican party of 1964.
Mini-doc
How Oscar Speeches Became So Political
Oscar night, long a showcase for Hollywood glamour, has also become a platform for film stars to pitch a rainbow of political causes.