In 2007, long-shot Democratic candidate Mike Gravel released one of the strangest ads in political history.
Sign up for the Retro Report newsletter

In partnership with NBC

The Rock: Ads That Changed the Game

Producer: Matt Spolar
Editor: John MacGibbon
“It was an unedited sequence of Gravel staring into the camera, turning, walking to the side of a small lake and throwing a rock into the water. The “Rock” ad prompted a storm of media coverage and went viral. This series of mini documentaries on ads that changed the political landscape was created in partnership with [NBC News](http://nbcnews.to/29zkdsF."
Part of the Image Makers Series
Image Makers

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

Poll Watchers and the Long History of Voter Intimidation

Poll Watchers and the Long History of Voter Intimidation

President Trump has called on supporters, including law enforcement officers, to monitor election sites. Voter intimidation tactics have a long history.

Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (Media Mistakes Excerpt)

Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (Media Mistakes Excerpt)

Top national political reporters admit mistakes in their reporting on the 2016 election campaign.

Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (CNN's Missteps Excerpt)

Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (CNN's Missteps Excerpt)

CEO Jeff Zucker acknowledges missteps in CNN’s 2016 campaign coverage, when many media outlets covered Donald Trump’s campaign as a spectacle that produced higher ratings.

Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (False Equivalency Excerpt)

Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (False Equivalency Excerpt)

A look at how the journalistic instinct for “balanced” reporting on Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in 2016 played out in particular when it came to the Clinton email investigation.