Whatever Happened to Jingles in Political Ads?

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Here are a couple old timey campaign spots to remind you of when politics was simpler. Or if politics wasn’t simpler, political messaging certainly was. The message of the first? “I like Ike.” Literally, that’s it — over and over and over. The message of the second? “Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy.” Good times.

This one’s from the Eisenhower campaign in 1952:

This one is from the Kennedy campaign in 1960:

But just so you don’t think attack ads are a new invention, here’s one where the Kennedy campaign gets nasty, using Ike’s words against his own VP, Richard Nixon.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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