Smoking Man: Political Ads That Shaped the Battle for the White House

July 17, 2016

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.

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.

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  • Producer: Matthew Spolar
  • Editor: John MacGibbon
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