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"Daisy" (1964 US presidential campaign advertisement)
The "Daisy" advertisement, a piece of political theater sometimes referred to as "Daisy Girl" or "Peace, Little Girl," stands as a watershed moment in American political campaigning. Airing as part of Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 presidential campaign, its impact was so profound that it's widely considered a pivotal factor in Johnson's subsequent landslide victory over Barry Goldwater, the nominee of the Republican Party. This sixty-second spot, a creation of the Doyle Dane Bernbach agency and the sonic architect Tony Schwartz, was a calculated maneuver designed to amplify Johnson's stance against war and nuclear proliferation, contrasting sharply with Goldwater's more hawkish rhetoric. Goldwater's opposition to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and his suggestions of using nuclear weapons in conflicts like the Vietnam War were weaponized by the Johnson campaign to paint him as a reckless warmonger.
The commercial itself is a masterclass in subliminal messaging and visceral impact. It opens on a pastoral scene: a three-year-old girl, Monique Corzilius, in a sun-dappled meadow, plucking petals from a daisy while counting the numbers aloud, albeit imperfectly. The idyllic innocence is shattered by the disembodied, booming voice of a male announcer, echoing the child's counting but in reverse, like the chilling prelude to a missile launch countdown. As the countdown progresses, the camera tightens, focusing with unnerving intensity on the girl's eye, her pupil expanding until it consumes the frame. This intimate, claustrophobic shot is then violently replaced by the blinding flash and deafening roar of a nuclear explosion. Over footage of this apocalyptic spectacle, Johnson's voice delivers a stark, unvarnished warning: "These are the stakes: to make a world in which all of God's children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die." [1]
Despite being aired only once, the "Daisy" ad became a cultural and political touchstone. Its brief appearance on television was amplified by its subsequent repetition and dissection across news programs, talk shows, and media analyses. The Johnson campaign faced considerable backlash for its perceived exploitation of nuclear anxieties and the implication that Goldwater was a threat to global peace. This strategy, however, proved remarkably effective, contributing to a string of other Johnson campaign commercials that subtly, or not so subtly, targeted Goldwater without naming him. The "Daisy" ad's influence has resonated through subsequent political campaigns, its tactics and emotional resonance frequently emulated, or at least referenced.
Background
Lyndon B. Johnson, who ascended to the presidency following the tragic assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963, was already a figure of considerable political power. Known for his formidable legislative skills, honed during his time as Senate Democratic leader where he earned the moniker "Master of the Senate," Johnson was adept at using rhetorical techniques, famously the "Johnson Treatment," to secure votes. His administration had already achieved a significant legislative victory in July 1964 with the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act. [2][3][4][5][6]
The 1964 United States presidential election presented Johnson with a formidable challenger in Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee. [7] In the shadow of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the specter of nuclear war loomed large over the campaign. [8] Public apprehension was palpable; a 1963 survey indicated that a staggering 90 percent of Americans believed nuclear war was possible, with 38 percent considering it likely. [9] Goldwater's voting record, particularly his opposition to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty – a treaty ratified by the Senate with a decisive 80–14 vote – became a focal point. [10][11] Goldwater's platform advocated for a conservative agenda, including significant cuts to social programs and a more aggressive military posture. Notably, he had controversially suggested the potential use of nuclear weapons in conflicts such as the Vietnam War, a stark contrast to Johnson's policies. [12] The Johnson campaign seized upon these positions, using Goldwater's own words and public statements to construct an image of a candidate who would readily plunge the nation into nuclear conflict. [13] His slogan, "In your heart, you know he's right," was twisted by opponents into "In your guts, you know he's nuts," a testament to the campaign's strategy of portraying him as a dangerous radical. [14]
Early polling in August suggested that Johnson's existing accomplishments might not translate into overwhelming support. [15] Adding to the charged atmosphere, Goldwater's campaign launched an attack ad featuring children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, their voices ultimately drowned out by the menacing declaration of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev: "We will bury you! Your children will be communists!" [16][17] The Johnson campaign, conversely, employed a multi-pronged strategy emphasizing Goldwater's perceived extremism and the inherent risks of entrusting him with the presidency. [13][18] As Jack Valenti, a special assistant to Johnson, astutely observed, the campaign's strength lay "not so much in the for Johnson but in the against Goldwater" vote. [19]
Creation
Prior to 1964, political advertisements largely adhered to a more genteel tradition, typically focusing on positive portrayals and rarely engaging in direct attacks on opposing candidates or their policies. [20] In mid-June of that year, John P. Roche, president of the progressive advocacy group Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), penned a letter to Bill Moyers, Johnson's press secretary. Roche posited that Johnson occupied a "wonderful strategic position" and suggested the possibility of a "savage assault" on Goldwater, even proposing a billboard design featuring a mushroom cloud and the tagline, "Goldwater in '64—Hotwater in '65?" [21][22] Johnson signaled his commitment to a robust electronic media campaign, allocating 30 million in 2024) for local radio spots and an additional 17 million in 2024) for national television advertising. [23] By July 10, polls indicated Johnson held a commanding 77 percent to Goldwater's 18 percent lead. [24] However, this margin narrowed by late July, with Johnson's support dipping to 62 percent. [24]
The genesis of the "Daisy" advertisement lay in a collaboration between the esteemed advertising firm Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) and Tony Schwartz, a pioneering sound designer and media consultant enlisted for the project. [25][26] The DDB team responsible for its creation included art director Sid Myers, producer Aaron Ehrlich, senior copywriter Stanley R. Lee, and junior copywriter Gene Case. [27][28][29] The ad's primary objective was to articulate Johnson's anti-war and anti-nuclear platform. Schwartz drew inspiration for the concept from a prior public service announcement he had developed for the United Nations. [30] DDB managed the logistical aspects of filming and casting, while Schwartz focused on the intricate integration of the audio elements. [31][32] While both Schwartz and the DDB team have claimed authorship of the ad's visual components, the precise origin remains somewhat ambiguous. [26]
Synopsis
The commercial commences with a seemingly innocent scene in a meadow within New York City's Highbridge Park. Three-year-old Monique Corzilius is depicted picking the petals off a daisy, her childish voice counting from one to nine, punctuated by the gentle chirping of birds. [33][34][35] Her counting is notably inaccurate. During the filming process, her inability to reach ten was perceived as a potentially more engaging element for the audience, a deliberate imperfection that added to the ad's disarming quality. [36] After reaching "nine," the girl pauses, a moment of childlike contemplation, before a deep, resonant male voice begins counting backward from "ten," mimicking the ominous cadence of a missile launch countdown. [37] As if reacting to this auditory cue, the girl turns her head towards an unseen point off-camera, and the action freezes. [38]
The zoom on the video still intensifies, focusing relentlessly on the girl's right eye until her pupil fills the entire screen, plunging it into darkness just as the countdown reaches zero. [36] This blackness is instantaneously obliterated by the blinding flash and the thunderous shockwave of a nuclear explosion, intercut with footage from actual nuclear weapons testing. [36] The visual sequence then transitions to the iconic image of a mushroom cloud, culminating in a slowed, close-up shot of the incandescent core of the nuclear detonation. [1] Over these apocalyptic images, Johnson's voice delivers the profound and chilling message: "These are the stakes! To make a world in which all of God's children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die." [1][39] Following Johnson's somber pronouncement, the explosion footage dissolves into a stark black screen, upon which white letters, rendered all in capitals, declare: "Vote for President Johnson on November 3". The announcer Chris Schenkel reads this message aloud, adding a final, urgent plea: "The stakes are too high for you to stay home." [40]
Broadcast, Impact, and Controversy
The decision to air the "Daisy" ad on Labor Day, September 7, 1964, strategically coincided with the formal commencement of Johnson's fall campaign. [42] The commercial was broadcast only once, [43] during a primetime showing of the biblical epic David and Bathsheba on The NBC Monday Movie. [44] The choice of a film considered family-friendly was deliberate, aimed at reaching an audience the Johnson campaign actively sought to influence. [45] Broadcast at 9:50 p.m. EST, the timing was calculated to ensure that most young children would be asleep, leaving their parents, the target demographic, to view the advertisement. The campaign hoped that these parents would project their own children onto the little girl in the meadow. [45] Unlike many contemporary political advertisements, and certainly unlike Goldwater's own commercials, "Daisy" relied almost exclusively on powerful imagery and abrupt visual shifts, eschewing music to enhance its raw, unsettling realism. [46][47] As author Maureen Corrigan has noted, Johnson's closing line, "We must either love each other, or we must die," bears a striking resemblance to the eighth line of W. H. Auden's poignant poem "September 1, 1939": "We must love one another or die." [48] The poem also contains the thematic echoes of "children" and "the dark." [48]
The immediate aftermath of the broadcast saw the White House switchboard "light up with calls" of protest, as reported by Press Secretary Moyers. [40] Johnson himself reportedly called Moyers in disbelief, asking, "Jesus Christ, what in the world happened?" [40] While initially taken aback by the outcry, Johnson later expressed considerable satisfaction with the ad's effectiveness and the desire to air it again. However, Moyers successfully persuaded him against this, arguing that the ad had already "accomplished its purpose in one showing. To repeat it would have been pointless." [40][49]
Initially known as "Peace, Little Girl," the commercial ignited fierce opposition from many Republican figures and supporters, despite Goldwater not being explicitly mentioned. [37][50][51][52] On the same day as the ad's broadcast, Johnson, speaking at a rally in Detroit, articulated his administration's stance on nuclear weapons, stating, "make no mistake, there's no such thing as a 'conventional nuclear weapon'… To [use one] now is a political decision of the highest order. It would lead us down an uncertain path of blows and counter-blows whose outcome none may know." [53]
The ad’s power was undeniable, permeating news coverage and discussion programs, and being repeatedly aired and analyzed by broadcast news organizations. [47] Valenti suggested that the single airing was a calculated strategy. [40] Lloyd Wright, associated with the Democratic National Committee, later acknowledged that "we all realized it would create quite a reaction," and in a subsequent interview, elaborated that Johnson's campaign strategy was fundamentally about defining Goldwater as "too impulsive to trust with the nation's defense systems." [54] Time magazine even featured Corzilius on its September 25 cover. [8][55] The Johnson campaign faced widespread criticism for its tactic of exploiting the fear of nuclear war to influence voters, suggesting Goldwater would initiate such a conflict. Thruston B. Morton, a Republican senator from Kentucky, denounced the ad on the Senate floor on September 16, labeling the Democratic National Committee's television spots as "panic-inspired falsehoods." [56] He asserted that President Johnson bore responsibility for these ads, which he described as attempts to "scare the wits out of children in order to pressure their parents." [57] Within days of its broadcast, "Daisy" was recognized as one of the most impactful and controversial television commercials ever produced. [58] In a related development, Fact magazine conducted a survey of 12,000 psychiatrists affiliated with the American Psychiatric Association, inquiring about Goldwater's psychological fitness for the presidency. [59][60] Of the approximately 1,800 responses, many characterized Goldwater as a "dangerous lunatic" and a "compensated schizophrenic." [60] The publication of these findings proved contentious, leading to a successful libel suit by Goldwater against the magazine's publisher, Ralph Ginzburg, who was ordered to pay 678,000 in 2024) in [punitive damages]. [61] This incident ultimately contributed to the establishment of the "Goldwater rule" by the American Psychiatric Association, a guideline that prohibits psychiatrists from offering professional opinions on public figures whom they have not personally examined and whose consent they have not obtained. [62]
Barry Goldwater himself responded to the ad's impact nearly three weeks after its broadcast, stating that "the homes of America are horrified and the intelligence of Americans is insulted by weird television advertising by which this Administration threatens the end of the world unless all‐wise Lyndon is given the nation for his very own." [58] In subsequent speeches, Goldwater defended his policy positions, emphasizing his commitment to "peace through preparedness." [63] He enlisted former president Dwight D. Eisenhower for a filmed interview in late September, asking, "Our opponents are referring to us as warmongers, and I'd like to know what your opinion of that would be?" [63] Eisenhower dismissed Johnson's accusations as "actual tommyrot [nonsense]." [63]
While the precise viewership figures for the commercial remain elusive, Robert Mann, author of Daisy Petals and Mushroom Clouds, estimates that approximately one hundred million people saw it. [64] Mann highlighted a key strategic brilliance of the ad: "What one of the brilliant aspects of the daisy girl spot was they never mentioned Barry Goldwater, never showed his image, because they didn't need to. The audience already had a lot of information on Goldwater's reckless positions and statements on nuclear war and nuclear weapons… they were trying to use what the voters already knew." [64]
In the wake of "Daisy," the Johnson campaign released another advertisement, dubbed the "Ice-cream ad." [65][66] This commercial featured a young girl enjoying ice cream, while a female voice-over discussed the presence of radioactive isotopes like strontium-90 and caesium-137 – byproducts of atomic explosions – in food. The ad linked these concerns to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and Goldwater's opposition to it, suggesting his election could lead to a resumption of atomic bomb testing. [67] The Johnson campaign continued this line of attack with further advertisements, including "Confessions of a Republican" and "Eastern Seaboard." [68] In the final days before the election, polls showed Johnson leading by a significant margin, 61 percent to Goldwater's 39 percent. [69] Johnson ultimately secured a decisive landslide victory, winning 486 electoral votes to Goldwater's 52. [70] His popular vote margin, exceeding 15 million votes (a 22.6 percent difference), represented one of the largest in U.S. presidential election history. [71] As of the 2024 presidential election, Johnson's popular vote share remains the highest since the widespread adoption of popular vote counts began in the 1824 election, and the "Daisy" ad is widely credited as a crucial element in achieving this historic win. [25]
Political Usage and Aftermath
The "Daisy" advertisement has left an indelible mark on political campaigning, serving as both a direct influence and a point of reference in numerous elections since its initial broadcast. It is recognized as a pivotal moment that reshaped the landscape of political advertising. In the 1984 presidential campaign, Democratic nominee Walter Mondale released a commercial addressing secret communist nuclear weapons in space, an ad that drew comparisons to "Daisy" due to its shared nuclear theme. [72][73][74] Later, in his unsuccessful 1996 presidential campaign, Republican nominee Bob Dole incorporated a brief clip from "Daisy" into his "The Threat" commercial. The ad juxtaposed the original nuclear threat with a contemporary one, with a voice-over stating, "Thirty years ago, the biggest threat to her [the 'Daisy' girl] was nuclear war. Today, the threat is drugs." [75][76] The ad's resonance extended internationally, notably during the 2007 Australian federal election, where the Australian Greens produced a remake addressing climate change. [77] In 2010, the American Values Network re-created "Daisy" to advocate for the ratification of the New START treaty. [78] Robert Mann concluded that DDB’s approach, applying the same strategies used for consumer products to political campaigns, fundamentally modernized political advertising, with "Daisy" Girl being a prime example of this shift. [79]
Monique Corzilius, the child actress who appeared in the commercial, became publicly known as the "Daisy" girl. She did not see the advertisement herself until the 2000s, when she found it online. [36][55] Another child actor, Birgitte Olsen, incorrectly claimed to be the girl featured in the ad. [80] In a significant callback, Hillary Clinton, during her campaigning for the 2016 presidential election, enlisted Corzilius to appear in a sequel advertisement. This new ad aimed to question Donald Trump's fitness to handle nuclear weapons. In it, Corzilius stated, "The fear of nuclear war that we had as children, I never thought our children would ever have to deal with that again. And to see that coming forward in this election is really scary." [81][82][83]
Nearly twenty-five years after the commercial's initial airing, Bill Moyers reflected on its legacy. When asked if he approved of the "Daisy" commercial, he responded:
"Yes I did, and I regret that we were in on the first wave of the future. The ad was intended to remind voters of Johnson's prudence; it wasn't meant to make you think Barry Goldwater was a warmonger – but that's how a lot of people interpreted it. If my memory serves me correctly, we never touched on Vietnam in any of the political spots. It haunts me all this time that Johnson was portrayed as the peacemaker in that campaign, but he committed the country to a long, bloody war in Vietnam."