Daisy Girl Ad
- The star of a controversial presidential ad
who convinced many in the American public that
Republican presidential contender Barry
Goldwater was not the person to place in the
White House in 1964. If chosen, the ad implied
Goldwater would use nuclear bombs and destroy
the world. Incumbent President Johnson, who had
replaced assassinated President John Fitzgerald
Kennedy in 1963, won the election. Four years
later, Lyndon Johnson declined to seek
reelection as the flames of the Vietnam War
escalated.
The "Daisy" spot - which aired only once during
the Movie of the Week on September 7, 1964 - was
created by Tony Schwartz of the Doyle Dane
Bernbach advertising agency in New York. The ad
was green-lighted by Democrat Bill Moyers who
later found fame as a television journalist for
the PBS network.
Moyers also coined the anti-Goldwater slogan "In
your guts, you know he's nuts." (based on
Goldwater's slogan "In your heart, you know he's
right.")
Script from Daisy Girl Ad Campaign
In a meadow, a small
girl plucks daisy petals.
Girl:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 7, 8, 9,
9
Ominous male voice counts
down launch sequence
Male voice:
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3,
2,1
Close up of girl's face as
camera progressively zooms in on her eye.
Overlay an atomic explosion into the pupil
of her eye.
Voice of President
Johnson:
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.
Show message: Vote
for President Johnson on November 3rd
Male Voice:
Vote for President Johnson
on November 3rd. The stakes are too high
to stay home.
