After GOP frontrunner Donald Trump mocked a reporter with a disability, Ohio Gov. John Kasich shot back with an ad titled “Is He Worthy?” Kasich, who’s been hovering in the single digits in national polls, may not win the 2016 race, but he definitely scored some points with one of the best attack ads of the 2016 presidential election.
Gov. Kasich also had one of the best biographical ads of the season. The spot produced by New Day for America, the Super PAC supporting Kasich, has the Ohio governor speaking directly to the camera, beginning his story by talking about his late father, a mailman.
Sen. Bernie Sanders impressed pundits and voters alike when he launched his biographical ad earlier this year. The spot quickly goes through Sanders’ life introducing him as an “honest leader.”
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine published in September, Trump made disparaging remarks about former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, the only woman in the Republican field.
“Look at that face!” the real estate mogul said. “Would anyone vote for that?” Fiorina hit back with a sleek ad, paid for by the Carly for America Committee. “This is the face of a 61-year-old woman. I am proud of every year and every wrinkle,” Fiorina said.
Hillary Clinton ended years of speculation on whether she would run for president a second time with this political ad in April. The former secretary of state was praised for not focusing on herself but rather on the people she’s hoping to help. Clinton appears in the last 17 seconds of the 2:18 minute video that has garnered close to 5 million views. It also made history as the first official presidential announcement video to feature a same-sex couple.
Clinton’s scored even more points when she aired four TV ads in Iowa and New Hampshire during the GOP debate in Boulder, Colorado, in October. Simple and to the point, the spots focused on four different women, using their stories to make the case for equal pay, higher wages and affordable college.
Just one day after Trump famously announced Lindsey Graham’s cell phone number during a televised campaign rally in July, the South Carolina senator found the perfect way to respond. In a short video produced by IJReview titled “How to Destroy Your Cell Phone With Lindsey Graham,” the 2016 candidate could be seen testing a myriad of ways to obliterate his mobile device. The video not only managed to show the senator’s lighter side, it clocked an eye-popping 2 million views.
You don’t have to like Ben Carson to appreciate this spot. Titled, “These Hands,” the ad features people from all walks of life with the two-word phrase printed on their palms. As they look straight into the camera, the ad lists their individual accomplishments and occupations, with an inspirational soundtrack to strike just the right note.
Perhaps one of the best political ads of the year was one that never aired. Laid to a voiceover from Biden’s commencement speech at Yale University Class Day earlier this year, “My Redemption” was produced by the Draft Biden Super PAC. It was supposed to air during the first Democratic debate in Las Vegas in October but was pulled after Biden said it treaded on “sacred ground.” The spot opens with the story of the 1972 car accident that killed Biden’s first wife, Neilia, and their 13-month-old daughter, Naomi.
