Daisy Girl Ad

Since 1952 when televised political advertising became a staple of presidential elections, no single advertisement has achieved the notoriety of the 1964 spot known as the “Daisy Girl” ad, which was aired as part of Democrat Lyndon Johnson's campaign against Republican Barry Goldwater.

The 60-second advertisement opens with a young girl counting as she picks petals off of a daisy. Approximately 20 seconds into the spot the audio switches to an adult male voice going through a more ominous-sounding countdown. The image of the girl is frozen, and the camera zooms all the way into the pupil of her eye. At this point the countdown reaches “zero” and the next image the viewer sees is an atomic bomb exploding. President Johnson provides the voice over, “These ...