The Many Layers of the 'Celeb' Ad

One of the amazing things about the new 'Celeb' ad from the McCain campaign is how many layers there are to the imagery of Paris Hilton and Brittney Spears and how that imagery relates to Obama, making the attack ad even worse than it would appear on the surface.

First off, there is no doubt that the McCain campaign wants subliminal messages about Paris and Brittney to be transferred over to Obama, as they've admitted as such.

So what imagery are we talking about here?  Campaign chief Rick Davis says that he's trying to get across the idea that Obama is "frivolous and irresponsible" just like Paris and Brittney.  But this is pretty high level.

Let's get the most obvious thing out of the way:  McCain's campaign is basically saying that Obama is a so-called "bad" celebrity.

Let's unpack this claim.  Why exactly are Paris and Brittney sees as "frivolous and irresponsible"?

1. They take for granted and abuse their wealth and fame (see: uppity)


2. They're over-sexualized


3. They have bad family lives (especially Brittney)


4. They are undeservedly famous (at least Paris is, and does anyone still remember when Brittney was actually successful?)

OK, let's take a look at these:

Point 1 (they take for granted and abuse their wealth and fame) and Point 4 (they are undeservedly famous) largely go together as they relate to Obama.  The first point is basically the definition of "uppity," and the "uppity black male" is basically the definition of an African American who is above where they should be.  This ties directly into the "they are undeservedly famous" lines, as Obama is not only a celebrity when he probably shouldn't be, but he is undeservedly so as well.

Now, what do many people think of when they tie "black man" and "undeserved" together?  That's right: Affirmative Action.  This unskilled, no-accomplishments black man is trying to undeservedly take away a job from a higher qualified, more deserving white man.  Obama has no right to the Presidency because he hasn't done anything worthwhile.  He's just an uppity celebrity black man who is trying to use his fame to unjustly take the Presidency from John McCain, who is obviously entitled to the position.

The second point is that many people see Paris and Brittney as over-sexualized.  There are basically two ways to take this, neither of them respectable:

1. Obama is himself over-sexualized.  I'm not sure this has any inherent racist undertones and I'm not sure anyone who believe this claim anyway, but it is certainly an image that Obama is morally corrupt.

2. Obama likes dating your white daughters.  This is take which is trying this ad to the "Call Me" ad run against Harold Ford, Jr. in 2006.  This isn't necessarily a bad reading either, given that the person who produced that ad now works for McCain.

The 3rd point is basically the image that Paris and especially Brittney is a bad family person.  This one might be the most personal of all the attacks, as it suggests that Obama would basically put himself above anything and everything else - even his own family.  This might make even more sense given Obama's response to McCain's claim that Obama wants to lose to the terrorists so he can win the election, by Obama saying "do you think I would risk my own family."  This reading of the ad would suggest that the response is "yes, you would."

Choosing Paris Hilton and Brittney Spears wasn't a coincidence.  It's not because "they're the 2nd and 3rd most famous people in the world" since, as Newsday notes, neither didn't even make Forbes' Celebrity 100 list of the supposed top 100 celebrities.

There may even be more layers than this to the ad, but these were some of the most obvious ones to me.

Cross Posted at Mad Wombat

•  mojo jarjo

  OK, I know that has been discussed to death by now, but I'm not sure if I've seen a comprehensive list of "readings" that can be taken from the ad like this

  by FleetAdmiralJ on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 05:59:44 AM PDT

  •  Proof of your thesis

    Great diary.

    The proof that this is a more subtle "Harold Ford" ad comes from the fact that the McCain camp is already accusing OBAMA of playing the race card via defending himself against this ad.  From Reuters,

    McCain camp accuses Obama of playing race card

    RACINE, Wisconsin (Reuters) - Republican White House hopeful John McCain accused Democrat Barack Obama on Thursday of playing racial politics in some of the most biting back-and-forth of the presidential campaign.

    The negative twist in the campaign for the November 4 election was prompted by a McCain television advertisement on Wednesday that called Obama a celebrity akin to star-crossed U.S. personalities Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

    In response, Obama said McCain was trying to scare voters away from him by pointing out he had "a funny name, and he doesn't look like all the presidents on the dollar bills and the five dollar bills."

    Obama, whose father was Kenyan, would be the first black U.S. president. Only white men, most of them former presidents, are on U.S. paper currency.

    "Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It's divisive, negative, shameful and wrong," McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said in a written statement.

    McCain agreed with Davis, telling reporters he was "very disappointed" that Obama had used the race card.

    "Race will not have any role in my campaign, nor is there any place for it. I'm disappointed that he's used it."

    And you're going to mention Obama's race being a non-factor every week from now till November, right?

    As if a guy whose race is his biggest negative among whites is going to play the race card.  Watch how the GOP will accuse Obama of "the race card" at every turn.  The mere accusation not only plays the card but also feeds into the claim that Obama is some undeserving, uppity black guy who's only where he is because he took advantage of decades of gaming the system through affirmative action and political correctness by blacks who are too shiftless to work their way up the ladder like all us God-fearing (abortion- and tax-hating) white folks.

    Well, you know the drill.  It's the same message since 1980.

    by gsbadj on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 06:36:38 AM PDT

•  Still find it funny

  They are mocking a kid of parents who are max donors to McCain and who's granddaddy gave 50k+ tho the NRC and McCain....and also a person who said we should trust Bush.

  Couldn't find 2 Democratic Celebrities to mock I guess...prolly because they tend to be the Natalie Portman's and George Clooney's of the world.

  by marcvstraianvs on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 06:01:29 AM PDT

  •  right

    and they couldn't use OJ because even they knew that doing that would be going over the line

    by FleetAdmiralJ on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 06:02:29 AM PDT

    •  And tying him to two oversexed white girls isn't?

      They know exactly who they're picking to compare him to.

      by gsbadj on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 06:40:23 AM PDT

  •  i suppose they could have used

    Sean Penn and Michael Moore, since they like beating them up as flaming liberals, unless they didn't want to admit that they were celebs.

    by FleetAdmiralJ on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 06:05:14 AM PDT

  •  People who give that much money to Republicans

    probably don't mind selling out their families too much. Its just business, you know. Nothing personal.

    by global citizen on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 06:18:25 AM PDT

•  I think drawing lines to Hilton, especially, is

  absurd. They've already tried to call Obama elitist and yet, with Hilton releasing a new line of shoes that are well below the cut ( in terms of cost) for even John McCain (he likes $500+ shoes), Hilton's shoe line is well, well beneath McCain.

  by Stand Strong on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 06:07:48 AM PDT

  •  Furthermore,

    this is yet another classic case of Republican projectionism. Case in point: Digby found a scrubbed yet still cached page on McCain's blog of a Newsmax article that ends, simply, "A political celebrity, McCain is considered a top contender for the nomination."

    Rather presumptious and narcissistic, IMO.

    by Stand Strong on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 06:10:40 AM PDT

•  More Blowback

  McCain Alienates Celebrity Friends John McCain used to be one of Hollywood's favorite Republicans, but the Los Angeles Times reports that many people who used to donate to him now deeply resent his "Celeb" ad: "But the truth is most of Hollywood won't return McCain's calls nowadays because many of the stars and executives he initially impressed now believe the maverick stance they found so attractive was just a pose."

  by Muzikal203 on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 06:19:19 AM PDT

•  Reading the entrails of a sheep

  Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar (Freud.)  McCain's people just aren't that 'deep'.  In his one sided conversation on CNN yesterday, he proved how shallow the McCain campaign really is.

  by JFinNe on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 06:22:14 AM PDT

  •  perhaps

    but given that he has the "call me" ad guy on board, I'm not sure we can assume that they would be oblivious to these things. McCain himself might be, but the people doing day-to-day things probably aren't.

    by FleetAdmiralJ on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 06:25:16 AM PDT

    •  Rick Davis was left out of my comment

      It was Davis talking over and above Andrea Mitchell yesterday on CNN and he barely made sense.  Of course you may be correct that the people who made the ad are by far way too clever.

      by JFinNe on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 06:32:04 AM PDT

•  interesting analysis at

  Bag news notes

  by ballerina X on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 06:22:16 AM PDT

•  He's exploiting Britney (and Paris) in order to

  make a buck selling her image.

  Oh wait, sorry, I got him confused with a tabloid.

  Even if there is subtle racism that his team buried in the ad (I don't disagree with your points 1, 3 and 4), the ad itself is absolutely disgusting and no better than the National Enquirer.  He's using a vid of Britney to smear/slander someone else, for gods' sake, just because of her personal character and her troubled life, not her accomplishments (because like you said, she is accomplished).

  Tell me, how is that respectable?  In any form?

  John McNationalEnquirer.  That's my new name for him.

  by LincolnLight on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 06:44:54 AM PDT