The Cain Campaign: Questionable advertising or complete genius?

Tiger Hi-Line Staff

Herman Cain, potential Republican presidential candidate for 2012, flew relatively under the radar for most of the early primary season, but in the last couple weeks, he has risen to the tops of some polls with his unconventional campaign style.

Evidence of his unique ways include his new ad featuring his chief of staff, Mark Block, smoking a cigarette and telling people to get involved and support Cain.

The ad then cuts to a very creepy headshot of Cain while a song praising America plays in the background.

This ad has shifted to a viral video, and parodies are springing up with videos, including one with a man eating a sandwich and then cutting to Cain.

Even though the political correctness was thrown out the window, the amount of publicity coming from this single ad is astounding.

It seems like everyone and their dog knows about it.

If getting his name out there was his goal, it was a wise move for Cain.

It allowed him to get oodles of attention, all for little cost to him.

The trouble with the ad is also obvious, and it should go without saying that the candidate to run the most powerful country in the world should aspire to uphold his role to model a life of virtue.

As mentioned, Cain is the Republican front-runner, standing at 25 percent and being trailed by Mitt Romney, who has 21 percent of the vote.

Although the margin of error for this poll is four percentage points, it proves that despite Cain’s poor ethical advertising choice, his questionable approach is paying off early.

But it remains to be seen if Cain will be able to clear the smoke from his campaign, or will people always remember him as the candidate whose career burned to ashes from a smoking ad?