“Peace, Little Girl” (Video link to Library of Congress - above)

the tv commercial that shocked a nation:

“PEACE, LITTLE GIRL”

The date was September 7, 1964, and the nation had settled in, watching NBC’s “Monday Movie” and relaxing. Suddenly, one of the most shocking television ads of its time appeared, and its stark impact is still being felt today.

Officially entitled “Peace, Little Girl”, and appearing gentle in the first few seconds, its sudden, brutal juxtaposition of an innocent child counting daisy petals with an atomic bomb blast struck at the heart of very real American fears of nuclear annihilation. The potential for a nuclear disaster was not an abstract concept: the “Cold War” with the Soviet Union had been simmering for years since the Berlin Wall was built, and the Cuban Missile Crisis was so frighteningly fresh that nuclear-strike preparation drills were actively practiced by schoolchildren. America itself had used atomic weapons on civilians, just two decades earlier. The ad’s unexpectedly stark message, shown at prime family viewing time (7:30 pm) during the NBC telecast of “David and Bathsheba” (a 1950’s biblical epic), hit TV viewers like a punch to the gut.

Now commonly known as “Daisy”, the Lyndon Baines Johnson presidential campaign spot is one of the most influential political ads in modern US history. The advertisement shocked viewers - one US Senator protested that President Johnson was "scaring the wits out of children in order to pressure their parents.” The ad was voluntarily pulled by the campaign. But by then it was all over the news, talk shows, and resounding within the public’s imagination. Republican politicians were angry. So angry, in fact, that the publicity they stirred up by protesting “Daisy” backfired dramatically, ultimately helping LBJ defeat Goldwater in a landslide.

With its simple yet shocking message and imagery, this early “attack ad” solidified the relationship between The White House and Madison Avenue. The ad became a blueprint for modern political advertising style and helped underscore the importance of campaign media, especially films. As recently as the 2016 presidential election, the style, theme and concepts used in Peace, Little Girl have been referenced to cast doubt on the stability and character of political opponents.