Every two years, give or take, America rubs its irritated and bloodshot eyeballs, bracing for another flood of political advertising.  

Overwhelmingly brownish in taste and texture. Formulaic, repetitive.  

Uninspiring.   

Which is odd. After all, it’s all in service of a candidate aspiring to be a leader. Or trying to persuade the unpersuaded to vote yea or nay on this or that.

All of which would seem more easily accomplished when people are, I dunno, inspired.

So at the risk of feeling like we’re shouting into the cold and uncaring void, repeat after me:

Political advertising doesn’t have to suck. 

It can be attention-getting. Watchable. Meaningful. Memorable.  

Delivering the kind of informational and entertainment value that seals the deal in the unwritten contract between advertiser and audience.

Translation: it can be every bit as effective as the best of brand. Even while following the specialized rules of this very peculiar road.

Nothing novel about that: every category from fashion to pharma has its own nuances.

In politics, for example, you see a lot of what one of California’s top political consultants likes to call “brochures on TV.”  Fact piled on fact, all head and no heart, a pedantic lecture wrapped in plastic sincerity—giving the audience exactly zero reason to suffer its full length.

So, they don’t.  

In politics, for example, a lot of people view negative ads with unbridled loathing. And yet, the pros will universally reply, they work. How to bridge the gap? Try humor, wit, sarcasm, or even credible, not cloying, drama.

Anything but the same darkly ominous voiceover blending into the same darkly grainy portrait of the despised opponent; one 30-second assault blending into the next into the next.

Repeat after me: political advertising doesn’t have to suck.

In fact, in today’s media environment, I’d argue it’s mandatory that political ads avoid sucking at all costs.  Because even if that dull and dumb :15 social video only costs $20 to boost, it’s still unaffordable. 

And if you doubt that, here’s why: 

More from this soapbox coming soon.

And now, a word from our sponsor. By way of proving the point, and with the most obvious of self-interest in plain view, here are 3 examples of what I mean by “doesn’t have to suck”: