Romney for President, Inc.
 
"Ocean"
60-second ad run in IA, NH and SC starting July 16, 2007.

National Media, Inc.
 
 

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[Music, ocean SFX, seagull SFX]

Gov. Mitt Romney voiceover:  I'm deeply troubled about the culture that surrounds our kids today. [seagull SFX]

Following the Columbine shootings, Peggy Noonan described our world as 'the ocean in which our children now swim.'   [seagull SFX]

She described a cesspool of violence, and sex, and drugs, and indolence, and perversions. 

She said that the boys who did the shooting had 'inhaled too deeply in the oceans in which they swam.'

[Music up tempo]  I'd like to see us clean up the water in which our kids are swimming.

I'd like to keep pornography from coming up on their computers.

I'd like to keep drugs off the streets.

I'd like to see less violence and sex on TV and in video games and in movies.

And if we get serious about this, we can actually do a great deal to clean up the water in which our kids and our grandkids are swimming.

I'm Mitt Romney and I approve this message.

 

 
Observations: This is very different from previous, more mundane Romney ads.  Romney does not even appear on the screen except at the close; instead the viewer sees various scenes of the ocean as Romney provides the voiceover.  Keeping with the ocean and beach pacing, the producers did not try to squeeze the message into 30 seconds, but opted for a less rushed 60-second ad.  The ad is distinctive and effective, however it is lacking in any specifics about how Romney would attempt to achieve his objectives. 

Response from the Brownback campaign.