First in a series from our Dustup 2016 NostADgia® desk

The first presidential campaign television commercials ran in 1952 (the Eisenhower/Stevenson I bakeoff.)

At the time, apparently, the inaugural political admakers thought that borrowing from the entertainment world might be a good approach. Thus, the campaign song.

Via the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project:

“I Like Ike”

Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1952

An almost purely positive piece about candidate personality, this is from the campaign of Republican Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. A catchy jingle, along with lyrics not totally devoid of substance, it is essentially a device for reminding voters of their personal attachment to the most popular living American of his time. In this regard, note the closing theme that “we’ll take Ike to Washington”. Jingles were one of the early approaches to televised campaign advertising that would eventually go out of fashion.

The spot itself (cartoon visuals compliments of Walt Disney Studios) . . .

Read the rest at Dustup 2016.