We Have Sunk Into the Unhinged Era of Political Ads

In the "unhinged era" of political advertisements, candidates and their supporters are no longer bound by conventional notions of persuasion. Instead, they are turning to increasingly bizarre and attention-grabbing tactics, often fueled by the power of artificial intelligence. In Texas, Republican opponent Ken Paxton has unleashed a series of AI-generated videos depicting his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, rewriting the Book of Genesis to include six genders.

The absurdity of the scene is meant to capture the public's imagination and drive engagement. Similarly, in New York, Republican Bruce Blakeman has created AI-generated videos featuring Governor Kathy Hochul gardening with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, supposedly plotting to raise costs for residents. Ohio has seen an artificial version of Senator Sherrod Brown appearing at a birthday party, taking leftover cake.

These ads, while absurd, may serve a different purpose than simply convincing voters. The sheer oddity of the content seems to be as important as any underlying message, as the mere act of watching and sharing has become a key goal. In 1952, presidential campaigns were already employing catchy jingles and other forms of commercial advertising.

By 1964, political ads had already reached new levels of alarmism, using apocalyptic imagery to sway voters. However, recent studies suggest that the proportion of pure attack ads has actually decreased compared to past elections. The real shift, then, is in the presentation of those attacks, with candidates opting for increasingly surreal and attention-grabbing content.

This shift is partly driven by the economic realities of political advertising. Campaigns can now produce dozens of digital variations and test which ones generate the most engagement, even if some ads are not effective in changing minds. AI has further expanded the possibilities for creating strange and surreal political content.

As the Wesleyan Media Project found, more than $137 million was spent on 220 AI-generated political advertisements in 2020. Republican candidates and affiliated groups accounted for the majority of this spending. While these ads may fail to persuade undecided voters, they can still serve other purposes, such as reinforcing existing views, attracting donations, or simply making a candidate unavoidable in the public consciousness.