Attack ads and negative ads are not the same. However, they grew out of the same gene pool of political campaign strategy, attempting to annoy, cause fear, and basically present a slice of the ‘truth’ in 30 seconds.

Most ads, ‘scheduled’ to run on YouTube, MetaCafe and similar video sites for long tail value, are created fast, with no time for the finer points for which video production housed charge an arm and a leg. In fact, the more amateurish the video is, the more street cred (and YouTube hits) it gets. No wonder some well-funded organizations are tapping into this high-budget, low tech formula.

This ad, (by NFIB) a slam against Tom Allen, is fairly well produced, even if it is in poor taste. Actors play government snoops, there’s the use of an eighties (Mission Impossible?) split-screen technique, the grainy black & white consciously done. It’s not the kind of low-budget ad made by a bunch of amateurs one evening over beers. Someone had a storyboard, paid attention to detail here.

Unfortunately for the NFIB, this ad has been viewed fewer than 150 times on YouTube. Maybe YouTube audiences have higher standards!