Presidential stand-off source of inspiration

The Wall Street Journal has written a comprehensive article about all those ads with a presidential theme last week (leaving the Dutch ad out of course - god forbid they'd report on anything going on outside of Madison ave) which serves for good reading.
Amoungst ads mention (and depicted) are BBDO's Pizza hut ad, E. James White Communications' ad depicting the poorly designed ballot and Swatch's "Congratulations Mr. GOREBUSHOFF." ad in the New York Times.

Naturally, the Wall Street journal also has it hidden beyond the password protected part of their site.
You can sign up for a 30 day trial - or use the username cypherpunk1 and password cypherpunk1 in the timehonored tradition of the web.

Go to the article here: Ad Agencies Borrow Buzz From Electoral Cliffhanger

ON WEDNESDAY MORNING, a group of Pizza Hut marketing executives were reviewing their ad agency's ideas for commercials for a new product, the "Insider" pizza.

One compared the launch of the pizza with historic moments like the fall of the Berlin Wall. Someone pointed out that many of the fast-food chain's best customers weren't even alive during the Cold War. And then, it dawned on the executives that a far more recent historic moment was taking place right that minute, as Florida officials recounted votes and one of the strangest political dramas in U.S. history played out on television news.

By noon, Randy Gier, Pizza Hut's chief marketing officer, was on the phone with BBDO, a unit of Omnicom Group , asking for a commercial. The agency jumped, worked around the clock and came up with the 30-second spot that ran on Thursday evening, during air time purchased earlier for other Pizza Hut spots.

"Someday, you can tell your grandkids you were there when Florida decided the next president by voting for Bush -- no Gore ... no, no Bush ... no Gore," a narrator says. On a color-coded map of the U.S., Florida flashes from blue to red and back again. "Well," the voice continues, "at least you can tell them you tried the Insider pizza."