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Iowa Ads Got Unlikely Results

Caucusgoers may have known too much about 'establishment' candidates

By Lucas Laursen, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 7, 2008 10:45 AM CST

(Newser) – The Iowa caucus results shook up more than just political campaigns, reports Advertising Age, as age-old advertising truisms also flew out the window. Mitt Romney’s $7.9 million on broadcast ads should have sealed the deal against Mike Huckabee, who spent just $1.7 million. Like Barack Obama (who did outspend his rivals), Huckabee came across as anti-establishment, which may have clinched his victory.

The lesson: Message might matter as much as media saturation. Romney and Hillary Clinton got through to Iowans, but “the more they saw, the less they liked," says a Huffington Post exec. Demographics turned out to be less reliable than expected, too, as younger women sided with Obama over Clinton.

[Images (4)]

[Videos (1)]

This image from video released by the Huckabee Campaign shows Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in a campaign ad titled "What Really Matters". In the ad Huckabee,... (Associated Press)

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., gestures at a rally in Nashua, N.H., Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (Associated Press)

A television ad for Democratic presidential hopeful, former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., is previewed in the control room of KCCI Television, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Steve... (Associated Press)

Television director Arijana Huskanovic previews an ad for Democratic presidential hopeful, former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., in the control room of KCCI Television, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, in Des Moines,... (Associated Press)

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Iowa Ads Got Unlikely Results