Iowa Ads Got Unlikely Results

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. (More Election 2008 stories.)