Political advertising has produced many a visual image with unintendedly scary undertones. Who will ever forget Michael Dukakis riding in that tank? Sam Campana's campaign for mayor of Scottsdale, however, has moved to the technological forefront of frightening voters by accident.
The Flash has obtained a Campana for Mayor flier that her opponents would have produced, if only they had thought of it. In the flier, a picture of longtime Scottsdale Mayor Herb Drinkwater, an unmistakably male human being, is gradually altered--or computer "morphed"--until it becomes a picture of Campana, who, her first name notwithstanding, is most decidedly female.
One of the intermediate morphs in the seven-image montage may garner Campana the entire transvestite and transsexual vote of Scottsdale. The flier's overall message could appeal to voters in search of public officials who are unthinking clones of other public officials. But who else would be favorably impressed by this Herb-turns-Sam pastiche?
Campana says the flier, being projected as one of the prefilm advertisements at Harkins Theatres, was meant simply to explain that Scottsdale soon would have a new mayor, and it would not be Drinkwater, who is retiring. The high-tech ad also intends to inject a bit of humor into the mayoral campaign, she says.
"Don't be mean to us. We're just having a little fun," Campana says.
So's The Flash, ma'am. So's The Flash.
Executive Relaxation
Perhaps Governor Fife Symington saw Campana's ad when he took time out from his increasingly busy schedule recently to watch a movie at the Harkins Camelview 5 theatre. His choice? According to theatre staff, the Fifester checked out Nick of Time, a thriller involving a plot to assassinate a governor. It's hard to say what might have inspired the choice.
"They made a movie about his line of work," says Camelview manager John Motley. "If they made a movie about my line of work, I guess I'd want to see it." No word on any postflick gubernatorial thumbs-up/thumbs-down.
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