Best Ron Paul Ad EVER

That was awesome. And no you dont need apples aporval. I am sure all of that footage is royality free. Apple doesnt have a monopoly on open domain images with voiceover.

I don't think anyone's said this yet, but regardless of anything else the campaign would have to get Apple's approval really. Or rather their endorsement. Either way, I love these ads. The campaign could in theory use it. I agree certain sections could be changed and putting in Jefferson and company would be awesome. Maybe the famous John Trumbull painting. That would be cool. Just as long as the theme of people made sense in the context of the campaign.

As an ad for general consumption, I think this is the best I've seen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_gKOCb4QBA

Whether the campaign could use this (rights problems?) I don't know, but it covers the ground perfectly, and it rocks.

IF Ron Paul wins the Republican nomination, something sort-of similar to this might be useful. Right now, however, it would be a disaster. Besides, of course, being a complete ripoff of one of Apple's "Think Different" ad series from the mid-1990s:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_Different

Most of the figures in the ad would be immediate poison for the "conservative" Republican base which the campaign must reach during primary season. It's great that Ron Paul's appeal reaches across conventional party lines, but in the real world, right now, all the "liberal" and "independent" young folks who're flocking to the rallies and online forums are irrelevant, because they can't vote in most Republican primaries.

In fact, what we need to do now, if we want to win, is be careful not to wave around pictures of John Lennon (much though I love him), Bob Dylan, Muhammad Ali, Jim Henson, Ted Turner (!), even Martin Luther King, Jr. Associating Ron Paul with any of these figures is possibly the quickest way to kill him in the primaries. What needs to be emphasized now is that Ron Paul has more respect for "the rules" -- the real rules, i.e. the Constitution -- than the other candidates. Which, in fact, he does.

And, although one of Dr. Paul's most endearing traits is his sincerely open-minded tolerance, he really doesn't have a lot in common with most of the people in this ad, other than the fact that he's presently bucking the status quo. He really is a conservative mid-America Christian who's never taken any drugs (not even alcohol) nor been part of the "counterculture" in any way. He actually isn't looking to "shake things up" or "do something new"; he wants to return to something old, i.e. the truth that never changes.

When I met Ron Paul in 1988, what deeply struck me was the fact that, although he and I have little in common culturally, spiritually we were on the same wavelength. But there's no way to express that in a TV ad; it's an intuitive realization. But then, of course, I'm a former liberal; thirty years ago, before I woke up, I probably wouldn't have "gotten" Ron Paul at all.

On further thought, I would prefer to see no attention brought to this "ad" at all, because it's perfect for Ron Paul's opponents. All any of them -- Giuliani, Romney, Huckabee -- would have to do is put this on the air (assuming Apple would give permission, which of course they wouldn't) and show Republican voters in NH, NY or anywhere who Ron Paul's "real" supporters are, and the Ron Paul Revolution would be over. Finis. Dead in the water. The End. And we could all just go home and think about how to survive eight years (probably more) of Hillary.

I agree that this is a beautiful ad. I can resonate with it because I see myself as one of those depicted in the ad (even though I've never made the headlines and I'm basically invisible to all but a few people.)

I would like to respectfully suggest that a good combination of "crazies" should be used so that it neither tips more to the left nor the right. Ron Paul is a true conservative, which is not at all what we are seeing currently. I think he once said true conservatism comes very close to true liberalism (correct me if I'm wrong.) If Paul can speak well of Kucinich then that should say something about the open mindedness of a true conservative, even if he or she can disagree on certain issues. Likewise, (sort of) I would keep John Lennon in the ad and I would put him right alongside Goldwater, and I would maybe include another true conservative and keep the rest of the ad as it is. But I would not use someone like Nixon, for intsance. He despised John Lennon, who was simply challenging the status quo. I very much like the idea that Gandhi is in this. From what I understand he is one of Ron Paul's heroes. Overall, a well balanced combination would make it sort of universal, somewhat like Ron Paul's message in which there are some things about it that people agree with and some things they don't agree with while at the same time he makes good sense to everyone where it matters most. Of course, those who are stuck at the extreme ends of the liberal/conservative spectrum will be the hardest to dislodge no matter what we do.

Put another way, if we were to ask Ron Paul himself what he felt about the "crazies" being used in this ad, I am sure he would see where they made the most sense in terms of liberty and freedom, etc. regardless of party affiliation and the way each went about challenging the status quo and he would comment positively on that even though there might be certain aspects of the individual in question that he would not regard favorably. So, I'm just saying, if we could see this through the eyes of Ron Paul himself (if that were possible) we might come closer to making the ad more what it should be like.

Very nice ad. It moved me from deep within.

...doesn't mean the gist of the idea can be used.

Rewrite the words, and the music, change the imagery...

but the idea of this ad should be the same.

(even better, if we put imagery of Goldwater and Reagen as "crazies")

Just found the original on You Tube. Still works, but certainly cannot be used by the campaign...

Its excellent. And based on a slight difference in the production values, I'm pretty sure that the final image of RP is placed in substitution of a corporate logo and slogan.

It looks like an AMEX ad, or some other big dollar production.

If I'm wrong, then hats off to the producer. And I'd love to know how they got Paul Giamati to do the voiceover.