Strong (advertisement)

"Strong" is an American political advertisement that aired on television as part of Rick Perry's 2012 presidential campaign. The advertisement was broadcast since December 7, 2011, for the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries.

"Strong"

Client	Rick Perry 2012 presidential campaign
Running time	30 seconds
Release date	December 7, 2011
Country	United States

Development

The "edgy and viscerally anti-gay" script was proposed by Nelson Warfield, Perry's campaign spokesman who had previously worked on the Bob Dole 1996 presidential campaign.^[1] It was intended to be "big and dramatic" in order to "cut through the clutter" of the campaign.^[1] It was conceptualized a week after the "oops" moment – a heavily publicized gaffe by Perry during a November 9, 2011, Republican primary debate, in which he was unable to remember the name of a federal agency he wished to eliminate.^[1][2] Perry strategist Tony Fabrizio was supportive of Warfield's script; however, some speechwriters were unaware of it until after the ad had aired.^[1] On November 21, 2011, highly positive polls of Republican voters were reported internally in the campaign on the ad's language.^[1]

The ad was targeted at Christian, socially conservative voters. It was the second such ad of Perry's campaign, with "Faith" having been released the previous week.^[3] It was intended to help boost Perry's ranking in the polls, "gambling that the religious conservatives who typically dominate Iowa's kickoff caucuses will warm to his candidacy," and to contrast his religious background with those of opponents Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.^[4]

"Strong" was thirty seconds in length and aired on Iowa broadcast and cable television stations.^[4] It was released on December 7, 2011.^[1] The ad featured Perry "clad casually in a tan jacket and open-collared shirt and strolling through a soft-focused pastoral scene", with a "distinctly Coplandesque soundtrack".^[5] Perry addressed the following speech to the camera:

I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian. But you don't need to be in the pew every Sunday to know that there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school. As president, I'll end Obama's war on religion and I'll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage. Faith made America strong; it can make her strong again. I'm Rick Perry, and I approve this message.

— Rick Perry^[6]

Reactions

"Strong" raised controversy for addressing gay people in the military and religion in public schools, largely due to Perry's disapproval of the former.^[7] Time magazine noted that "While [Perry]'s not the first Republican nominee to promote religion as a campaign platform, he just might be the most provocative", as the ad "wastes no time in pushing two of the hottest political buttons in the county".^[7] Perry was heckled during a campaign stop after the ad's release, accused of having an anti-gay bias.^[8] The Human Rights Campaign criticized the ad, with a director stating "We cannot be in the business of forcing people to choose between who they are, who they love, and their faith. Rick Perry's rhetoric presumes that you can't be Christian and supportive of LGBT people".^[9]

Fabrizio was a particular target of backlash from gay activists, as he himself was gay.^[1] The Huffington Post, among other media outlets, reported that Fabrizio had been against the ad, which was seen as evidence of division among Perry's staff.^[1] ABC News reported that communications director Ray Sullivan "admitted there was a disagreement within the camp about the advertisement".^[9] According to journalist Jay Root, who wrote a book about the Perry presidential campaign, "There was internal division over the Strong Ad, alright, but it wasn't between Fabrizio and Warfield. It was between the Washington consultants who would probably never work for Perry again and the Texas loyalists who thought the governor was harming his legacy" by airing the ad.^[1]

During the primaries, "Strong" became one of the most disliked videos on YouTube.^[10] The Christian Science Monitor reported on December 12, 2011 that it had received 20,000 likes, over 646,000 dislikes, and 4.7 million views.^[11] The ad received significant media coverage for reportedly receiving more dislikes than the video for "Friday" by singer Rebecca Black (although this may not have been technically accurate).^[10]

Parodies

The video went viral and inspired hundreds of parodies, or "Perrodies".^[11][1] One of Perry's opponents, Fred Karger, created one such parody, featuring himself saying "I'm Rick Perry, and I'm ashamed to admit to makin' that ad about gays in the military and all... I guess I'm just desperate because I'm so low in the polls".^[11] The Colbert Report ran a segment on Perry's "pro-Christmas ad" with two Santas kissing under the mistletoe.^[9]