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Film, Video [Peace, little girl--political spot] Variant title: Peace, little girl Lyndon B. Johnson 1964 campaign political spot / Variant title: Daisy : Lyndon B. Johnson 1964 campaign political spot / Variant title: Daisy girl : Lyndon B. Johnson 1964 campaign political spot / Variant title: Daisy political spot / Variant title: Daisy ad / Variant title: Daisy advertisement / Variant title: Daisy spot / Variant title: Little girl : countdown / Variant title: Lyndon Johnson : Daisy

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About this Item

Title

  • [Peace, little girl--political spot]

Other Title

  • Variant title: Peace, little girl Lyndon B. Johnson 1964 campaign political spot
  • Variant title: Daisy : Lyndon B. Johnson 1964 campaign political spot
  • Variant title: Daisy girl : Lyndon B. Johnson 1964 campaign political spot
  • Variant title: Daisy political spot
  • Variant title: Daisy ad
  • Variant title: Daisy advertisement
  • Variant title: Daisy spot
  • Variant title: Little girl : countdown
  • Variant title: Lyndon Johnson : Daisy

Summary

  • A girl stands in a meadow, picking petals of a daisy as she incorrectly counts from one to ten. Once she reaches "nine," she pauses and a booming male voice is heard counting the numbers backward from "ten," in a manner similar to the start of a missile launch countdown. A zoom of the video still concentrates on the girl's right eye until her pupil fills the screen, which is then replaced by the flash and sound of a nuclear explosion. A voice-over by Johnson states emphatically, "These are the stakes! To make a world in which all of God's children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die."

Names

  • Schwartz, Tony, film producer
  • Luiz, Monique, actor
  • Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973, narrator
  • Meyers, Sidney, 1906-1969, art director
  • Drury, Drummond, 1912-1989, cinematographer
  • Doyle Dane Bernbach Inc., production company

Created / Published

  • United States : NBC, 1964-09-07.

Headings

  • -  Political campaigns--United States
  • -  Presidents--United States--Election
  • -  Atomic bomb--Social aspects--United States
  • -  Nuclear warfare--Social aspects--United States

Genre

  • Political television commercials

Notes

  • -  Monique Corzilius.
  • -  Narration: Lyndon B. Johnson.
  • -  Art director, Sidney Meyers ; cinematographer, Drummond Drury ; [edited by Aaron Ehrlich, Tony Schwartz, Sidney Myers?].
  • -  Precise responsibility for some of the content of this film is not clear in sources. Aaron Ehrlich claimed to have edited the Daisy spot. Tony Schwartz said he gave him an exact blueprint of what to do. Sidney Myers said that editing was collaborative and that he came up with the slow zoom on the girl's face.
  • -  Broadcast September 7, 1964 at 9:50 PM E.S.T. on NBC during the network movie, David and Bathsheba.
  • -  Filmed in Highbridge Park, New York.
  • -  Summary adapted from Wikipedia.
  • -  Sources used: Wikipedia WWW site, viewed February 13, 2024; Geerhart, B. Daisy: the complete history of an infamous & iconic ad, 2007, as printed from www.conelrad.com.

Medium

  • 1 video file (digital) (approximately 1 min.) : sd., b&w.

Source Collection

  • Tony Schwartz Collection (Library of Congress)

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2024601043

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

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Credit Line: Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Schwartz, Tony, Film Producer, Monique Luiz, Lyndon B Johnson, Sidney Meyers, and Drummond Drury. Peace, Little Girl--Political Spot. produceds by Doyle Dane Bernbach Inc.Uction Company United States: NBC, -09-07, 1964. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/2024601043/.

APA citation style:

Schwartz, T., Luiz, M., Johnson, L. B., Meyers, S. & Drury, D. (1964) Peace, Little Girl--Political Spot. Doyle Dane Bernbach Inc.Uction Company, prod United States: NBC, -09-07. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2024601043/.

MLA citation style:

Schwartz, Tony, Film Producer, et al. Peace, Little Girl--Political Spot. prod by Doyle Dane Bernbach Inc.Uction Company United States: NBC, -09-07, 1964. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2024601043/>.