(upbeat music) - [Narrator] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.

- This week on Unspun.

The politics of campaign ads.

You know, you can't escape campaign commercials during election year, no matter how hard you try.

So we'll talk with a political ad expert, about what happens behind the scenes, before you see the ads on your screens.

Plus, the top five most effective types of political commercials.

No matter how much you hate them, I hate to tell you, they actually work.

And backspin, unfiltered, who is really responsible for most ads, especially the negative ones.

A hint, not the candidates.

Unspun is next, on PBS Charlotte.

(upbeat music) In today's America, welcome to the spin game.

Believe me, I know, I'm Pat McCrory.

When I was governor and mayor, I played the spin game.

I was played by the spin game.

But aren't we all done being spun?

Let's take the spin out of the world we're in, here, on Unspun.

(upbeat music) Good evening.

I'm Pat McCrory and welcome to Unspun.

A show that tells you what politicians are thinking but not saying.

The closer we get to election day, the more you'll see the same campaign commercials, over and over again.

Especially the negative ads.

You know, the ones I'm talking about, with the same old soundbite of a candidate taken completely out of context.

Maybe a black and white photo that makes a candidate look like they're up to no good.

And a creepy voice over saying the candidate is wrong for North Carolina or, even worse, wrong for America.

Here's an attack ad they did about me in my last election, the Republican Primary, for US Senate, - [Narrator] Pat McCrory called Romney.

- [Pat] The man of incredible courage.

- [Narrator] But on Trump.

- [Pat] Donald Trump is destroying democracy.

- [Narrator] No wonder Biden loves McCrory.

- [Pat] Donald Trump, get off the stage.

Let Joe Biden take over the number one position.

- [Narrator] The real Pat McCrory.

- Wow.

In that ad they called me a liberal faker.

Come on, really?

That ad, by the way, actually came from members of my own political party.

With friends like that, who needs enemies.

You know what, it's like that in both parties.

In nearly every election, false claims repeated again and again and again, on TV and now online too.

And here's the reason why.

Because behind the scenes, the candidates and the consultants all know that negative advertising actually works.

Who cares if your ads are misleading.

As long as they lead to more votes.

How about if we hook up every candidate to a lie detector, so we all know where candidates really stand on the issues and so voters know who's really telling them the truth and who's not.

Now wouldn't that make a great campaign commercial.

Later on Unspun, I'll count down my top five.

The top five reasons why political commercials work, no matter how much you hate them.

But first, let's hear from someone who was in the room when my governor's campaign commercials were actually being made.

He tells candidates how to get their message out and then he sells that brand to the public.

He's not cheap but his commercials work.

Fred, it's an honor to have you, thanks for being on the show.

- Sure, Pat, great to see you again.

- Fred, so, when a client picks you and you recruit clients also, what are some of the decision-making matrix that you use in determining what type of commercial that you're gonna use to sell this candidate and get them elected through a TV commercial?

- Well, I approach that differently than most do, Pat, I know you're not surprised to hear.

Most people come from a political background.

And they're issue-oriented and message-oriented.

I come from the real ad world.

And I'm candidate-oriented.

And I always say, that if I can come to adore my client, I think I can find a way to make ads that have people feel that heart and feel, no voter is gonna agree with every candidate, on every single issue.

But if they can like you or love you or look up to you or admire you, they will vote for you, even if they don't agree on some issues.

So, that's how I look at it.

So I look for people I like, like you.

(both laugh) - Well, I've seen you do some ads, for example, for the former governor of Michigan.

And he had a completely different personality than me.

I was a little more outgoing.

And in meeting him, what qualities did you see in him?

And then, how did you sell, at that time, the future governor of the state of Michigan, Snyder, Governor Snyder, - I'll give you a very quick version of how that happened.

I got hired before I ever met Rick.

They called me out of the clear blue sky, said, "We need you to do this race.

You're filming Wednesday."

This was on a Monday.

So I was on a plane the next day, to somewhere, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

And we met at a restaurant and there were eight people at the table and one empty chair.

So when I walked up, I knew that was mine.

I didn't say hello to Rick.

I went around the table and introduced myself.

And finally I got to him and I said "And you must be Rick."

And he, kinda, I noticed he already looked like a governor.

He was dressed well and all that.

But when I got to him and he goes, "Oh, hi, how are you?"

He had this, really, a terrible voice.

(Fred laughs) And I keep this little notepad in my pocket and I wrote something down.

And at the end of the dinner, normally I have 10 or 12 pages.

I just had one thing written down and that was the word, nerd.

(Pat laughs) So the whole time I'm hearing him talk, I mean, this guy, all he wanted for Christmas when he was six years old, was a subscription to Forbes Magazine.

And when he turned 12, he added Fortune and he graduated with his law degree and his CPA degree or whatever, early.

Before I even went to college.

You know, things like that.

He was a genius.

And a really good guy.

But he had an unusual persona.

So at the end of the dinner, he looked at me, he goes, "Okay, Mr. Hollywood, how are you gonna get me elected governor?"

And his wife was sitting across the table, round table.

And I couldn't look at her 'cause I figured she was going to kill me.

And I said, "Well, the way I look at it, Michigan has tried Republican governors, Democrat governors, male governors, female governors, mean governors, happy governors and nothing's worked.

You're still 50th out of 50 in any category that counts."

And then I paused and I looked right at Rick and I said, "I think it's time for a nerd."

(Pat laughs) And there's this deathly silence at the table.

And his wife suddenly shrieks out and goes, "Oh, honey, that's you!"

- Wow.

- And all of a sudden, I knew it was sold.

(Fred laughs) And I sat up all night, writing nerd commercials.

The general consultant changed it slightly, to one tough nerd.

But Rick Snyder became the nerd, for eight years, in Michigan.

Did a great job, I think, as governor.

I mean, to this day, he's introduced as one tough nerd.

- [Pat] Wow.

- So it stuck.

- Well, let's talk about negative ads.

Especially with the advent of super Pac Big-Money.

And it seems as though, you know, I've had some major negative ads against me, when running for governor several times, in the US Senate.

Tell me about the concept of what type of negative ad to use and why are they always in black and white?

(both laugh) - Well, first of all, I hate those ads.

And, you'll know you'll never see me do those.

I call them, Pat McCrory lies when he says such and such ads.

And they're always yellow flashing headlines.

I saw one last night, against a client of mine.

And it was the meanest thing I'd ever seen but, I wrote them immediately and said, "This isn't gonna work."

It's like, it sounds and looks like every other negative political ad out there.

I think the same guy voices all of them and he has this voice, kind of, you know, it's just.

- [Pat] Yeah.

- Oh, makes me ill.

They work if you just try to be just a little bit different.

Again, it's the ad background, versus the political background.

The political people think, as long as the message, you know, Pat McCrory steals cars for a living.

As long as the message is there, it'll work.

I don't.

I think that goes in one ear and out the other.

Especially these days.

Especially in the last five or six years, when there's such an enormous preponderance of negative work.

- [Pat] Real quick.

- Go ahead.

- Real quick, I'm just kinda curious too, the politics of campaign commercials, does it matter what position they're running for, versus what type of ad you run, whether it's congress or mayor or governor or the US Senate?

Because they're different roles, so therefore, do you adjust, based upon what they're running for?

- You Certainly adjust the issues because federal issues are different from gubernatorial issues.

- [Pat] Right.

- And things like that.

In my world, to me only, in my company, what really matters is whether they like you or not.

And whether they trust you or not.

Now, a governor, I always look at as a father or a grandfather, that just happens to have a few million children.

And you want to look up to that person, you wanna trust him, you wanna feel warmth for 'em.

A senator's not quite the same.

A senator, yes, you wanna like him, yes, you wanna look up to them but they're dealing with federal issues.

They're dealing with war in Iran, you know and things like that.

It's a different relationship.

Like, Rick Snyder could get away with one tough nerd because he was a really good guy and because you wanted somebody that had that feel for your family and was gonna go out there and do whatever it takes to make things work.

A little bit different in the Senate.

- In the remaining minute we have, I'm kinda curious, what are the two best ads that you think have really made a difference in a campaign, national or statewide?

And what do you think are the two worst ads?

I'm just curious, real quick, in this political game of political advertisements.

- Well, the worst ads, where could you start?

(both laugh) I think 99% of them are not only bad, they're a waste of money.

I look at it and I think that the candidate, you know, you guys work so hard to raise every dollar and then to put something on the air that looks like something everyone else did.

There was a big deal a few years ago, on the 10 best political ads of all time.

I did three of 'em.

I was very honored for that.

And I believe Rick Snyder's initial ad was one of those.

Best ads, I almost, Pat, have to say, for me because I don't wanna step on.

- [Pat] Go ahead, say it.

- Toes or anything.

But the first ad I did for Jim Inhofe, who's a United States senator, now retired and my uncle, put me in business.

In a pretty big way.

And it was grizzled, toothless, bearded, tattooed, convicts, wearing pink ballerina outfits.

(Pat laughs) And Jim, my uncle, thought I had been paid by his competitor.

He got livid with me and ordered me to pull it off the air.

Well, in those days, it took five days to get it off the air.

By the next morning, he'd gotten so many compliments, that the only time in his life, I might add, he called and apologized, said he was wrong.

Let me do whatever I wanted to run.

- Well, we haven't got time for the worst ad because you're none of the worst ads, you do positive ads and you did 'em for me.

And, listen, we're gonna have you back some time, to talk more about the politics of political ads and you're one of the best.

Fred, it's an honor to have you.

- Thank you Pat.

- [Pat] Thank you very much.

- Thank you.

- Next, PBS Charlotte's, Jeff Sonier, takes Unspun on the street, to hear your thoughts on the politics of campaign ads.

- Yeah, we're here in Freedom Park, which is pretty much free of all political advertising and we're asking people about all those candidates who are running for political office.

And all those campaign commercials they're running on television.

(gentle music) What do you think about the TV ads for candidates during election time?

- Well, there's so many of 'em, it seems to be getting people confused.

- [Jeff] How so?

- Well because, you know, until we learn exactly, you know, what everybody stands for and what they mean, you don't know who to vote for.

- [Jeff] Do you believe what you see in those TV commercials?

- Not all of them.

(both laugh) - They definitely will influence how I view a candidate.

Yeah.

- [Jeff] Negatively or positively?

Depends on the candidate?

- Depends on the candidate and depends on the content of the commercial.

- I mean, I would say they're a nuisance because they're not gonna really change my opinion on anything.

- We're not the target demographic for those ads, quite yet.

But I think for older generations, who tend to, maybe, rely a little bit heavier on, kind of, news that they get online, then they could really impact what opinions they have and how they vote.

- [Jeff] What about negative ads?

- I especially think those are the most useless, yeah.

(both laugh) - [Jeff] Why are they useless to you as a voter?

- I mean, they're not really beneficial, in, like, promoting what you stand for.

- I think that our voter base should be informed about candidates.

Now, whether the stuff on the commercial is accurate and objective, probably not.

- It does create polarization.

And that has unfortunate, kind of, side effects on, kinda how people, you know, view politics and view each other.

- [Jeff] Why do you think they spend so much money on so many ads, during election time?

- You know, it's lies.

They have to make sure they get their point across.

And a lot of them are deceptions.

- Yeah, that honest feedback, from here in Freedom Park, probably not what the candidates wanna hear right now, about how effective or maybe, ineffective, their campaign ads really are, between now and election day.

Pat.

- Thanks Jeff.

So what do you think about the issue?

Email us your thoughts on how you see the politics of campaign ads, to unspun@wtvi.org.

(upbeat music) Tonight, our top five countdown.

We've got the top five most effective campaign ads, the political advertising that works best.

And let's start out with number one.

Number one, a typical ad which shows someone's bio and their qualifications and a little inner feeling of how they come across.

Let me give you an example.

Hi, I'm Pat McCrory.

I learned my values growing up in Jamestown, North Carolina.

I moved to Salisbury, where I got my education and then I came to Charlotte, where I became a leader.

Vote for me in governor, so I can go to Raleigh and help the Carolina come back.

How's that for a bio?

Number four, family and military.

Oh, these are the best kinda ads.

You see these all over the place.

A beautiful candidate, with a beautiful family.

And if that doesn't work, you also show them in uniform.

That's a big deal right now.

The only thing different in a Republican Primary, Republican Primaries seem to have to have guns in the ads now, that's a big thing.

So, family, military and sadly, in the Republican Primaries, often guns.

Number three, testimonials.

The most famous testimonials in North Carolina politics, is this.

Andy Griffith did ads for Hunt, Easley and Beverly Perdue, when she ran against me in my first gubernatorial campaign.

And when I saw that ad by Andy Griffith, going, "You need to vote for Beverly Perdue."

I was dead in the water at that point in time.

Testimonials by someone else, bragging about you.

And if it's someone popular, like Andy Griffith, you got victory, right there.

Number two, inspiration and hope.

Inspiration is hope.

The most famous, let's see, Ronald Reagan.

It's Morning in America.

It's Morning in America and just the American flag, the Statue of Liberty.

It was one of the most effective campaign ads in history.

And also, another ad.

Barack Obama, Hope and Change.

It was extremely positive ad.

Hope and Change, with a beautiful profile of Barack Obama.

One of the most effective two ads, by Reagan and Barack Obama.

And last but not least, I hate to tell you, despite the feedback we got from the public, slam your opponent.

Negative campaign ads.

Boy, that Pat McCrory, you know, he's a nice guy but he's not a true conservative.

You won't like him.

He's done this, this and this against North Carolina or Charlotte.

Those are the most effective ads, no matter how much we hate 'em.

People start believing 'em.

Sad to say, in the world of politics, negative ads, they work.

(upbeat music) Next up, PBS Charlotte's Jeff Sonier joins me for our Unspun one-on-one segment.

Jeff, great to have you here.

- And you know how it works.

We take questions from tonight's topic and also from this week's headlines.

I ask the questions, you answer the questions.

That's why we call it one-on-one.

- Let's have some fun.

- Yeah, before we start, I wanna show you a clip from your second governor's race, a campaign ad that was at the early part of your second governor's race.

Let's take a look.

- So why do we struggle?

Politics.

Concern about who gets the credit for good things or the blame for bad things.

Here's a thought.

Forget about politics.

Fix our state.

It would be an honor to help lead that turnaround.

I'm Pat McCrory and I'm running for governor.

Wow.

- Okay, so, that was an effective ad.

Tell me about the brainstorming session that goes on between candidate and ad producer.

- Well, Fred, who has produced that ad, he knew I didn't wanna run a negative ad and he wanted a positive ad.

I wanted a positive ad.

He interviewed me for about two hours.

And then he helped write that script, based upon what I was telling him.

And then we knocked out, it was a hard ad to produce 'cause just walking that time.

You had to get it within the 30 seconds.

And they even had puddles I walked through.

I still own that coat and wear it about once a week during the winter time.

So, that coat means a lot to me.

Plus we ran that during the Summer Olympics.

During the women's gymnastics and I jumped up in the polls, which shows, ads do work.

- So you like that ad but has anyone ever proposed an ad that you didn't like?

You said, "No, I can't do that."

- Yeah, many times.

The biggest one, I had a wonderful campaign manager, in Jack Hawke, in my first race and my second race.

And he recommended an ad, which brought up the killing of a wonderful student, the head of the student body at UNC, Chapel Hill.

This was right after Beverly Perdue had run a brutal negative ad against me, on a total lie about garbage in North Carolina.

I didn't know what it was about.

And he took me to a restaurant and said, "I've got an ad I want you to put up next week."

It was two weeks to go in the campaign.

And he showed me the ad, basically blaming Beverly Perdue for the killing of this young student.

He said, "This could put you over the top, you're behind right now."

And I said, "I can't do it."

I just, I couldn't do it.

And I'm so glad I didn't.

- So we're talking about negative ads.

I wanna show you another.

- And by the way, Jack Hawke then went, "You're the boss."

- Well, as far as negative ads, we're talking about that now, I wanna look at another ad that ran in one of your campaigns, in response to someone else's negative ad.

Let's take a look at this ad and I wanna talk about it.

- Did you see the TV attacks on Pat McCrory?

- Who's doing them?

- Folks who wanna keep things going the same way in North Carolina.

- Is he not well?

- We have to change.

That's McCrory.

Good guy.

Good plan.

- Good fries.

(both laugh) - I've forgotten, I have not seen that in a long time.

- So, you can fight fire with fire in some negative ads or you can, kinda, turn it around.

Talk about why you did that ad.

- Well, I was getting attacked, I can't remember who was attacking me at that point in time but we had to come back and we wanted to do it with a little humor.

That was during the French fry issue, at the national level.

- [Jeff] Right.

- And we thought we would take on that.

But you gotta have money to do that.

And during that campaign, I outspent my opponent three to one.

All the campaigns I lost, I got outspent three to one.

So we could afford to do a defensive ad, as we call it.

- When you're doing ads, are you worried that your ads are gonna look like someone else's ads?

Especially when you've got a guy like Fred Davis, who's doing ads for candidates all over the country.

- Absolutely.

In fact, you heard from one of the people you interviewed in Charlotte, they said, "All the ads look alike."

And near the end of the campaign, if you wait until the very end of the campaign, people can't distinguish the ads.

You've gotta be unique and you've gotta get that out early and even try to get free publicity, on a unique ad.

So it gets even more publicity than what you pay for.

It's a big trick in the trade, to get free media on an ad that you don't have to pay for, then.

(both laugh) - Last question.

I know there's been a lot of ads and a lotta campaigns.

Talk about the ad that you remember, that's your favorite.

- My former high school English teacher, Ms. Revels.

- Sometimes a student is just special.

Pat McCrory was a young leader when I taught him in Jamestown.

So I wasn't surprised at what he accomplished as mayor.

He wants to reward great teachers and for kids to learn to read before the fourth grade.

When he does that for North Carolina, I'll give him a gold star.

- Wow.

- She's a natural.

- I called her Mrs. Revels and she called me Patrick.

(both laugh) And I miss her dearly.

- That's this week's one-on-one.

Thanks Pat.

(upbeat music) - To wrap up our show this week, we've got an unfiltered segment.

I'm gonna tell you the secret of where most of those negative attack ads that you see on TV, where they really come from.

So in the old days of politics, prior to the Supreme Court case called, Citizens United, almost all political commercials were sponsored by the candidates themselves.

But after the court's ruling in 2010, which basically allowed independent groups in the private sector to run ads with unlimited money and almost no guidelines.

In fact, campaigns have now been hijacked by those groups.

And now it's like the wild West out there.

By law, the candidates aren't allowed to coordinate the messaging in ads, with these independent groups raising all the money.

But the whole thing has become, kind of, a dangerous joke.

And voters don't know what's happening behind the wall.

Behind the wall of politics, there's the feeling they're talking to each other.

So now the ads you see about the candidates, are actually sponsored by the Big-Money groups and there's no transparency.

Nothing at all about who those groups are or where the big money is coming from.

So the next time you see an ad for president or governor or senator or congress, make sure you look to see who paid for it.

Usually it's some group with a patriotic name and zero information about their funding or the real agenda behind the ad.

You know, it's a sad part of politics, that fools the public and now controls the politicians.

Believe me, I know.

And I've definitely been played by this game.

Well, that's this week's real and sometimes, uncomfortable truth.

I hope you'll come back next week as we explore the politics of polling.

That's on our next Unspun.

We'll tell you what politicians are thinking but not saying.

Goodnight folks.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] A production of PBS Charlotte.