It’s September 1964.
The U.S. presidential race is a contest between President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Democrat – and the populist Republican nominee, Barry Goldwater. Goldwater favors the use of atomic weapons to stop communism. He celebrates extremism. He baits races.
The Democrats try to figure out how to deal with Goldwater. They turn to a quiet New York City ad man, Tony Schwartz. Schwartz comes up with an ad that runs just once, during Monday Night at the Movies.
It’s just a few seconds long. It’s in black and white, and it shows a little girl plucking petals off a Daisy. She’s counting.
Her voice is replaced by a man’s, counting down. The little girl looks up. She looks afraid.
The little girl fades away. There’s an explosion, a big one. Another man’s voice is heard. It’s President Johnson:
“These are the stakes,” he says, in his Texan twang. “To make a world in which all of God’s children can live, or to go into the dark.”
He pauses.
“We must love each other, or we must die.”
The ad, which ran only the one time, delivers a landslide victory to the Democrats on voting day. Barry Goldwater’s Republicans are crushed.
**
Daisy Group is named after Tony Schwartz’s ad. Daisy’s founder picked the name after talking with Tony Schwartz.
Daisy Group is like the Daisy ad: we know how to break through, and deliver victory. We know how to deliver the right result.
Creativity, passion, a desire to win the right way: that was Daisy. That is Daisy Group.
Daisy Group knows how to win. Daisy Group knows how to tell the right story. Daisy Group knows how to move hearts and minds.
Just like that Daisy ad did, so long ago.