Terrance Austin Smith, Roneet Aliza Rahamim, Keenan Murphy Flagg, and George Psarras Photo by Tracy Martin

Running only once during primetime September 7, 1964, the so-called "Daisy ad" is considered the most influential commercial ever aired on television, given credit for helping defeat Johnson's Republican opponent, Barry Goldwater, and for ushering in a new era of political ads where attack of the other side becomes the norm. As we have seen in our most recent elections, that ad's legacy lives strong even to this day.

The origin of the ad and the people behind it are the subject of Sean Devine's play Daisy, which premiered in Seattle in 2016, and is now being presented in a tensely electrifying, often unsettling, and, in the end, highly thought-provoking area premiere at Hillbarn Theatre & Conservatory.

With the feel of a live documentary, Daisy recounts step-by-step how New York advertising firm Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) collaborated with sound designer and acclaimed "sound wizard" Tony Schwartz to conceive and produce an ad whose sixty-second version had its own nuclear effects. As recounted in Sean Devine's history-teaching Daisy, the ad's final version–still studied and debated to this day–premiered after weeks of a creation team's passionate eruptions that laid bare their own conflicting beliefs, values, biases, and their slowly exposed mounting premonitions of what might happen if the ad ran–and fears of what could happen if it did not.

When DDB's namesake and current CEO Bill Bernbach tells three of the firm's staff that not only has the White House selected the firm for Johnson's re-election campaign but that he has chosen them to create the requested ad, Sid, Aaron, and Louise are ecstatic. There had at first been an awkward pause when the all-white trio tried to figure out who was the young Black man smartly dressed in suit and tie that was looking for Mr. Bernbach (with Aaron wondering if they were now requiring the mailroom to wear suits). However, upon hearing from Bernbach that Clifford Lewis was a White House Deputy Special Counsel, the team quickly realizes that the stakes are going to be high, as the firm that was known for its recent ketchup commercial was now stepping into its first political ad.

From the White House Counsel, they hear only one requirement of each in order to be on the team: They must all be Democrats–something each swears to be true. The team also learns that the already favored Johnson is not interested in just a victory over the eventual Republican nominee; he wants a landslide. About to sign the historic Civil Rights Act, Johnson's goal in the next term is to successfully introduce The Great Society to the nation for "the elimination of poverty and social injustice."

For that, Johnson wants a mandate, and Clifford makes it clear he wants an ad that will ensure that happens. Along with promoting Johnson and his accomplishments, Clifford lays it on the line with the team: "Attack and degrade our opponent," noting on another occasion, "Politics is messier than ketchup."

That condition sets off what will be an ongoing debate among the firm's members, with Louise especially concerned that what they are being asked to do is to "manipulate" the voting public, something she sees as "careless." Her bias is to fight "policy versus policy" in whatever ad is created. But as the more traditional ideas are suggested by the team to the client (after all, previous political ads on TV have been overall positive and "white-gloved"), Clifford shoots back, "I asked for a knock-out punch; you haven't even stepped into the ring."

Their chance to create the knock-out blow comes after a surprise baby is born to the eight-month girlfriend of divorced and heretofore favored nominee, Nelson Rockefeller, and the resulting unanimous nomination of Barry Goldwater. Known as a war-hawk, Goldwater provides potential ammunition for the team to use when he declares in his nomination acceptance speech, "Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

With the Cuban crisis and the threat of nuclear war still fresh in a worried nation's collective mind and with Goldwater already hinting "limited nuclear action" as the way to end the conflicts in a still early-stage Vietnam, Clifford tells the team, "You need to destroy Barry Goldwater; the stakes are too high."

Their key to his destruction comes through Bill Bernbach's introduction of an outside consultant named Tony Schwartz, a peculiar but out-spoken sound theorist who operates from his basement, donning heads phone and surrounded by reel-to-reel tape recorders and speakers. He had already spent years recording voices, sounds and conversations by the thousands and then rearranging them to create powerful messages for commercials. One of his held theories was that "messages bring to the surface what is already inside [a person]." He also tells the team that "the audience is not a target but a workforce." In other words, the audience will complete the desired message without it being explicitly said.

One recording he had done two years previously, he shares with Louise–the voices of a little girl counting to ten followed by a man counting backwards, ten to one.

What we then have the privilege of witnessing are the debates, the creative forces, and the consequences on the individuals involved as the eventual Daisy ad is conceived and aired. Each of the cast members gives a potentially award-winning performance, with four portraying actual members of the historic team: Michael Champlin as eccentric but boldly brilliant Tony Schwarz; Glenn Havlan as the firm yet forgiving father-figure of DDB, Bill Bernbach; Keenan Murphy Flagg as the panicking, distracted Aaron Ehrlich; and George Psarras as the macho, driven-to-succeed Sid Myers.

Terrance Austin Smith is the self-confident and unrelentingly demanding Clifford Lewis, a fictional character who speaks passionately about the stakes at hand, both as a Black man and as an American. Roneet Aliza Rahamim is stunning in her performance of the fictional Louise Brown, a woman resolute in expressing her doubts and fears about what they are creating but whose own ambition and ego lead her to betray the very values of non-manipulation she so persistently argues must be followed.

Beyond the excellent performances and the historically revealing script, what makes Hillbarn's Daisy particularly powerful is the way we as audience are immersed in the times, events, fears, and prejudices of 1964. From the period office furniture and numerous accessories of the firm and White House to the stacked technical equipment of Tony's hideaway studio (Steve Muterspaugh, scenic designer, and Stephanie Dittbern provides properties) to the white gloves Louise wears on an Amtrak train and the outfits for all the cast, reminiscent of scenes from TV's "Mad Men" (Lyre Alston, costume designer), the look and feel of sixty years ago permeates the set.

But the summer and fall months of 1964 particularly come to life through four dominant screens of varying sizes that show dozens of TV clips from 1964 as well as photos, headlines, and products of the period–all designed by Steve Muterspaugh. In addition, with incredible, directorial insight, Jeffrey Bracco has skillfully balanced the myriad of details and information packed into the script with the needed pace and emotional edge to keep the it from bogging down.

The result of the combined efforts of the director, the cast, and the creative team is a two-hour (plus intermission) history lesson that is both intellectually and emotionally gripping. Together, they have produced for Hillbarn Theatre & Conservatory a Daisy that is not just historically interesting but clearly reveals the direct line from one ad in 1964 to so many issues with which we are struggling today: divisive politics, invasive technologies, and a tendency by many to no longer to trust what they see or hear in the media.

Daisy runs through February 9, 2025, at Hillbarn Theatre & Conservatory, 1285 East Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City CA. For tickets and information, please visit www.hillbarntheatre.org or call 650-349-6411.