Remember the beautifully shot ads that the McMahon campaign used to churn out -- especially the cinema verite spot featuring her daughter Stephanie? Well, they've given way to this:
In this latest spot, which began running today, two woman launch into an impromptu conversation after hearing one of McMahon's ads on the radio. The blonde one wearing the ascot broaches the subject of the "wrestling stuff," which the dark-haired one driving the SUV says is "no exactly my cup of tea.''
The blogosphere has not been kind to Team McMahon's latest effort. "[Y]ou will probably wonder, 'Is this ad intended ironically?''' asks Jason Linkins at the Huffington Post. "But remember, we are talking about the GOP primary in Connecticut. This ad is inclusive of every single voter demographic relevant to that occasion."
To be sure, suburban women have long been a target demographic for McMahon -- a quick scan of any of her glossy flyers confirms that.
But Rick Green suggests the highly scripted chatter between these two "Stepford Wives" might not be enough to soothe voters nervous about McMahon's WWE baggage.
Jim Geraghty at National Review Online pokes fun at the implausible nature of the conversation. "If you survey suburban women voters in Connecticut about their views on professional wrestling, I can't help but suspect that 'not my cup of tea' will rank among the more mild responses,'' Geraghty writes. "In fact, if any of my friends, unprompted, began a soliloquy about the evolution of professional wrestling as a form of enter complete with statewide job-creation numbers, I think I would ask if they were feeling all right."
It is uncanny that one of the women in the ad describes the WWE as a "soap opera," which is precisely the term McMahon has used to describe the company's programming.