John Hickenlooper's first gubernatorial ad offers more musings on water

John Hickenlooper's first TV ad is out, and it's just as wacky as the ad that really revved up his run for Denver mayor seven years ago, which showed him suiting up for the campaign. This time, the candidate again goes through several wardrobe changes -- all of which wind...

By Patricia Calhoun

August 19, 2010

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John Hickenlooper's first TV ad is out, and it's just as wacky as the ad that really revved up his run for Denver mayor seven years ago, which showed him suiting up for the campaign. This time, the candidate again goes through several wardrobe changes -- all of which wind up all wet, as Hickenlooper heads into the shower to clean off campaign grime.

"No, I'm not standing in a shower with my clothes on because I'm trying to save money on dry cleaning," Hickenlooper said yesterday in an e-mail announcing the ad (and asking for money so that the ad could be shown often). " I just can't stand negative ads. Every time I see one, I feel like I need to take a shower.

"And you see a lot of them."

And you see a lot of Hickenlooper's outfits as he keeps stepping into and out of the shower. But the best gimmick comes at the end, on a nice white bathrobe sporting the Hickenlooper campaign logo.

The bathrobe is not yet available in the store on the campaign website, which already sells shirts, pint glasses, coasters and bumperstickers.

But just wait.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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