The year 1984 was a watershed in the use of music in U.S. television campaign advertising. Following on the heels of technological developments in sound reproduction in television sets and MTV’s inception three years earlier, the 1984 presidential campaign saw striking changes in the way ads were conceived and constructed. “Prouder, Stronger, Better”—known popularly as “Morning in America”—used music as never before in a political ad. Whereas previously music was merely accompaniment to an ad’s voiceover and images, here, for the first time, music is the argument itself. Sweeping orchestral gestures, frequent chromatic modulations, and suspended chords lead to a convincing resolution ending with Reagan’s name and picture.

Previous scholarship on political advertising has scanted the importance of music in creating a persuasive message—studies tend to focus on analyses of rhetorical appeals in the voiceover or on the visual narrative. Yet music is often the sine qua non of an ad. Without music, the “Morning in America” spot is a nonsensical series of unrelated images strung together as backdrop for the voiceover. Only when music is introduced does the ad take on a powerful significance. Dominating the discourse and supported by an insistent narrator and images meant to generate positive feelings and a newfound optimism in America during Reagan’s first term, the music evokes contentment, satisfaction, and pride. “Morning in America” is slick—production values are high and much consideration was given to how the ad could work as a unified whole, even as an artistic unity.