Former GOP presiential candidate Herman Cain‘s right-hand man Mark Block made a huge cinematic splash last year with his silent on-screen smoking in Cain’s “I Am America” ad. Six months and 1.8 million views later, Block is reprising his role in a new spot for Cain.
“We can’t tell you what’s going to be in it,” Block told Yeas & Nays during Cain’s Revolution on the Hill rally. Block did reveal the ad’s title: “Blowing Smoke.”
The smoking sequel comes on the heels of a series of unorthodox web ads from the Cain camp, including one Hitchcock-esque spot where a pack of chickens pecks a farmer to death, leaving a skeleton in the barnyard. Block said the ads aren’t necessarily meant to be scary or funny, but to be “attention grabbers.”
“When the smoking sequel comes out, it’ll really grab your attention,” promised Block, who now carries around a small pen to sign cigarettes for fans who recognize him at the airport.
The ads are a part of a push by Cain to keep his 9-9-9 tax dream alive. “When Mr. Cain withdrew from the race on December 3, he made the decision that the solutions he was proposing to the American public needed to be kept out there,” Block said. “The solutions revolution was launched, and this was the first of many events we’re going to do around the United States.” Monday’s rally drew a modest crowd of about 200 people.
