Power of political TV advertising

Presidential campaign ads are one of those necessary evils we all have to deal with every four years. Up until this point in the general election, the Donald Trump campaign hadn't spent a single dollar airing TV ads.

The Republican nominee has begun airing what his campaign is calling a contrast ad against Hillary Clinton in four swing states.

Up until this point, critics had charged Team Trump of running an unserious campaign after reportedly being outspent by Clinton on ads $61 million to zero in the last two months.

The billionaire has famously doubted the effectiveness of political ads, saying that his giant social media presence and news media coverage are enough.

Since the advent of television, political ads have been a mainstay on the airwaves every election cycle. And they can have a huge impact.

There was the controversial Willie Horton ad some say cost Michael Dukakis the 1988 election. And arguably the most famous political ad of all time was 1964's daisy ad run by President Lyndon Johnson against Barry Goldwater. It featured a young girl picking daisy petals followed by a countdown and a nuclear explosion.

As the aerial assault gets underway, the Republican nominee hopes the new commercials can help him close in on Clinton.

Team Trump spent about $5 million on this first round of ads. The campaign says the ads will air over the next 10 days. They argue that the ad release "cements a very strong week" for them and they're hoping this plus the staff shakeup finally gets things back on track.