Britney, Paris, Barack: Ad shows Obama as celebrity

John McCain's latest attack ad on Democratic rival Barack Obama features the recognizable faces of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton as it seeks to paint the Illinois senator as a mere celebrity, short on policy.

{mosads}The TV ad features pictures of Obama interspersed with Spears and Hilton along with clips from the crowd at Obama's Berlin speech as they chant his name in the background.

"He's the biggest celebrity in the world, but is he ready to lead?" the narrator says.

The purpose of the ad ostensibly is to again hit Obama for his opposition to offshore oil drilling, but there is a clear effort to paint the freshman senator as all style and no substance.

“On a day when major news organizations across the country are taking Senator McCain to task for a steady stream of false, negative attacks, his campaign has launched yet another,” said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor. “Or, as some might say, ‘Oops! He did it again’.”

At the end of the ad, the narrator says: "Higher taxes, more foreign oil — that's the real Obama."

“Our dependence on foreign oil is one of the greatest challenges we face,” Vietor stated. “In this election the American people have a real choice — between Obama’s plan to provide tax rebates to American families while creating a renewable energy economy in America that frees us from our dependence on foreign oil, and Senator McCain’s plan to continue the same failed energy policies by handing out nearly $4 billion in tax breaks to oil companies while investing almost nothing in the new energy sources that represent our future.”

The ad buy will be on national cable and in the battleground states of Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.