Transcript Chapter 6, "Political Advertising"

Chapter 6
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Advertising allows candidates to reach
uninterested and unmotivated citizens
TV ads reach people, for example, who happen
to be watching a preferred TV program
While some or many people may be apolitical
and not really interested in various campaigns,
research shows that they are often profoundly
affected by the political advertisements to
which they are exposed
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Our book’s author contends that political
advertising is the most important genre of
advertising
This because our decisions about who we vote
for play a crucial role in determining what laws
will be passed and how we will lead our lives
He offers insights into the methods used by
political advertisers, thus helping us make
more informed and more intelligent decisions
when we vote
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Name Identification Spots- shown early in the
campaign
Argument Spots- present candidate positions
on issues
Attack Spots- focus on the opponent
Positive Visionary Appeals- used at the end of
a campaign to give voters a reason to vote for
the candidate
Time in Campaign
Kind of Ad
Early
Name ID Ads
Later
Argument Ads
Later Still
Attack Ads
End of Campaign Positive Visionary Ads
Function
Identity
Ideology
Insult
Image
NIKKY HALEY
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Name Identification“Better” Ad
Arguments/Positions“Possible” Ad
“Vision” Ad
“Movement” Ad
Attack/Negatives
“Own backyard” Ad
“Mirror” Ad
“Plan” Ad
Positive Visionary AppealsPending…
Also, Jenny Sanford Endorses
Haley
VINCENT SHEEHEN
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Name Identification“Find Out” Ad
Arguments/Positions“Moving” Ad
“Crossroads” Ad
Attack/Negatives- “Says”
Ad
“Thinks” Ad
Positive Visionary
Appeals- Pending…
HALEY HOMEPAGE
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“Latest Attack on Haley”
SHEEHEN HOMEPAGE
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(May 2010)
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Haley called a “raghead”
(June 2010)
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Haley Rocky Job
Departure (Oct. 2010)
Poll: Haley Leads by Nine
Points (Oct. 2010)
Blogger Details Tryst (Oct.
2010)
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Sheehen Ads Link
Haley, Sanford (Sept. 2010)
Sheehen/Haley Launch
Attack Ads (Sept. 2010)
State Paid Thousands to
Sheehen Law Firm (Oct.
2010)
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Are people no longer affected by negative campaigns?
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Is it the number or the quality of the advertisements that counts?
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In polls, people will say they don’t like negative campaigns but voting records
seem to indicate that they are affected for influenced by them
Numerous case studies of elections show that negative campaigns, full of attack
commercials, are effective
One theory is that negative campaigns turn off voters who then will not vote,
playing into the hands of conservative Republican candidates who rely on the
minority of conservative GOP who DO vote- in contrast to the majority of
generally liberally Democrats, who don’t vote
Depends! In California example, Gray Davis’s advertising push came at the end
of the campaign after his two higher spending opponents had hurt each other
with attack ads earlier in the campaign
Is it the advertising or the record of the candidate that is crucial?
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Again it depends. In California, Lt. Gov. Davis’ slogan “Experience Money Can’t
Buy” worked because he had two wealthy opponents with little or no government
experience. Voters seemed to reject the notion that experience in government is
bad and less experience a politician has, the better- a position made popular by
Ronald Reagan and many other conservative Republicans– including California’s
current governor, Arnold Schwarenegger
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Political ads use symbols, as best they can, that
try to generate positive appeals like these:
Hope (for the future)
 Compassion (for those in need)
 Ambition (to do what’s needed)
 Trust
 Nostalgia (for the mythic past)
 Intimacy
 Reassurance
 Local Pride
 National Pride
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Who reassure us
Who give us hope
Who are compassionate toward the poor and
disadvantaged
Who make us feel proud about where we live
and about America
We like to feel our candidates are like us and
are aware of people like us
Even though they may be quite far removed- in
distance and socio-economic status- from us
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Use of the American flag
Candidate wearing a hard hat, thus identifying
with the blue-collar worker)
A “visionary” look over the horizon
The all-American family
All to generate the emotional response that lead to
instant and powerful identification with the
candidate and hopefully, as a consequence, votes
for the candidate
Not that language and words aren’t important, but
in commercials a great deal of the communication
burden is carried by physical symbols