Sunday, April 10, 2011

Evil Blimps!!!

Ad’s are more negative and attacking in their messages these days. Negative ads by nature capture more attention among viewers and it suppresses voting for the opposing candidate. It is even more effective if the message is built upon a pre-existing negative image of the candidate and is repeated in the media.
Here is an example of an vicious ad for the 2010 senate race. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina depicted Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) as an evil blimp that destroys the U.S. capitol and then floats in the sky threatening Californians.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJKlc77K5dg
Here is another ad where Rep. Joe Sestak used an image of Sen. Arlen Specter that made him look deathly and ill. The picture that the Sestak campaign used was one that was taken while Specter was receiving chemotherapy treatment. This is another age old trick that is used in campaign politics to make the opponent look weak and unable to serve properly, dating back to the Nixon-Kennedy debate. That debate changed the outcome of the election, those who watched the Nixon-Kennedy debate favored Kennedy because they put empasis on integrity rather than leadership skills. Evaluating integrity has non-verbal components to it and when Nixon looked pale and sickly, it was translated to him posessing insecurity. Opposing this was those who listened to the debate on the radio and favored Nixon instead. Conclusion: A candidate’s image matters in the media today.
(play close attention to the picture on the screen comparing Specter and Sestak)

2 comments:

  1. It's a lot easier to point out the flaws in your opponent and say see, you shouldn't vote for this guy so vote for me, then it is to make an ad that is entertaining and appealing to viewers that also displays your policies.

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  2. Agreed - sadly, by nature, advertisements do tend to be on the vicious side.

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