Evaluating Political Ads

What are they good for? Communicate candidates message Persuade people to vote for them Entertain the people Can target general or specific audiences Make the candidate look good Make the other guy/girl look bad

Lets suppose we are selling a new candy bar Who is your audience? What do you want people to think about your product? What type of arguments could you make about your product and how could you support these arguments? How do you want people to feel about your product? How would you want people to feel about competitors? What sounds, songs, images would you use in your ads?

This is essentially what the candidate and their staff must do The must sell themselves to the American people Some people have limited or biased knowledge of the candidates How do they do this? Play on emotion Use persuasion Appeal to the truth / “truth” Use of Style

Emotion Create a tone, play off of current hot button issues to swing a voter Appeal to the “American Dream” Know who your audience is, how you will reach them, and be specific about their needs

Lets look at some ads “Prouder, Stronger, Better” (Reagan, 1984) http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1984/ prouder-stronger-better “Celeb” (McCain, 2008) http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2008/ celeb “Taxes” (Nixon, 1960) http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1960/ taxes

Persuasion Appeal to the issues and how tough you will be Convince people you are the one for the job Make the other person seem like they are not Make an argument…hopefully convincingly

Lets look at some ads “McGovern Defense” (Nixon, 1972) http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1 972/mcgovern-defense “Accountability” (Gore, 2000) http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2 000/accountability “Voting Booth” (McGovern, 1972) http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1 972/voting-booth

Truth or “Truth” State facts about what has happened while you are in office Make general facts and specific Hide or don’t mention the ones that hurt you

Lets look at some ads “Accomplishment” (Clinton, 1996) http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1 996/accomplishment “Rebuild America” (Clinton, 1992) http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1 992/rebuild-america “Wolverine” (Bush, 1992) http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1 992/wolverine

Style How do we make the ads stick in peoples memory Is this ad fun? Something people will talk about? You maybe an old dude that people do not think is capable of having fun…you will show them

Lets look at some ads “Wind Surfing” (Bush, 2004) http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/ 2004/windsurfing “Roller Coaster” (Mondale, 1984) http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/ 1984/rollercoaster “Senator Margaret Chase” (Goldwater, 1964) http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/ 1964/senator-margaret-chase