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President Barrack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney exhange smiles ahead of their Presidential Debate. However, there's been a lot more dirty work being done in the advertising. |
It’s time once again to join the travelling media circus that
comes around every four years. On November 6, 2012, the people of America will
take to the polls to decide the President of the United States, the man who
single handily becomes one of the most powerful in the world for the next four
years. Of course, many Americans have already decided on their vote, as their political
views run deep through their veins. But with growing conflicts around the globe,
the undecided will need to choose one of
these men to lead the world’s superpower, one job that requires a lot of
character, not to mention the stress that comes with it (I don’t think Obama
had a single grey in ’08).
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Since announcing their candidates, both the Democratic and
Republican parties have been hard at work to one up the other to appeal to the
undecided voters. With the television becoming a common household item in the
1950s, election campaigns have run to promote the candidate vying to become the
President. There has always been a strong emphasis on the character of a
candidate, as the American people need a strong person to lead their country to
victory and global dominance. In 1960, John F. Kennedy’s staff ran an ad
promoting
his youthfulness being just what American needed, in essence to rid
themselves from the past old presidents. George H.W. Bush too boosted his
character in 1988, running an ad portraying him as
a family man, and average American just like everyone else. But times have changed drastically since
then, with a major shift away from building your own character.
Election campaigns have taken a turn for the worse (for good
reasons) in recent years, as a growing trend in political advertising has moved
to promote the party by attacking the other candidate, essentially building their ethos off the errors of the other. Surely everyone knows
about Mr. Obama by now. He’s had six years of media exposer playing up his
character, his policies, and his wonderful speaking abilities. The republicans
have criticized his rhetorical power for going too far, and doing nothing about
the growing unemployment rate. Romney on the other hand is new to the show, as
the average American may not be up to date with his political stand point. However,
if they watched one of the democratic ads, they would believe that he ships jobs
out of the country, causing struggling families to succumb to their debt. These
ads are not designed for the extreme Republican and Democratic supporters, who
vote for their parties no matter what, but rather the masses who particularly
don’t follow politics regularly. Franz and Ridout call this the knowledge
hypothesis, stating that these ads will have a stronger effect of the Americans
less in tuned with politics, persuading them to one side of the spectrum.
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Specifically looking at Barrack Obama’s “
Understands” ad,
the Priorities USA Advertisers claim that because of Mitt Romney’s decision to
move a company out of the United States, Mr. Soptic (the man in the ad) lost
his wife. Rhetorically, the ad is blaming Romney for the death of this woman,
attaching tags such as, “murderer,” to his persona. To the average American in
a conundrum, not knowing who to vote for, this speaks a great deal about who
they should not vote for. Franz and Ridout point out two main factors
influencing voters being partisanship and political knowledge, stating that the
less knowledge a person has of politics, the more political ads are going to
affect their decision, as opposed to those who are in the know. Obama’s ad
works wonders on unknowing Americans, especially the unemployed, as they won’t
want Romney harming anyone in their family.
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Mitt Romney’s campaign takes similar approaches to their
advertising, building up the lesser known Romney by exploiting the faults of
Obama during his four year term. Two clever ads featuring the tagline, “Failing
American _______” ran criticising Obama for
not stopping manufactures in China from stealing jobs, and
taking money away from families in America. Again, the ad plays fantastically
on the politically naïve, as Americans in crisis look at Romney as the saviour for
all of the problems Obama has caused. While this ad plays a general American
theme, Romney’s campaign also released an ad criticizing Obama for giving the
government credit for creating all small businesses, claiming that the
ownersand entrepreneurs did not do it alone. The icing on the cake is that the video
featured a man from Ohio, one of the states Romney is keen on taking to secure
his spot in the White House. The ad devalues and attacks Obama’s character, as
he tries to take credit for all of the hard work of the American people. On the
other hand, Romney’s ethos grows, as he’s portrayed as a compassionate leader,
encouraging the American people to live their dreams and build their own
businesses.
So far this election campaign, no candidate has been spared,
as each have gone head strong after the other. It seems as if we’ve moved away
from a time of judging people by their character and good deeds, to condemning
them for their faults, gaining from their blunders and misfortunes. Both Obama
and Romney need not worry about building their own character to impress the
voters, but must keep their composure to ensure their rival doesn’t receive an
upper hand. May the best attacker win.
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