Political Example
Jerry Brown's Campaign for Governor of California
Explanation
This political advertisement was made for Jerry Brown who is running for Governor of California. He was former Governor. Meg Whitman is a business women running for Governor of California. She’s been the executive of many companies including Ebay and Walt Disney. The main message used is that Meg Whitman is not the right choice for Governor and she has done many bad things. It is supposed to make her look bad so that people won’t vote for her. Meg Whitman’s name is associated with words like “Lie” and “Shameful” in bold letters so when you see it you automatically think that those words are right. You see her head inside a bill because they ad claims that she will do anything to get money for herself. When you see this you automatically believe it because it is said so strongly.
This commercial is mainly targeted towards every voter in California who wants to have a good Governor and cares about their state. This commercial and ones like it play on most channels of the TV and ads like it play on the radio a lot. I believe that it is targeted towards people who will hear these negative words about Meg Whitman and not want to vote for her, because they don’t think that she will be right.
The type of propaganda that was used in this commercial, is name calling. Name calling is when a person or a cause it tied into a negative statement. The propagandist in this example used this type of propaganda by calling her out on all of the negative things that she has done. It generally makes her sound untruthful and like she can’t handle money. It associates her name with “shameful” and “lie” which makes you think negatively about her, as it has the names of trustworthy newpapers underneath.
This propaganda “spoke” to me, because it made me think that no one should vote for Meg Whitman. Even though I knew it was propaganda, I still believed it, because the techniques are used so well.
Analysis
When you see this commercial, you automatically think negatively about Meg Whitman and her campaign. It sends out the message that she is selfish with money and has lost a lot and won’t do anything good for the state of California. It wants the viewer to think that they shouldn’t vote for Meg Whitman because of all of the bad decisions that she’s made. The whole story is that Meg Whitman hasn’t done everything that is entirely bad. Even though she has lost a lot of money, her campaign is largely self funded, so it was her own loss. She has run many successful businesses and made a lot of her own money. The propaganda is hiding that Meg Whitman has had many positive contributions to society. It affects the reader, as it doesn’t give them a full view of Meg Whitman, only negative views. Jerry Brown also claims in an interview that he wouldn’t make any name calling commercials, but this is just what he does.
This commercial mainly sends out a negative message to it's viewers. It makes it's viewers believe that Meg Whitman is all these names like "lie" and "shameful". It is making the state of California believe things that are negative against Meg Whitman, and sends the message that those words are true about her so you should not vote for her.
The positive effects that this propaganda has on society if the viewer doesn’t question it are that Jerry brown will get more votes, and he has done many good things like environmental issues. On the other hand, it doesn’t give the voters of California all of the information and it can be misleading to watch. The negative effects of this propaganda on society, is that people aren’t given all the full information when deciding on whom to vote for. This is negative, because people won’t make a fully informed decision. Therefore, the governor of California could be chosen completely on misleading and untruthful propaganda. This type of propaganda, name-calling, could make people angry, as it appears t.hat Meg Whitman is a terrible person.
Overall this is negative propaganda, as it doesn’t give the voters full information on their candidates. It made me believe that no one should vote for her.
Bibliography
Jerry Brown's TV ad tells the truth, AFSCME, 2010.