2.3 Political Advertising
Objective
I will be able to effectively "read" political advertisements and evaluate how political messaging can support or hurt democracy.
Some useful vocabulary:
Endorsement: when a public figure makes an official announcement of support for one candidate or another.
PAC (Political Action Committee): A non-profit group that raises money and campaigns on behalf of a candidate without being officially connected to them.
Advertising has been a part of American political for centuries - first in newspapers and pamphlets, then radio, and today on TV and the Internet.
Advertising remains the most expensive single activity in contemporary campaigns.
Directions:
Watch this video on the history of advertising in modern American politics.
Reflect: What sorts of strategies do you see presidents using? Why do they think advertising is so powerful?
"Reading" Political Ads
Political ads are not perfect pictures of the truth. They are designed to win elections by making their preferred candidate as appealing as possible. Often times, they provide voters good reasons about why their candidate is the best, but often times they will manipulate facts, misrepresent opponents, or cobble together images to suggest more than they say.
Here's the central challenge with campaign ads: they're not always to be taken at face value, and you'll often need to make your own judgment about how credible they are.
Directions:
Watch at least five political ads from the choices below. (Recommended path: at least one from each section)
Complete your workbook page 2.3 to document what you notice about each ad.
Use your knowledge of political advertising to design your very own political ad for your campaign for president, that targets the unique voters in Florida.
Answer the question in your workbook: "Is political advertising good for American democracy? Why or why not?"
Remember when you're watching these ads to "read" them like you would a book or a letter. Ask yourself:
Who is the author of this ad? What are they trying to accomplish?
What are they saying and why? What sort of images and words are they using?
How does this ad make me feel and why? Why is it trying to get me to feel this way?
Does what they say make sense with what I know? Where could I find out more about its claims?
Common tactics of political advertising
These ads combine a number of different dimensions: positive appeals, negative appeals, discussions of policy choices, a range of emotions, and a variety of issues. What do you notice about them?
Donald Trump (2020)
Barack Obama (2012)
Character
Some ads promote the character of candidates. They try to reveal what kind of person they are by discussing their history and their family or emphasize their values.
How do these ads make you feel about the candidate as a person? Would they make a good president?
Joe Biden (2020)
Ted Cruz (2016)
Attack Ads
Other ads attack the candidates rivals directly. They use ominous imagery and sound bites to attack the credibility of their opponents. Politicians hope that by damaging their opponents, they can make themselves look like the better option or, barring that, get their supporters to not vote out of disgust.
How do these ads make you feel? What do you notice about how they use sounds and images to convey something about a candidate?
Joe Biden (2020)
Donald Trump (2020)
Emotions
Good political ads often aim to instill feelings rather than give voters information about their candidate's qualifications or policies. That's ok! Emotions are a big part of how we relate to candidates.
But subtly cuing emotion is a tricky art and can be used to manipulate people How do the two ads below convey very different emotions?
Bernie Sanders (2016)
National Rifle Association (2016)
Endorsements
Many political ads enlist prominent local allies or celebrities to appeal to voters in a given state or with a particular interest.
Marco Rubio (2016)
Hillary Clinton (2016)
PACs
Presidents aren't the only ones who make ads. While individuals and corporations can only donate a maximum of $2,500 to a presidential campaign, since 2010, there are no such limits for donating to political groups that campaign on behalf of a candidate. These groups, called Political Action Committees of PACs, raise huge sums of money (often from sources they keep hidden) and conduct their own advertising on behalf of candidates.
Because they aren't directly associated with a candidate, PACs often make risky, misleading, or extremely negative ads - they will say things that candidates would rather not to avoid backlash. As a result many people are sharply critical of the freedoms of PACs.
The Lincoln Project (2020)
American Crossroads (2016)
The Good, The Bad, and the Weird
While presidential ads typically play it safe, some ads get a little weird. Sometimes they reflect unique aspects of a state's political culture or a candidate's personal history, to great effect. Sometimes they're funny! Other times... they're less successful.