This week in class, we were able to view many different presidential ad campaigns ranging from the very first televised ad in 1952 to the latest ads used in the 2008 election. It was so interesting to see the evolution of the television advertising in election campaigns and how much has changed over the years. It seemed to me that the older television ads were more straight forward and policy-oriented, while the latest television ads were more concerned with character attacking and entertainment. Although times have definitely changed since the very first televised ad and more technological resources are now readily available, I do not think it would be a bad idea to revert back to the way in which presidential ads used to be. Everything that is portrayed in the media today, including the presidential ad campaigns, has become so dramatized to the point that people begin to lose sight of the real issues at hand and are more informed about one's character rather than his/her policy stances.
One thing that I found surprising was the fact that President Obama had placed a campaign ad in an Xbox game. I mean...isn't it pretty sad when it gets to the point that a presidential candidate feels the need to put an ad in a video game in order to reach members of the public?? But I guess times are changing and political candidates have to keep up with the technology and do what they need to do in order to reach the people.
Overall, after seeing the evolution and change among the presidential ad campaigns this week, one can see that entertainment and dramatization are clearly huge factors in grabbing the attention of the American public.
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I actually think the olden day ads were more dramatic....the hilarious ad that had someone laughing at the idea of a candidate will be considered condescending today (http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1968/laughter). Ads seem to have evolved to focus on a opponents weakness (boring) this period in time, in the olden days, it seemed more fun and interesting.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right. Elections have become about who can put on the best smoke and mirrors show. They don’t have to show what they are about just try to discredit your opposition. There are no real issues at the core of these campaigns. The fact that the Obama group advertised in Xbox games says they realize people are concerned about themselves. They don't think about how the world is changing around them they are just thinking about what makes them happy. To be more clear most of these people are not following the news or keeping up with the election so the way to spread your name it to get it on something that interest them. So now you have another uniformed voter.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on this! It is sad that Obama has to put himself on an Xbox game, but his goal was to reach out to younger audiences. It worked!
ReplyDeleteI think i commented on Candace's blog on this subject as well. I think that times have changed and therefore people have changed in the process. People are used to so many forms of entertainment now that it takes a lot to keep people entertained. That's why the media is so flashy nowadays. Think of how many people watch CSPAN (not many). This just goes to show how much entertainment is apart of our lives.
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