With the advent of YouTube (and, more specifically, the DNC and the GOP using YouTube), it has become increasingly easy to sit back from the comfort of one’s home and to critique campaign advertisements. Virtually every campaign uses YouTube for video hosting nowadays- something I blame myself (partially) for- as the service is quick, easy, and best of all, free. So, since we’re a relatively safe distance away from the 2008 elections (and more importantly, I get to “cheat” and look up who won), I’ve been watching some campaign advertisements- and I’ve noticed 10 key “sins” that set bad ads apart from their much better counterparts.
Sin #10- Looking Bad
As bad as it may sound for me to say this, be arrogant when you appear on TV. When you appear on television- be it in an advertisement or even in a news interview- you should look your best. Obviously, this does not mean you should go out and get plastic surgery- however, some basic upkeep (having a modern but clean cut haircut, keeping your fingernails short, et al) is almost a necessity for a good advertisement.
I’ll channel my inner fashion magazine writer and be blunt. Men should wear a suit in almost every situation (even in somewhat casual situations, though a tie is optional for those). Everything, regardless of your actual body shape, should be tailored to fit you. Ideally, this translates into a gray or black suit, a light colored (white or light blue- avoid pink, it may polarize some people) narrow or spread collar shirt, and a simple tie. Women should wear either the female equivalent of a suit or a very conservative dress- showing shoulders is dubious, showing cleavage is an absolute no-no.
Bad Example: Curts for Commissioner (Squinting and looking confused in a polo shirt is no way to gain votes)
Sin #9- Restricting your Appeal
The second you declare party affiliation, you lose a percentage of the other party. The second you start bashing the other party, you lose the opposition entirely.
Be you Democrat or Republican, keep yourself open to both parties- never restrict your appeal. While there is a temptation to appeal to the base (using strong imagery, bashing the opposing party in general, et al), this sort of practice gives you a negative tone (seee #1)- and this kind of thing kills your appeal. Avoid being vague, but try to make your message appeal to everyone you can- because, regardless of party, everyone is wanting a better life and a better politician.
Bad Example: Chester T. Kelley for Congess (“Everyone is Screwing You” is arguably the funniest tagline I’ve ever heard from a campaign)
Sin #8- Insulting your Viewerbase
Every Candidate who advertises has opposition- that’s generally the reason you need advertising in the first place. Still, opposition is often a bad thing to bring up in an advertisement (see #1)- and an even worse thing to bring up is how “stupid” people were for voting for him/her. Allow the voter an “out”- allow them an excuse and/or a reason in which they can switch their vote. Rather than saying something like “People voted for this man, and he is an idiot, so they must be idiots!”, your message should be more along the lines of “This man has betrayed those whom voted for him!”.
Bad Example: Susan Collins for Senate (Having the NRSC chairman endorsing you polarizes you way too much- thankfully, she could (somewhat) get away with this)
Sin #7- Breaking the Law
This should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. Make sure everything you say in your advertisement- every insinuation, every bit of information, every citation- is 100% accurate. Never let an advertisement be created without seeing the script, the images, and all citations ahead of time. NEVER IN YOUR CAMPAIGN should an advertisement be created, no matter how small, that you (and two other people) have not thoroughly reviewed, fact-checked, and given your approval on.
Sin #6- Clustering your Attacks/”Shooting Long”
There’s this new (horrible) trend coming forth where smaller campaigns (say, a County Commission campaign, or even a Congressional campaign) piggy-back on bigger campaigns (Presidential campaigns, for example)- basically, putting their eggs in someone else’s basket. This manifests itself in a variety of ways- joint advertisements (“vote for us both!”), linked advertisements (“If you like ____, you’ll like me!”), and political endorsement ads (“I’m _______, and I endorse ______ for _______”).
Endorsements and political connections are all wonderful things, but they should be used in the right context- and often, an advertisement is not the right context. Ideally, the only time you should use an endorsement is an advertisement is either from a trusted local (i.e. a local hero) or doing a bunch of people all over your territory (i.e. a montage of people whom support you).
Bad Example: Joe White for Arkansas State Senator (A fairly decent listing of endorsers, but with approximately .01 seconds of candidate face time)
Sin #5- Poor Timing
I’m not going to name any names here, but I’ve seen Republican campaigners advertise on the Bravo Network and the Style Network. I’ve seen Democrats advertise on Fox News. I’ve also seen an ad or two on Cartoon Network. This is far from ideal placement.
Placing advertisements on network television is incredibly expensive- especially when it comes to placing said advertisements in prime time spots. An entire advertising budget can be blown on a single placement- and because of that, there’s often a temptation with smaller campaigns to buy up cheap placement times (i.e. around 12pm, or early in the morning) on random, lower-tier channels to just get the advertisement on TV.
DO NOT DO THIS.
Realistically, you are throwing away your money. While the allure of getting an advertisement on a random channel is strong, it does not create the kind of momentum needed to make the price worth it. Even if you have to limit yourself to only a few showings in your entire campaign, make sure that you get prime billing- preferably on a local and/or national news network at prime time (approx 7pm-11pm or so, depending on the viewer base and what shows are on). Obviously, know what channel you are advertising on as well- trust me, the MTV generation is indeed mobile (See “Vote or Die“), but your commercial will fall upon deaf ears.
Sin #4- TMI
No-one cares about the details of a situation. Having proof is a great (and very important) thing, but a commercial is not about flaunting what paperwork you have- it’s about selling a message. Of course, you want to drive your message home, and statistics/documents help that- but realistically, no viewer is going to process the information quite like you do. In a world where people’s comprehension of numbers plateaus at about 7, there really is no time to throw needless information at the already somewhat lazy viewerbase.
Keep any ad you make simple and hard-hitting. Dumb it down as much as humanly possible, and give the viewer a take-home message that sticks in their mind, not confuses them.
Bad Example: AIP’s “Know Enough?” (By the time you get to the point, you forget there was one)
Sin #3- Being Vague and/or Confusing
Sometimes, once you are involved with a campaign personally, you find it hard to connect with your voterbase anymore. It happens to everyone- and things that may make sense to you do not necessarily make sense to your voters. As ridiculous as it may sound, the average 12 year old should be able to understand your campaign advertisement as much as you do- and if the average voter doesn’t “get” it, they mentally shut down and ignore your message. This is a dangerous trend.
Make sure that, before you put any advertisement forth, you have it reviewed by average folk- even teenagers- to ensure it is clear, concise, and simple. This will save you from leagues of strife later on.
Bad Example: Culberson for Congress 2008 (I have no idea what’s going on here)
Sin #2- Poor Production Quality
This is arguably my #1 pet peeve, but not necessarily a #1 sin. Poor production quality- which can be anything from hiring a bad company to having a friend-of-a-friend do your advertisement- will make you look absolutely childish. While you will certainly not have the kind of cash to produce a TV commercial to the quality of a beer commercial, you want to at least keep up with modern technology and themes- looking like your advertisement was made in Windows Media Player will hurt your campaign, even with the technologically un-savvy (who are surprisingly adept at noticing how “different” your ad looks).
Even though it may feel like flushing money down a toilet, hire a reputable company that works with advertisements like what you need- make them send samples and have plenty of knowledgeable techies to rely on for advice. You may pay excessively for the ad, but it will pay you back in the future.
Bad Example: Laura Richardson for United States Congress 2008 (This would have been appropriate back in the days of Betamax)
Sin #1- Being Negative
Being negative destroys any credibility a campaign has.
There are indeed times to go negative- when your opponent massively screws up or has a bad reputation, you should certainly capitalize on their shortcomings. However, negative advertising- particularly on television- often polarizes viewers, making them feel uncomfortable and attacked. While your supporters may hail the negative ad as a “great strike” or something to that regard, realistically negative ads turn off undecided voters and your opponents, which is precisely the last thing you need to do. Worse off, it can spawn a negative campaign war- and trust me, from experience, those are about as fun as surgery without anesthetics.
One common trope for advertising companies to make is what I (probably very incorrectly) call “binary advertising”- that is, to start off negative (“____ is ruining our country!”), transitioning to a focus on the candidate (“This person will make our lives better!”). While this is generally effective in its own right, I often find even these a bit too dangerous- devoting 15 seconds in a 30 second ad to your opponent often does very little other than develop a bad taste in the mouth of a viewer. If you choose to do these, do them right- select maybe one or two key quotes or mistakes from the opponent (“Joe says he kills kittens!”) and immediately contrast it with your candidate (“Bob loves kittens and has 3 of them!”).
Remember, a campaign ad is just like any other ad- much like Coca-cola says “Drink this!” and Volvo says “Drive this!”, you’re fundamentally saying “Vote for This!”- and much like the aforementioned companies are never negative unless they absolutely must (in which they often term their opponents as the “other guys”, a trick even high school debaters pull every so often), you should avoid being negative unless you absolutely must. To do so places a taste in the viewer’s mouth so bad you won’t be able to wash away.
Tags: advertising, campaigning, fashion, Politics, pr, television
