Monday, April 23, 2007

Campaign Ads Have Multiple Goals

Campaign advertisements are as diverse as the people that create them. In studying the ads from just two different years, the diversity in the perspectives, tactics, and creativity is quite apparent.
I chose "Weapon" as Case #1, from 1964. When Barry Goldwater ran against Lyndon Johnson, Johnson had the advantage of being the incumbent president. His experience was one of his strengths. He used Goldwater's weakness of being blunt, against Goldwater in this ad. Using Goldwater's own words against him the ad shows that Goldwater claimed that the atom bomb was just another weapon. Since the Vietnam war wasn't yet an issue, this ad was effective in criticizing Goldwater. One of Johnson's main weaknesses was that he was not telegenic. Most of the ads that Johnson's campaign produced, did nor include his presence.
I chose "Nearly" as Case #2, from 2004. In this election, George W. Bush was challenged by John Kerry. In this ad, Bush's experience as the incumbent is used to his advantage. His weaknesses in foreign policy and business are not mentioned, and positive economic facts are the focus.

1 comment:

BC said...

A lot of EASE History's case resources made it into your examination of the cases. For example, Bush's perceived weaknesses in 2004. You might have already had this knowledge. Someone with a deeper understanding of the cases and the domain could skip some of the resources. But for someone who hasn't worked with these cases or lacks domain knowledge the case resources are there to support case work.