Examination of Presidential Advertisements

The selected candidate, Lyndon B. Johnson's ad can be found here: http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1964. The ad chosen is the most famous of his ads, "Peace Little Girl (Daisy)."Although the ad is not informative in the traditional sense, the lack of explanatory words adds a powerful yet simple cinematic device that resonated with people making this ad value-laden. By using an innocent child juxtaposed with a bomb explosion, the fear generated by these images provided enough of a reaction that made the ad effective. It is because the overall message was fear, fear of what would happen should people not vote for Johnson. The male narrator at the end told the audience vote for Johnson and this direct action showed effectively that the audience really only has one choice in the campaign, to vote for Johnson.

There's no common link between this ad and the others below. However, the ad did influence me in the sense that imagery can be an excellent device to convince people of something. I learned that base emotions like fear can motivate people to make a choice and thus made the ad seem appealing because it resonated with me. I would change the transition from the little girl to the explosion. It felt too jarring and amateur.

The selected candidate, Gerald Ford's ad can be found here: http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1976. The ad showed interviews with random people on the street and is titled: "Man on Street." Here voters that gave their opinions on Carter told the camera how they changed their votes to Ford. The narrator was mixed as it was the various voters interviewed. It appeared to be a negative ad because it showed Carter in a negative light citing how badly he behaved then. Because of the various voters and their recently changed allegiance from Democrat to Republican, it showed effectively the incompetence of Jimmy Carter.

In my opinion, this made me dislike Ford as a candidate. I didn't see any factual evidence of Carter's incompetence, but I did see how badly people thought of Carter. This made the ad unappealing as it was purely opinion with no factual information to back it up. This is where I would improve. I would include factual information to back up the switch of these voters from Democrat to Republican.

The selected candidate, Jimmy Carter's ad on jobs, can be found here: http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1976. The ad appeared issue-oriented with Carter sitting discussing the need to change the employment rate in America. With the narrator being Jimmy Carter, it felt personal and genuine. His language was direct, and his words included statistics that provided a more informative discussion and opinion. At the end, the background turns green and the narrator changes to a male who urges the audience to vote for Jimmy Carter. By having Jimmy sit there, dressed semi casually, stating his opinion, the audience gets a sincere sounding conversation for change. Without needing to turn to black and white images, everything seemed down to earth, open, and friendly.

For me, this made me like the candidate. I learned from him that he wants to fix the economy and understands the situation the U.S. economy was in at the time. His opinion and use of information appealed to me. However, what would make it more effective would be inclusion of what he would do to solve this problem of lack of work.

The selected candidate is George Bush and the campaign ad can be found here: http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1988. The campaign is called "Revolving Door." The ad centers on a negative portrayal of Dukakis with indirect imagery of the escaped convict William Horton. The narrator of the ad is male and not the candidate. He uses grim language and includes words with strong connotations like 'rape', 'escape'. The language creates an accusatory stance on the role Dukakis played in the government up until the election (The Furlough program). There was no direct statement suggesting vote for Bush or do not vote for Dukakis.

The images were set in black and white with a grey overtone. The images of the revolving door of prison inmates added effectively to the message of the ad, which was to not support the Furlough program. Apparently black and white ads seem to denote seriousness and contemplation. The ad influenced me because the 269 escaped convicts that were mentioned and I was able to learn new information that made the program seem dangerous. Because of this, I felt it appealed to the fear I have of criminals at large. I would change the ad by including more statistics and making it more informative.

The selected candidate is Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton's campaign ad can be found here: http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1992. The ad, "Commander-in-Chief" was a clear cut focus on the issues. For example, Bill Clinton and his running mate, Al Gore put in simple black lettering on a white screen that they would support the death penalty, cut wasteful spending, and make Welfare a second chance, not a way of life. This made the ad issue-oriented.

The narrator was a man and was not the candidate. The language seemed friendly, assertive, and emphasized an 'out with the old, in with the new' mentality. There's emphasis placed on words like 'people' and 'budget'. This makes the viewer feel like Bill Clinton cares about the people and wants to make the government better. The tone makes it feel friendly and personal as if Bill Clinton is going to change things for the person seeing the ad and not just for the American people.

There was no specific action suggested. It was more informative than anything. The white screen and black lettering and underlining in red of certain phrases provided additional focus on what they wanted to say. This made me feel as though the ad did influence my opinion of Clinton as an experienced candidate concerned about the issues. I did not learn much from it except that Bill Clinton supported the death penalty during his campaign. The ad appealed to me in the sense that it covered important issues and was not asking for votes, but rather informing the public. To make the add more effective, I would have to include a quote by someone to add additional personality.

References

The Living Room Candidate - Commercials - 1976 - Essence. (2016). Livingroomcandidate.org. Retrieved 15 August 2016, from http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1976

The Living Room Candidate - Commercials - 1988 - Family/Children. (2016).Livingroomcandidate.org. Retrieved 15 August 2016, from http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1988