Political Advertising has been with us since the days of Barry Goldwater and Lyndon Baines Johnson beginning with the Daisy ad, where a little girl picks off petals on a flower and a nuclear bomb detonates on camera. The ad itself was visceral if not nerve racking to watch. Since then we have seen a number of political ads that try to get the viewer to vote for their respective candidate.
From my own personal experience, this has been the case with the Hillary Clinton campaign of 2016, of which I was an intern. Working in the Communications department, I was one of the many people who would transcribe audio interviews, and send press releases. As someone who has listened many of her interviews, I can say that we were trying to be very conscious of her image, and how she appeared in the media. Working in a political campaign was fast paced, and every second mattered most in terms of time management. Our advertising has mostly focused on getting an emotional response from the voters, and letting people know about her plans for the country.
We also tried to pounce on Trump’s statements, ranging from topics such as the economy, to foreign policy. But Hillary has had such a long time in the public spotlight that there has been a negative reaction to her throughout her career.
Political advertising is all about effective messaging, and who can better communicate that message. It is not a very positive job, but sometimes you have to fight for what you want. Even if it can get ugly at times. That’s what politics is all about.
Thoughts of Bruce 