Negative Political Advertising

We all deplore it - but, so it seems, it can be extremely effective. That's the reason why so many candidates (and especially their "independent-expenditure only" followers ['SuperPacs']. The most memorable political ads - and probably the most effective - in the last half century have been negative (from LBJ's "Daisy Ad" invoking fear of the possible consequences of Barry Goldwater's 'extremism'...




through the Willy Horton "revolving doors" ad by Bush to undermine the Dukakis campaign in 1988.



C-SPAN recently broadcast a programme on the history and current use of negative political advertising. It is available to view here.

Ike wants your vote

Sixty years ago - this was a cutting edge political ad - but the message has a certain 2012 feeling!

Making Data Understandable

As you may know, I have a particular interest in political communication. (both as an academic - I'm a member of APSA's Political Communication Section & subscribe to a number of academic and practical journals on the subject; and most of all as someone who has been a candidate at local; national and European levels).

One of my great concerns is that a lot of material is sent to prospective voters - is completely wasted. Recently I participated in handing out leaflets at a shopping centre - the material was very worthy; had lots of useful information - but was too crowded with print to encourage anyone to fully read it. I've also noted the (natural) tendency to substitute lots of leaflets for personal contact - a very dangerous path to go down.

To communicate effectively - that is to win hearts and minds - we need to think about what works. I found the following video a useful one - I hope you do too.

The Value of Data Visualization from Column Five on Vimeo.

Whatever happened to serious & sober party political broadcasts?

Political Advertising on TV

In the United kingdom - political parties cannot advertise politically on radio or television. Instead political parties are allocated a certain amount of timed slots, in which they can present their case - these are known as "party political broadcasts". The time is free to the parties, though they must pay for making the broadcast. Keele University has a database of past election broadcasts available at http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/peb.htm. The legal limits are a major reason that political campaigning in the UK is significantly cheaper than in the US.

Stanford University maintains an online archive of US presidential ads - including the most recent. It is available at http://pcl.stanford.edu/campaigns/2008/