Chapter 14 Controversies in Contemporary Advertising Do We The People Still Matter Political advertising has a simple purpose similar to brand advertising to influence people to select one option over another There is no market share winner takes all and loser gets nothing Campaign officials use several different methods to bring information to voters about political candidates and issues o Advertising o Political rallies o Online appeals o Telephone banks o Dissemination of position statements o News coverage Definitions of Political Advertising the message appears Defined by the content of the advertising message and the medium in which Political advertising includes messages supporting or opposing a candidate for nomination or election to either a public office or an office of a political party also officehold political party or a measure Consideration Publisher or broadcaster receives something of value in exchange for publishing or broadcasting the message In many countries political advertising must include a disclosure or disclaimer statement indicating the sponsor of the message By law media vehicles in the U S must sell airtime and space to political advertisers at their lowest rates during the 4 weeks before an election Freedom of Speech In the U S political advertising is the only type of advertising that has complete First Amendment protection o Political candidates and issue advertisements can and do say anything they want Communication Act 1976 Amendment Allowed private individuals at political action committees to spend unlimited amounts of money on behalf of candidates Internationally countries vary greatly in the degree to which paid political advertising is allowed Numerous countries have imposed a ban on political advertising Another group of countries has a regulated system of free but limited political advertising specifically for political parties during elections Some countries allow paid political advertising with some restrictions o Place regulations on duration o Place regulations on times broadcasted o Depends on groups The Process of a Political Advertising Message Development o Political advertisements must get results in a short period of time o Four types of advertising Name identification ads Used early in a campaign designed to create awareness of the name of the individual running Argument ads Present positions on specific issues Serve to influence public opinion Attack ads Focus on the candidate s opponent and negatively position the opponent and his or her views Negativity Effect Finds that people give greater weight to negative information than positive information and people remember negative information better than positive information Visionary ads Immediately before the election candidates revert to positive visionary appeals give the voters a final positive reason to vote for the candidate o The FCC Federal Communications Commission regulates political access to the airwaves monitors equal rights o Stations must give opponents equal air time o The Internet and YouTube has become popular among politicians o So has social media and SEO search engine optimization o Placing ads on social media is much more cost efficient than TV advertising Ad Placement Intended Effects Provide information to voters o Issues o Ideas o Public policy problems Help voters form opinions o Tries to persuade voters to think or feel a certain way o Undecided voters can be highly persuaded about voting one way or another based on issues about which they already feel strongly Reinforce common values Increase voter turnout o Elections bring communities together as a whole Unintended Effects Government irrelevance o Shifts focus of voters away from important issues at hand Limited information leads to lack of debate o Campaigns have a high level of control over what the public learns and doesn t learn Diminished news coverage candidate o News mediums are covering advertising tactics rather than the actual Develops negative feelings that may lead to decisions not to participate o Backlash Boomerang Effects Effects on attitudes and voting behaviors that go against the intent of a democratic society Harms the advertising industry as a whole o Political advertisers often do not adhere to the code of ethics and put other advertisers in a bad light Decreases trust in government The Future Free Airtime o Would eliminate huge amounts of campaign spending o Free airtime would improve political dialogue in the country since consumers would be exposed to more information than the currently available 30 second sound bites of information about candidates and issues o Would open the airwaves to individuals and groups with less money to spend on advertising and put the candidate s energy on communicating important information about the issues o Should bloggers and other online speakers be subject to any existing Regulate the Internet laws Public Financing of Campaigns o By removing private money from campaigns the playing field is leveled and qualified candidates can run for public office without compromising their independence because they will not have to ask for money from those with a personal stake in public policy o All political broadcast advertisements may be regulated to last 60 Longer Spots seconds or longer Codes of Conduct o Suggest principles that candidates should follow when developing advertising messages and then ask the candidates to agree on these principles