2008 Woodie Awards
Students see political advertising in new light
Tyler Will
Issue date: 3/27/08 Section: Campus
03/27/08 - University of Rhode Island political science professor Maureen Moakley told students yesterday to be critical of political advertisements and to be aware of their distorted qualities.
"I'm hopeful that people will get more discerning [about ads]," Moakley said.
She showed the audience, largely composed of Library 120 students, video of about 30 political advertisements dating back to the 1950s, with an advertisement for Dwight D. Eisenhower's candidacy that Library 120 instructor Jim Kinnie said was made by Disney.
The Eisenhower advertisement depicted smiling cartoon characters marching across the screen chanting, "I like Ike, you like Ike, everybody likes Ike." At the end of the ad, a voice said, "Now is the time for all good Americans to come to the aid of their country."
A second ad, for Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign, had several nuclear explosions, and the ads progressed through the decades up until the 2004 presidential election and Rhode Island elections.
Moakley said common features of political advertisements are "fear factor" such as the nuclear explosions, a "fuzzy feeling," like in an advertisement about Ronald Reagan, which depicted Americans getting married, buying homes and families gathering.
Other tactics are more ruthless. Moakley showed an ad by former Republican presidential candidate and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee that talked about Mitt Romney's time as Massachusetts governor. The ad said Romney, Huckabee's GOP rival in early primary states, left office with Massachusetts in a deficit and raised taxes for the state's residents.
A second "smear ad" was between Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, (D-R.I.) and former Sen. Lincoln Chafee, (R-R.I.), during the Rhode Island primary.
"It was really an attempt to undermine the credibility of Chafee by associating him with Bush, who was widely unpopular," Moakley said. The ad claimed that Chafee's voting record was exactly what President Bush wanted.
"I'm hopeful that people will get more discerning [about ads]," Moakley said.
She showed the audience, largely composed of Library 120 students, video of about 30 political advertisements dating back to the 1950s, with an advertisement for Dwight D. Eisenhower's candidacy that Library 120 instructor Jim Kinnie said was made by Disney.
The Eisenhower advertisement depicted smiling cartoon characters marching across the screen chanting, "I like Ike, you like Ike, everybody likes Ike." At the end of the ad, a voice said, "Now is the time for all good Americans to come to the aid of their country."
A second ad, for Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign, had several nuclear explosions, and the ads progressed through the decades up until the 2004 presidential election and Rhode Island elections.
Moakley said common features of political advertisements are "fear factor" such as the nuclear explosions, a "fuzzy feeling," like in an advertisement about Ronald Reagan, which depicted Americans getting married, buying homes and families gathering.
Other tactics are more ruthless. Moakley showed an ad by former Republican presidential candidate and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee that talked about Mitt Romney's time as Massachusetts governor. The ad said Romney, Huckabee's GOP rival in early primary states, left office with Massachusetts in a deficit and raised taxes for the state's residents.
A second "smear ad" was between Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, (D-R.I.) and former Sen. Lincoln Chafee, (R-R.I.), during the Rhode Island primary.
"It was really an attempt to undermine the credibility of Chafee by associating him with Bush, who was widely unpopular," Moakley said. The ad claimed that Chafee's voting record was exactly what President Bush wanted.