Page 116 - An Introduction to Political Communication Fifth Edition

Intro to Politics Communication (5th edn)-p.qxp 9/2/11 10:55 Page 95

ADVERTISING
The manifest emotionality of the ad’s construction generated controversy
at the time, and indeed such was the feeling of outrage at the use of such
manipulative tactics that it was shown only once during the campaign (and
once in the context of a news item). Subsequently, however, the emotional
appeal has become a routinely deployed tactic, if not always in such dramatic
fashion. In 1984 the Reagan re-election campaign produced a ‘Morning for
America’ spot, depicting in glossy rustic tints an America of hard-working,
God-fearing pioneers. The advertisement tapped into what the campaign’s
researchers had established was a deep longing amongst many Americans for
a past and a country like the one depicted in the film. The ‘American dream’,
or myth, was then attached to the concept of the Reagan presidency.
The same strategy was applied by the Reagan campaign team to foreign
policy. In one spot a deep, soothing voice warned viewers that ‘there’s a bear
in the woods’. Here, the Reagan campaign was manipulating the fear of
communism and the ‘Russian bear’. Demonising the Soviets was of course a
central feature of Reagan’s presidency, and this ad sought to identify him
with the defence against it. Although the name of Reagan’s opponent in
1984, Walter Mondale, was not mentioned in the ad, the film attempted to
secure the audience’s assent to the notion that another Reagan term was the
best defence America had against communism.
To manipulate mythology and deep-rooted cultural values in this way
implies a degree of sophistication in the market research carried out by
campaigners. Ronald Reagan’s electoral success has been ascribed in large
part to the market research efforts of key media advisers like Dick Wirthlin
and Roger Ailes, who successfully identified the motivations and values
underlying the voting behaviour of key sectors of the American electorate.
As former Conservative media adviser Brendan Bruce puts it, Wirthlin’s
value research for the Reagan campaigns ‘represents the most important
advance in political communication of the last two decades. It provides the
image makers with the best possible guide to the effective presentation of
policy, by creating a clear understanding of how voters make their choice of
party. It also supplied them with a rich and subtle vocabulary of persuasive
language and motivating symbols’ (1992, p. 87).

Signifying power
Before leaving the subject of values, emotions and symbolism, we should
note the importance in political advertising of symbols of power and status,
and the advantages which these give to an incumbent candidate or party. A
candidate in office, such as Nixon in 1972 and Reagan in 1984, inevitably
acquires a stock of experience and credibility which can be represented in
advertisements by the use of archive footage of press conferences, foreign
tours, meetings with international leaders, and so on. These visuals, with
appropriate verbal accompaniments, become powerful signifiers of authority

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