Real People - Real Campaigning

Political campaigning has changed completely in the last century. With the invention of new technology, the candidates were given new opportunities and new avenues of advertisement that otherwise would have been impossible. The addition of the radio and the television allowed political parties to share information and speak to every individual in America. Being able to see the candidate made a huge impact on the voters and ever since, has been a key way to address the citizens of America during a presidential campaign.

Due to the advancements in technology, voters began expecting more and more out of campaign advertisements. Candidates are always trying to make their billboard or radio advertisement or commercial better than the other guy’s. In order for people to pay attention to what they have to say, they have to use innovative methods to attract their audience.

As with all advertising, the audience usually feels most compelled by those commercials that they can relate to. This technique has been used since the 1950’s, according to Errol Morris in his article People in the Middle. The ads have “real people”, people that appear to be middle class and average. They use simple language and attempt to look sincere.

The problem with “real people” campaign ads is the fact that even these are altered and skewed. Take, for instance, the ad found on http://www.peopleinthemiddleforobama.org/. The people in the video are chosen out of thousands of people. They pick the individuals who are most appealing. They also pick snippets from each person’s interview and fuse them together. The more advanced our technology, the more altered the commercials are becoming. For example, one lady is cut off mid sentence and then fused with another sentence that she talked about later. The audience doesn’t hear her actual statement, but rather what the political party wants us to hear. It is not really “real”, but just as altered as any other commercial.

Regardless, these types of advertisements are effective. These “real people” ads are more of an ethos approach, trying to tug on the emotions of the audience. When people can relate to an advertisement, they are more likely to be affected by it and consider the message. Because the advertisements with “real people” are not informative, I believe that they must be used in addition to advertisements from the candidate themselves in which they discuss their political views.