Attack ad

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This article is about the concept in politics. For the concept in business, see Comparative advertising.
An attack ad in an 1848 issue of the Jonesborough Whig attacking US presidential candidate Lewis Cass
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advertisement designed to wage a personal attack against an opposing candidate or political party in order to gain support for the attacking candidate and attract voters. Attack ads often form part of negative campaigning or smear campaigns, and in large or well-financed campaigns, may be disseminated via mass media
.

An attack ad will generally unfairly criticize an opponent's

political platform, usually by pointing out its faults. Often the ad will simply make use of innuendo, based on opposition research. Political attack ads across all types of media can have different strategic aims. Some are character attacks, trying to persuade the viewer to think differently about a candidate's character in hopes that they will reconsider their perception of the candidate and who they are as a person. Another strategy is an attack on the candidate's policy or political ideas. This attempts to derail one's support for a candidate by persuading them that the candidate-under-attack's political ideas are illogical, extreme, or will be ineffective.[1]

Televised attack ads rose to prominence in the United States in the 1960s, especially since Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations require over-the-air commercial TV stations with licenses issued by the FCC—effectively all regulated TV stations, since others would either be public television or be pirated—to air political ads by both parties, whether it be attack ads or more traditional political ads. Although cable television and the Internet are not required to air such ads, attack ads have become commonplace on both media as well.

Examples

United States

"Daisy" advertisement

One of the earliest and most famous television attack ads, known as "Daisy", was used by Lyndon B. Johnson against Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election. The ad opened with a young girl innocently picking petals from a daisy, while a man's voice performed a countdown to zero. It then zoomed in to an extreme close-up to her eye, and cut to an image of a nuclear explosion. The ad was shocking and disturbing, but also very effective. It convinced many that Goldwater's more aggressive approach to fighting the Cold War could result in a nuclear conflict.[2]

During the 1968 presidential election, Vice President Hubert Humphrey made a political ad against candidate Spiro Agnew with Humphrey laughing on the TV screen showing the text "Agnew, for vice president?". The ad ended with a quote "This would be funny, if it weren't so serious..." and it also ended with Humphrey coughing due to his non-stop laughter.

Attack ads were used again by the campaign of George H. W. Bush against Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential election. The two most famous were the "Willie Horton" and "Tank Ride" ads. The "Willie Horton" ad began with a statement of Vice President Bush's support of the death penalty. Then it described the case of Willie Horton, who was convicted of murder. The ad stated that Governor Dukakis's prison furlough program (unsupervised weekend passes from Massachusetts prison) released Horton ten times; in one of those furloughs, he kidnapped a young couple, stabbed the boy and repeatedly raped the girl. The ad ended with, "Weekend prison passes. Dukakis on crime."[3]

The "Tank Ride" ad

military spending and weapons programs than Dukakis. The footage, pulled from the news media, showed Dukakis riding a tank in his attempt to counter the claim that he was weak on defense. He wore a large, oversized helmet and a wide smile, which was used by the GOP to insinuate that he was a fool. The GOP also added gear sounds from an 18-wheeler truck to imply that Dukakis could not run the tank smoothly – although tanks do not have gears that grind.[6]

The

Texas primary. The ad began by showing children asleep in bed while phone rang in the background. A voice-over stated that it was 3 a.m., the phone was ringing in the White House, and that "something's happening in the world". The voice-over then asked voters if they wanted someone who "already knows the world's leaders, knows the military" and is "tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world" to pick up the phone.[7] While Obama was never mentioned by name, the implication was clear and the ad set off a firestorm of discussion and controversy, causing even Obama himself to respond and describe it as an ad that "play[ed] on people's fears", predicting it would not work.[8] Later in the campaign, after Obama had become the Democratic nominee, Republican nominee John McCain echoed a similar sentiment. In a controversial ad called "Celebrity", McCain's campaign asked, "[Barack Obama] is the biggest celebrity in the world. But, is he ready to lead?" The ad juxtaposed Obama supporters with photos of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.[9]

By 2010, attack ads had spread online as political candidates published their ads on

Fiscal conservative in name only”.[10]

Mexico

The first attack ads of the 2006 Mexican general election were launched by the conservative National Action Party against Andrés Manuel López Obrador; the ad claimed that López Obrador's "populistic" proposals would drive Mexico further into economic crisis and bankruptcy. The Party of the Democratic Revolution answered with attack ads against the current president Felipe Calderón, claiming that he was partly culpable for the 1994 economic crisis; since Calderón was running with a motto of "the president of employment", the ads closed with, "dirty hands, zero employments". After López Obrador alleged that Calderón was illegally patronizing his brother-in-law Hildebrando Zavala, the tagline was changed to "dirty hands, one employment for his brother-in-law".

Canada

Although it has been found that Canadian elections are less likely to use attack ads than US elections, there has been an increasingly strong presence of negative ads in Canadian campaigns in modern times. Comparatively, Canadians were more likely to use acclaim ads- or ads that praise another individual- than Americans, as American campaigns are much more likely to use attack ads than Canadian campaigns. Overall, however, Canadian campaigns are more likely to use attack ads than acclaim ads, similarly to the US.[11] Famous examples of Canadian attack ads include the 1993 Chrétien attack ad during the 1993 Canadian federal election, and the 2006 Liberal Party of Canada election ads during the 2006 Canadian federal election, both of which were widely criticized and ultimately managed to improve the electoral results of the candidates being targeted by the ads.

Philippines

During the 2016 general election campaign, presidential candidate and Senator Antonio Trillanes launched negative advertisements that featured six children against presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on ABS-CBN a few days before the election on May 9, 2016.[12]

The 30-second advertisement showing each of the six children (four boys and two girls) briefly criticizes the video clips shown: Duterte's remarks of "killing everybody", his cursing on Pope Francis, yelling "Mabuhay ang NPA" (lit. 'Long live the NPA!'), kissing a woman and his comments about the rape-slay on the Australian missionary, the remarks of his war on drug campaign "would be bloody" should Duterte elected president, and finally raising his blurred middle finger.[13]

The advertisement drew criticism from Duterte's supporters on social media.

Sonny Coloma denied the conspiracy claim made by Cayetano.[16] Prior to the airing of the ad, the ABS-CBN Corporation issued a statement that the ad had been reviewed to the ethics committee, complied with election laws, and was allowed to air. Later, TV5 refused to air the controversial ad, the TV5 Network stating that the ad had not met requirements.[17][18]

On February 24, 2020, during the

ABS-CBN franchise renewal, GMA Network, Inc. First Vice President for Legal Affairs, Maria Luz Delfin clarified that the GMA Network had not aired the ad, stating that it was disapproved by the internal election committee.[19]

Non-political usage

While attack ads have primarily been relegated for political usage, there have been some instances of private businesses running them. In 2013,

nonprofit status.[20][21][22] At the same year, T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon began airing attack ads against each other.[23][24][25]

Effect on voter turnout

Studies suggest that attack ads have no effect on voter turnout in the United States. There is, in fact, a noted negative impact on voter turnout by some researches, but it has no bearing on the evidence as it is statistically insignificant. The only case in which evidence reveals a correlation between negative advertising and voter turnout is for "late" negativity. This is when two conditions exist for the voter: they have already selected their preferred candidate and the attack and the negativity is about their selected candidate. If these two conditions exist, there is a negative effect on voter turnout. In this case, a forty percent increase in "late" negative ads will decrease the likelihood of turnout by 0.087, and a sixty percent increase in late ads merits a 0.145 decrease in turnout. Thus, the only case in which attack ads have been found to effect on voter turn out is when the voter has already selected their candidate, as they realize that their candidate is potentially no better than the alternative options.[26]

Effectiveness

Studies claim that 82% of Americans dislike attack ads, and 53% believe that the "ethics and values" of election campaigns have worsened since 1985.[27] The voting public see attack ads as an element of smear campaigning.[28] Other research indicates that voters are open to candidates attacking each other if the issues in question are "appropriate". In a 1999 survey of Virginia voters, 80.7% felt it is fair for a candidate to criticize an opponent for "talking one way and voting another", though but only 7.7% feel it is fair for a candidate to attack an opponent for the "behavior of his/her family members".[29]

Political operatives, however, have found attack ads to be useful, and

social psychologists claim that negative information has a tendency "to be more influential than equally extreme or equally likely positive information".[30] University of Toronto professor Scott Hawkins "suggests that even a mention in the media that a candidate or party is planning to run negative advertisements can be beneficial, since it plants seeds of doubt in the voter's mind, especially early in the campaign when voters tend to be less involved. If the reported claims turn up in advertisements later in the campaign, they already seem familiar to the voter."[31]

In the United States, researchers have consistently found that negative advertising has positive effects. Negative advertising "is likely to stimulate voters by increasing the degree to which they care about the election's outcome or by increasing ties to their party's nominee;"

partisan voters, and that it alienates independents, causing elections to be fought among partisan extremes.[34]

Backfires

If an ad is seen as going too far or being "too personal", voters may turn against the party that put the ad out. For example, in the Canada

military, some of whom were fighting in Afghanistan at the time.[citation needed
]

In the run up to, and in the 2015 Canadian federal election itself, Justin Trudeau, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and the son of Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, was subjected to a sustained negative ad campaign by the Conservative Party of Canada. However, the "Just Not Ready" campaign was judged by the public as unfair and mocking of the Liberal leader.[37] More importantly, the advertising campaign lowered public expectations of Trudeau's performance that even Conservative personnel noted that he would impress people if he showed any display of competence in public events such as the televised debates.[38] That proved to be the case, and Trudeau took advantage of the public's low expectations to impress the public with his articulate and passionate manner to garner support throughout the campaign until his party won a majority government.[39]

In 2006, Republican challenger

mudslinging. The study also shows that the influence of negativity is less powerful for challengers than for incumbents.[clarification needed][42]

Front groups

Campaigns often establish or support

United Seniors Association, which spent $17 million on ads during the 2000 US presidential election.[43] As front ads are not controlled by the candidates they support, the candidates are insulated from criticism.[44]

George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four includes mention of the "Two Minutes Hate", a routine in which workers are subject to films encouraging distrust, fear and hatred towards the enemies of Big Brother.

See also

References

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  2. ^ Schwartz, Tony (director) (1964). Daisy Girl (Television ad). Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  3. ^ "Analysis of a "Willie Horton" ad from the 1988 campaign". Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story. InterPositive Media. 2008. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  4. ^ "Michael Dukakis, 1988 – Another Landmark Image". 100 Photographs that Changed the World. Life. Archived from the original on August 1, 2015.
  5. ^ "Presidential Campaign 2004 – Their Message and Their Analysis". TV Spot History. Archived from the original on 2008-02-02.
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  7. ^ Hillary Clinton Ad – 3 AM White House Ringing Phone. Hillary Clinton campaign. 2008. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  8. ^ Seelye, Katherine Q.; Zeleny, Jeff. (March 1, 2008). "Clinton Questions Role of Obama in Crisis". The New York Times.
  9. ^ "McCain calls Obama the biggest celebrity in the world". CNN Politics. CNN. Archived from the original on August 5, 2008.
  10. ^ Steinhauer, Jennifer (March 20, 2010). "Dose of Venom for Candidates Turns Ads Viral". The New York Times.
  11. ^ Mahone, Jessica A. (2009). A comparative content analysis of televised political advertising in the United States and Canada in 2004 and 2008 (Thesis). ProQuest 304874542.
  12. ^ "Anti-Duterte ad causes uproar online". ABS-CBN News. May 5, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  13. ^ "Anti Duterte TV Advertisement / Commercial". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  14. ^ Pia Ranada (May 5, 2016). "Anti-Duterte ad by Trillanes riles up Duterte supporters". Rappler. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  15. ^ "Cayetano wins TRO vs anti-Duterte ads, but word war goes on". Philippine Daily Inquirer. May 7, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  16. ^ Trisha Macas (2016-05-06). "Taguig RTC issues TRO vs. anti-Duterte ad". GMA News. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
  17. ^ Nestor Corrales (2016-05-06). "ABS-CBN on 'anti-Duterte' TVC: We are duty-bound to air legitimate ad". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  18. ^ Yuji Vincent Gonzales (May 6, 2016). "TV5: Didn't air 'anti-Duterte' ad due to unmet requirements". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  19. ^ "GMA Network clarification on ad against Duterte". GMA News. February 24, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  20. ^ "UPMC and Highmark Engage in TV Ad Wars". CBS Pittsburgh. August 1, 2013.
  21. ^ Pucko, Timothy; Conti, David (August 5, 2013). "UPMC sues Highmark over advertising campaign". TribeLive News.
  22. ^ Hamill, Sean D. (March 22, 2013). "UPMC, Pittsburgh stake positions for court fight on nonprofit status". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co., Inc.
  23. ^ "AT&T Made This T-Mobile Attack Ad". Business Insider. March 4, 2013.
  24. ^ "T-Mobile fires back at AT&T in attack ads". CNET. March 6, 2013.
  25. ^ "Home > T-Mobile's New Print Attack Ad Hits AT&T, Verizon Again, And Again T-Mobile's New Print Attack Ad Hits AT&T, Verizon Again, And Again". TmoNews. July 24, 2013.
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  29. ^ Freedman, P.; Lawton, D.; Wood, W. (1999). "Do's and Don'ts of Negative Ads: What Voters Say". Campaign Elections. 20: 20–25.
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  31. ^ McGuffin, Ken (10 May 2004). "Political Attack Ads Can be Effective but Risky". Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Archived from the original on 1 March 2011.
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  35. ^ 1993: Is this a prime minister?. Political Attack Ads (Interactive graphic). CBC News Online.
  36. ^ "Martin says he only approved transcript of controversial 'soldiers ad". CBC News. January 12, 2008. Archived from the original on February 25, 2008.
  37. ^ Campbell, Bradley (October 20, 2015). "Stephen Harper underestimated Justin Trudeau, but it was the mocking way he did it that cost him the election". PRI. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  38. ^ Hamilton, Graeme (October 20, 2015). "Graeme Hamilton: Justin Trudeau's stunning victory for the Liberals should finally silence his doubters". National Post. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  39. ^ Gagnon, Michelle (October 7, 2015). "Justin Trudeau's rise shows the benefits of being underestimated". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  40. ^ Paul R. Nelsion Sex Studies Ad (Television ad). Wisconsin: Paul R. Nelson for Congress Committee. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
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