JUST DO IT!
Grab your journals, and write about the last political ad
you saw (on television, internet, whatever…) What was
the message? Was it effective? Why or why not? What
would you improve?
Political Ads and Propaganda
NCSS Theme
—  Theme VIII: Science, Technology, and Society
¡  Social
studies teachers should plan, provide, and assess
experiences that provide for the study of relationships
among science, technology, and society.
¡  Science, and its practical application, technology, have
had a major influence on social and cultural change, and
on the ways people interact with the world.
¡  Scientific advances and technology have influenced life
over the centuries, and modern-life, as we know it, would
be impossible without technology and the science that
supports it.
SOL Objective
—  VUS.6e: The student will demonstrate knowledge of
local, state, and national elections by analyzing the
influence of media coverage, campaign advertising,
public opinion polls, and Internet-based
communications on elections.
Why Use Political Ads?
—  We live in an environment surrounded by the mass
media:
A means of public communication reaching a large audience
¡  Includes everything from the radio to television to the Internet
¡
—  However, today we will be focusing on the medium
of television.
¡
“Television uses all tools of fiction filmmaking, including
script, visuals, editing, and performance, to distill a candidate’s
major campaign themes into a few powerful imaged.”
- The Living Room Candidate, Museum of the Moving Image
History of Political TV Ads
—  The first presidential candidate
to use television advertising for
a campaign was Dwight
Eisenhower during the 1952
election.
—  Rosser Reeves, an advertising
executive from Madison
Avenue, convinced Eisenhower
that short ads during popular
TV programs would reach
more voters than any other
medium.
—  His ads reached living rooms
all over the country. This new
innovation would forever
change the way political
campaigns would be run.
Rosser Reeves
Why use television?
1.  A major source of public information about politics
2.  TV ads are under the direct control of the candidate
and his/her campaign
3.  Television ads reach a much wider audience than
other standard form of electoral communication
4.  Seen by all voters, not just those whose political
party is the same as the candidate
5.  Voters learn more about issues from political ads
than they do from news or debates.
This Year’s Election…..
Together, Romney and
Obama have spent
almost $1 Billion on TV
advertisements
—  This is almost twice as
much since the
previous election.
Types of Political Ads
— Name Identification
— Policy Ads
— Attack Ads
— Positive Visionary Ads
Name Identification Ads
—  Establishes a Candidates Identity. Supposed to help voter’s
recognize who you are and what position you are running for
—  Want to use these at the early stage of the campaign to
establish your image
Policy Ads
—  Reinforce a candidate’s ideology and platform. Voters learn
what the candidate stands for, and what they will support
when in office.
—  Start using later in the campaign process after constituents
are familiar with who they are.
Attack Ads (Negative)
—  Purpose is to insult the opponent, while making yourself look
better at the same time. You attack your opponent’s record,
platform, and moral character.
—  Ads tend to get uglier as the campaign progresses toward the
end
Positive Visionary Ads
—  Focus on your image, idea is to make everyone feel
warm and fuzzy inside with grand thoughts. Hold
great promise for future years in office.
—  These are used right before the election for the
biggest impact.
Activity
—  Get into groups of 3
—  Create a grading scale for ads
¡  Choose which criteria should be used to judge how effective an
ad is
¡  Must use at least 3 criteria
¡  Each person in you group should make a copy of the grading
scale on your handout
—  While we watch the following ads:
¡  Label what type of ad it is
¡  Use grading scale to assign each ad a number grade
Example of Criteria
—  Scale running from 0 to 10 Points
¡
Length of the Ad
÷  1
Point: Too Short
÷  2 Points: Too Long
÷  3 Point: Just Right
¡
Statistics
÷  1
Point: No Statistics
÷  2 Points: Statistics, but Not Sourced
÷  3 Point: Sourced and Credible Statistics
¡
Believable
÷  1
Point: Unbelievable
÷  2 Points: Somewhat Believable, Unsure
÷  3 Points: Completely Believable
¡
Source of Message:
÷  1
Point: Supported by Candidate or Political Party
Video #1
Video #2
Video #3
Video #4
Video #5
Video #6
Exit Slip
—  Which ad from the last activity was your favorite?
—  What type of ad was it and why was it effective?
—  Do you think it persuaded voters to vote for a certain
candidate?
Be Prepared to Share Your Answers
Resources
—  “Kennedy Jingle” from 1960 Election. Accessed at: https://www.youtube.com/
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watch?v=7DoUiNxh6_0&noredirect=1
“Personal Responsibility” Bush Ad from 2000 Election. Accessed at: https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=6FxL242-z6I
“Read My Lips” Clinton Ad from 1988 Election. Accessed at: https://www.
youtube.com/watch?
v=vnUv7y4U2T0&playnext=1&list=PL1F84B9266BFB9306&feature=results_video
“It’s Morning Again in America” Reagan Ad from 1984 Election. Accessed at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU-IBF8nwSY
“Ike for President” Eisenhower Ad for 1952 Election. Accessed at: https://
www .youtube.com/watch?v=nG4IX5jBc4Q
“Any Questions” Swiftboat Veteran Ad in 2004 Election. Accessed at: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4Zk9YmED48
“The Bear” Reagan Ad in 1984 Election. Accessed at: https://www.youtube.com /
watch?v=NpwdcmjBgNA
“Four More Years” National Republican Senatorial Committee for 2012 Election.
Accessed at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=VIA5aszzA18
“Restoring the American Dream” Romney for 2012 Election. Accessed at: http://
www.youtube.m/watch?v=26AMgycOWoU
“Memories to Last a Lifetime” Obama for 2012 Election. Accessed at: http://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=LSh7G48_wOI
Resources (continued)
—  “The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign
—
—
—
—
Commercials 1952-2012,” Museum of the Moving Image.
Accessed at: http://www.living roomcandidate.org/
“The Fight 2012.” http://cainand toddbenson.com/
2012/04/26/the-fight-2012/
“Typical American Politician.” http://www.deceptology.com/
2010/11/political-commercials-encourage.html
“Rosser Reeves.” http://historyofads.the-voice.com/tedbates-rosser-reves
“Something in the Air.” http://www.economist.com/news/
united-states/21565245-vast-sums-have-been-spent-tvadvertising-mostly-cancelling-each-other-out-ads-take