There is a fascination with political advertising. It seems to be more for their entertainment value than their efficacy. I just have yet to see an ad that would get a voter off the lounger and out to the polls to vote.
I think the best of the current batch of TV ads running is the liberal one that is titled “Real Doug Ford.” It is a classic attack ad that takes his stands and graphically denounces them. The ad makes good use of black and white and color to emphasize the messages. Does it work? Hard to tell. My impression is that many of the Doug Ford supporters are more interested in bashing Ms. Wynne than checking out Ford’s credentials.
The current TV ad that does not work for me is the conservative ad that gathers a lot of short clips from Doug Ford events. Maybe the message is subliminal. I think personally that it is too much like the Trump rallies in the U.S. where President Trump preens and reassures himself that these people at least love him. Whatever the message might be, it is lost in the fast cuts and confusion.
And, speaking of confusion, have you seen the NDP ad that features two ordinary-type people and red, blue and orange balls. They keep getting hit by the different balls and then the woman throws a basket with one of the orange balls. Maybe that is just too subtle for this old apparatchik.
I suspect that these ads will quickly become background to the campaign. I am a firm believer that in politics, the only effective campaign is the individual candidate’s ground game. This is the relentless and determined door knocking that can identify the individual candidate’s vote. Once identified, the candidate’s team knows who to make sure has voted on election day.
I am also convinced that candidate campaigns would be missing an important opportunity if all advance polling days were not treated the same as the final polling day. The relaxed rules make it vital to ensure as many of your identified voters as possible have voted. Never leave it until the last minute.
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Copyright 2018 © Peter Lowry
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