Saturday, April 21, 2007

The Alternative Air War

If one wants to gain an insight into US political communication one can search the web and find a plethora of television advertisements that range from the promotional, the comparative (why our guy is better than the other guy), or the downright attack. The same is becoming the case in the UK but the budget is lower and we are not treated to advertisements on primetime TV. However the battle for the right wing, little england, conservatives is waged via Youtube. UKIP's major line of attack is on the Conservative party's online television channel 18 Doughty Street



Iain Dale's face superimposed on Uncle Fester is memorable if nothing else (sorry Iain). However there is a response:



The question here is though, will the ordinary Youtuber actually perceive both sides as 'eeky, ooky, mysteriously spooky' and in the end not actually worth voting for if this is the level of political debate they can offer. The advantage is that the anti-UKIP message is attributable to 18 Doughty Street, not the Conservative Party while UKIP is clearly the sponsor in all of its attack videos; perhaps then UKIP could be the main loser in this if viewers do indeed take a dim view of such attacks.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

My own research on negative advertsing - admittidley the rather more converntional TV Party Election Broadcasts - suggests a mixed picture on using attack ads. Many of the undecideds and uncommitted voters (the ones most parties seem desperate to reach)find many negative ads 'useful' as well as reinforcing their view of politicians as a bunch of w*****s

read more in the International Journal of Advertsing - Volume 24 2005

Darren G. Lilleker said...

No plugs!!! Oh too late, I did my own didn't I? But will this engage voters? It is at least entertaining!

Anonymous said...

Apologies, no more will be offered - as you can read in my latest book 'How to promote yourself without trying'!!

Anonymous said...

Its attributable to me no 18 doughty street