Each campaign cycle, the political ads keep on getting nastier and nastier. This year both sides have really raised the bar on nasty.
There are two types of ads; those produced by campaigns and those produced by Political Action Committees or PACS. By law, campaigns and PAC's aren't allowed direct contact but my guess is there is a lot of nodding and winking involved.
How bad is it? Both sides, directly and via their surrogates are saying some of the most hateful and untrue things about each other. These often outright lies are then further distorted to the point of nausea. How are we folks on Main Street served by all this? The answer of course is, not at all.
What's quite fascinating is the good work many media outlets do in fact-checking these ads. In just about every case, we learn the truth is being stretched a tad, OK a lot. By both parties. So why run the darn things? Either people are believing the ads or not believing the news.
Political "experts" say they work. These "experts" of course live in New York and Washington DC and are about as connected to us here on Main Street as Vladimir Putin.
Our economy is in a world of hurt and the national debt passed the $16 Trillion mark before the opening gavel in Charlotte. If both parties don't come together, and quickly to deal with this issue we'll be toast. Period. We're in the back seat with Thelma and Louise headed for you-know-where.
I saw an interesting interview this week about all this with Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper. He'll be speaking at the DNC this week, but was talking about negative ads. A former restauranteur, he told about talking with a soda marketing executive about how negative advertising would work in the soda business.
In essence he said, if Coke started bad mouthing Pepsi, Pepsi would have to respond. It would escalate to the point where no one would buy either product. Hickenlooper is not a fan of negative ads. What I've always liked about the man is he never uses them. Remember his "Shower" Ads?
Up until recently, we didn't have a voice in all this. We had to just sit there and watch this crap. Not any more. Thank goodness for the DVR where you can skip through them. But Social Media, being used extensively by both parties, is also being used by the people they're trying to influence. Campaigns and PACS post clever, is not entirely accurate graphics and urge followers to "Like" and "Share" them. People click without verifying. The response is anything but positive as flame wars break out.
All because of lies and damn lies. From both sides.
This nation is divided, dangerously so. Both the Democrats and Republicans seem hell bent on simply breaking us in half entirely.
Enough is enough. (I'm going to have a shower)
Brian Olson
Owner/Consultant
Conversation Starters Public Relations
Well said Brian! Both sides have been digging this hole for years and throwing more dirt at one another won’t help us climb out. I am pretty sick of advertising in general but political ads are the worst. If I need to know something about a bill or candidate, I’ll go find an independent site online. This year is a little different because I don’t have to see those ads anymore. I had a Hopper DVR installed specifically for the Auto Hop commercial skipping feature. Now the only attack ads I have to put up with are the ones I hear on the radio on my way home from work at DISH. Think of the money spent on these campaigns locally and nationally and then think about the good that money could have done, locally and nationally.
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