The Living Room Candidate
Our assignment this week is to write on an political ad. I chose the ad from JFK's election in 1960. The ad that I chose is a jingle for the candidate. It is a super catchy tune, reminiscent of a television show theme song, that gets stuck in your head all day long. After watching it a couple of times already, I feel like I know it by heart. The imagery in this video is what I find really interesting. It is essentially the same pictures and images repeated over and over again. Pictures of "Kennedy's people", the people that will be voting for him. There are shots of people of all races and all ages, painting Kennedy as an every man, a president who connects with every demographic. The use of handmade signs is repeated throughout the ad, giving the idea that people are passionate about him and made these signs themselves in support of JFK. There are also certain words that are repeated over and over again like "president", "vote democratic", "a time for greatness", and "leader for the 60s". All of these words that flash across the screen with his face stick in your head, really getting a message across. There is an emphasis that he is young, but still experienced and is a presidential candidate that cares about every citizen in every state. The emphasis is on age is definitely a little stab at the other presidential candidate, Richard Nixon. Nixon's team tried to say that Kennedy's young age equated inexperience, but Kennedy's team used his young age in a positive message. It is short and sweet and to the point. The ad has a real magazine/newspaper ad feel to it, making me think that this ad was made by a company who created ads for magazines and newspapers, especially in comparison to political ads today that are more advanced.
Another important part to the JFK jingle ad is that you don't have to actually watch it in order to get the message. Most of the time during commercial breaks people get up and go away from the tv. If you were a housewife in 1960 who had the TV on during the day or a family watching it at night and you walked away while the commercial was on, but still heard it, you would still get the message. The repetition of Kennedy's name is pounded into your head. There is not questions about who the ad is for. Without seeing the images, you get the message and it is catchy enough that you don't tune out. You hear the message... that Kennedy is the right president and you should vote for him! The use of the words "me" and "you" are also significant. The ad is drilling into your head that I should vote for Kennedy, that he s the right candidate for ME. The repetition of the word "me" makes the viewer feel like they are important to the campaign, that their vote counts and should be for Kennedy. He is the people's president, the president for each individual.
It is interesting to me how these jingle ads function. While they are catchy and upbeat, they still manage to get a few jabs. Most political ads have a more direct assault on the competition, but jingles make this attack in a more underhanded way. The jabs can sometimes be lost on the viewer, but if you watch them over and over again, you pick up on the underhanded comments at the opposing candidate.
A parody of the JFK ad was used for Barack Obama this campaign season. I am pretty sure that it was not an official campaign video, but it is an interesting comparison. There have been a lot of comparisons between JFK and Obama over the years, comparing their age, inexperience, presence and speaking ability, as well as their political beliefs. Kennedy was a very loved president by the people of the United States and by creating this ad, it is exemplifying the comparison.
Thank you for bringing my attention to the Obama ad. Interesting that the part of Kennedy ad that's so interesting, namely the diversity of voters he is appealing to, something that Obama also shared in is appeal, is entirely missing from the parody.
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