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Negative Political Advertisements

Political advertisements generally fall into two broad categories. According to Ted Brader (21), in Campaigning for Hearts and Minds, most commonly "scholars have characterized ads as either positive or negative according to the 'tone" of the information given." A recent political advertisement by Republican presidential candidate John McCain is being characterized as a negative ad, showing images of press fawning over Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama as if he were a celebrity. To make that point even more clear, the advertisement features media-frenzy celebrities like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. The ad, called "Celeb," juxtaposes images of Obama speaking to a massive crowd in Berlin with those of the female celebrities known more for their celebrity than substance (McCain 1). The ad has generated criticism for McCain, from the Obama camp as well as from Hilton, who made a response video throwing herself into the political ring for president and in which she refers to McCain as that "old dude with white hair" (McCain 1). Despite the negative tone and tenor of the ad, it attempts to inform Americans that throughout his candidacy for the presidency the media has fawned after Obama and seldom challenges him on significant issues. Because negative ads often expose truths or comment on real issues that are significant to a presidential race, they do offer informative value to Americans.

Negative attack ads in politics have been around for a long time but became a center of attention in political campaigning during Republican nominee George H.W. Bush's run against democratic candidate Michael Dukakis. In Defense of Negativity, John G. Geer (124) explains that "the topic of negative advertising became part of the political landscape in 1988. Negative ads had been airing on television since 1952, but they had not become the center of attention before." Recently, a backlash against negative campaig...

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Negative Political Advertisements. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 07:53, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/2000361.html