Fiction and the political ad
‘Tis the political season in these here United States. This past Tuesday was the closest thing this country has had to a national primary. Depending where you live you may have had more phone calls, junk mail, and the like than you care for. Living in California as I do, I was subject to quite a few phone calls. In one day, I hung up on John McCain twice and Hillary once. I’m a registered Republican so I have no idea why Hillary called. Of course it was a machine that dialed my phone and sent their recorded voices along the line and into my ear.
The other thing we overdose on every election season is the political ad. They’re not new. Recently I was reminded about an ad that ran in 1964 for Lyndon Johnson. Considered to intense, it ran only once—on September 7th.
I like to consider myself well versed on how humans communicate, motivate, and persuade one another. The “Daisy” ad took persuasion to the next level. Below is the ad as it ran 44 years ago. From a communication point of view, it was brilliant. Still, it’s hard to feel good about it.
Why talk about political ads? Because many of them are short stories told in 30 or 60 seconds. They often use the same principles used by storytellers. Watch the ad then think about the questions that follow.
- What is being “sold” here?
- If this were a work of fiction (and many thought it was) what genre would it be?
- Who is the hero?
- Who is the antagonist?
- What does the hero stand to lose?
- How does the piece pull the viewer in?
- What does the little girl do to make the audience think the ad is going to be cute?
- How do the viewer’s emotions change from beginning to end?
- For the writer’s out there, what one thing could you do to make the ad even more effective?
Al “I see story everywhere” Gansky
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