According to political pundits, the Democratic Presidential hopefuls are doing a better job of deploying the Internet than their Republican counterparts. However, what remains to be seen is how the advertising industry will use the web in hopes of influencing the 2008 election.
No matter what your political persuasion, the ad biz has a chance to redeem itself online. Or for those of you who view the glass as being half empty, our creative/strategic industry can merely extend the mudslinging, misleading tactics of TV and radio to the next generation of media–or is that the next degeneration of media?
Just look back to the midterm elections in which the Democrats won control of both Houses. Factcheck.org, a site run by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, studied all the mid-term election campaign ads running in the top 101 U.S. media markets. Some 91 percent of Republican ads were deemed negative as were 81 percent of those paid for by Democrats. The Democratic committee spent $18 million attacking Republicans as compared to $3.1 million lauding its own candidates–a nearly six-to-one negative-to-positive ratio. The Republican committee-backed advertising registered a negative-to-positive ratio of eight to one.
And according to factcheck.org, the negative advertising is largely an exercise in fabrication and distortion. Unfortunately character assassination has proven effective enough so that it remains a staple of political campaigning. Indeed advertising’s role in misleading the public is a figurative black eye for our industry. It undermines the many competitions we have that show the creativity and care that goes into great commercialmaking, which at its best is undeniably an art form.
At the same time, it can be argued that in an era in which leadership by fear seems to be the norm, the ad biz is merely guilty of keeping its finger on the pulse of what has worked far too well over the past too many years. Or is that merely trying to rationalize and somehow make palatable our industry’s role in making fear mongering more prevalent?
On the web, though, there is opportunity to go beyond the sound bite and the short spot format. Dare I say there’s even the chance to explore issues, debate differences and at least have some discussion or imparting of divergent views that can lead to a greater good.
We’ve come a long way from FDR’s famed declaration that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Today fear has become an ally for those who choose to lead by and benefit from it.
Let’s not let advertising be an ally to the divisiveness from which people have profited at the expense of the public at large.
While TV seems to be a wasteland of negativity when it comes to political advertising, can we at least learn from that sad state of affairs and make new media campaigning not only more civil but more intelligent, informed and enlightening?
Otherwise the cry for new content and new ideas–which rings throughout our industry–will instead ring hollow.
“Mufasa: The Lion King” and “Sonic 3” Rule Box Office For 1st Weekend Of 2025
The Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa: The Lion King" claimed the No. 1 spot on the North American box office charts over the first weekend of 2025.
The photorealistic "Lion King" prequel earned $23.8 million in its third weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Paramount's "Sonic the Hedgehog 3," which has dominated the past two weekends, wasn't far behind.
"Sonic 3" stayed close with a 3-day estimate of $21.2 million, bringing its total domestic earnings to $187.5 million and helping the overall franchise cross $1 billion worldwide. "Mufasa's" running total is slightly less, with $169.2 million.
In third place, Focus Features' "Nosferatu" remake defied the fate of so many of its genre predecessors and fell only 39% in its second weekend. Horror films typically fall sharply after the first weekend and anything less than a 50% decline is notable. "Nosferatu," which added 140 screens, claimed $13.2 million in ticket sales, bringing its running total to $69.4 million since its Christmas debut. The film, directed by Robert Eggers, already surpassed its reported production budget of $50 million, though that figure does not account for marketing and promotion expenses).
No new wide releases opened this weekend, leaving the box office top 10 once again to holdovers from previous weeks. Several have been in theaters since Thanksgiving. One of those, "Moana 2," claimed the No. 4 spot for Disney in its sixth weekend in theaters. The animated sequel earned another $12.4 million, bumping its global total to $960.5 million.
The Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown," dipped only slightly in its second weekend, bringing in $8.1 million. With $41.7 million total, it's Searchlight's highest grossing film since Disney acquired the company in... Read More