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.
Oscar Nominees Delve Into The Art Of Editing At ACE Session
You couldn’t miss Sean Baker at this past Sunday’s Oscar ceremony where he won for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Editing on the strength of Anora. However, earlier that weekend he was in transit from the Cesar Awards in Paris and thus couldn’t attend the American Cinema Editors (ACE) 25th annual panel of Academy Award-nominated film editors held at the Regal LA Live Auditorium on Saturday (3/1) in Los Angeles. While the eventual Oscar winner in the editing category was missed by those who turned out for the ACE “Invisible Art, Visible Artists” session, three of Baker’s fellow nominees were on hand--Dávid Jancsó, HSE for The Brutalist; Nick Emerson for Conclave; and Myron Kerstein, ACE for Wicked. Additionally, Juliette Welfling, who couldn’t appear in person due to the Cesar Awards, was present via an earlier recorded video interview to discuss her work on Emilia Pérez. The interview was conducted by ACE president and editor Sabrina Plisco, ACE who also moderated the live panel discussion. Kerstein said that he was the beneficiary of brilliant and generous collaborators, citing, among others, director Jon M. Chu, cinematographer Alice Brooks, and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman. The editor added it always helps to have stellar acting performances, noting that hearing Cynthia Erivo, for example, sing live was a revelation. Kerstein recalled meeting Chu some eight years ago on a “blind Skype date” and it was an instant “bromance”--which began on Crazy Rich Asians, and then continued on such projects as the streaming series Home Before Dark and the feature In The Heights. Kerstein observed that Chu is expert in providing collaborators with... Read More