Political AdvertisingResearch, teaching and personal stuff.UK Postmen Refuse to Deliver Election Leaflets- (Found July 2, 2008 ) Elections for the European Parliament will be held throughout Europe on Thursday 10 June. Parties fielding candidates in the election can have leaflets delivered for freein the UK's case, by the Royal Mail. However, Royal Mail postmen have a clause in their contracts which allows them to refuse to deliver mail with which they do not agree. Already postmen in some parts of the UK have refused to deliver leaflets of the British National Party, and the boycott may be extended to include the...http://homepage.mac.com/jonathan_lewis/blog/2004/05/30#UKpostmen1 Defining the Candidate- (Found July 2, 2008 ) In the US Presidential campaign, many voters do not have a clear idea of who John Kerry is. That is shaping the two camps' advertising campaigns at the moment. According to Taegan Goddard's Political Wire: To attract on-the-fence voters, Kerry is expanding the use of biographical ads to introduce himself, while President Bush is running negative ads to try to define his opponent first. (The Race To Define Kerry, May 28, 2004) Other recent Political Wire items on...http://homepage.mac.com/jonathan_lewis/blog/2004/05/29#definingKerry1 Berlusconi's election posters- (Found July 2, 2008 ) The Guardian reports on what seems to be a backfiring poster campaign by the Italian Prime Minister. According to a survey by Coesis research, writes Sophie Arie, Although 80% of the 406 voters polled had seen the Big Brother-style posters and the big figures, only 6% were convinced by them. 57% of former Forza Italia voters were so put off by them they were considering voting for someone else. Berlusconi's posters feature a smiling photo of the man himself beside a stastic showing the...http://homepage.mac.com/jonathan_lewis/blog/2004/05/20#Italy02 Sofas, fizzy drinks and the Tory Party- (Found July 2, 2008 ) The UK Conservative Party has announced its new advertising strategy. It switches away from the negative attack ads of recent years and aims instead to emulate successful ad campaigns for commercial goods. Patrick Barrett, Tories swap vitriol for humour in bid to unseat Blair. The Guardian, Tuesday March 23.http://homepage.mac.com/jonathan_lewis/blog/2004/03/24#sofas01 Criticism of Bush's 911 TV spot- (Found July 2, 2008 ) Some relatives of 911 victims and New York firemen take exception to the use of footage of a dead body (wrapped in the US flag) being lifted from the ruins of the World Trade Center. Bush 911 ads spark anger, Guardian, 4 March 2004.http://homepage.mac.com/jonathan_lewis/blog/2004/03/05#BushTV02 Bush TV Ads- (Found July 2, 2008 ) George Bush's first reelection TV spots have been released. I'm not very familiar with US TV ads, but I was struck by the way each spot either started or finished with the line "I'm President George W. Bush, and I approve approve of this message" Are these words a way of meeting a legal requirement to say who is responsible for the ad It seems to me rather redundant to say that one approves of what one has said in the previous 30 or 60 seconds, but no doubt there is a reason.http://homepage.mac.com/jonathan_lewis/blog/2004/03/04#BushTV01 $2m of candy floss- (Found July 2, 2008 ) Stefano Hatfield comments in the on the powerlessness of expensive political advertising to shape political issues in the US; public relations and news events are much more influential. Politics tries to keep the pace, 25 March 2004, The Guardian.http://homepage.mac.com/jonathan_lewis/blog/2004/02/22#candyFloss01 Restrictions on street advertising- (Found July 2, 2008 ) This is not directly related to political advertising, but is about the visual environment in which Japanese political posters must struggle for attention. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is to change the Law on Outdoor Advertisements () in order to give local authorities more power to cut down on street ads. This will be the first major revision of the law in 31 years. The current law makes it difficult to remove advertisements in order to protect free speech, but the...http://homepage.mac.com/jonathan_lewis/blog/2004/02/07#StreetAdvertising1 Ageo Mayoral Election posters- (Found July 2, 2008 ) Incumbent Kji Arai ( ) reminds voters that he is the current mayor and calls for a rediscovery of Ageo, lively people and a lively town. Fumiyoshi Dmae ( ) wants to renew the city government, and says courage is needed now. Kimio Kikkawa promises to make city government fair and equal. He also prints his website URL in large print, which is unusual for mayoral candidates. Kikkawa's website is online during the campaign period.http://homepage.mac.com/jonathan_lewis/blog/2004/02/06#AgeoMayor1 Kyoto Mayoral Election posters- (Found July 2, 2008 ) The three posters are all straightforward ID ads stressing faces and names. Incumbent Yorikane Masumoto ( ) reminds us of his "reliability and results", while Shinsuke Arai ( ) offers a little diagram showing citizens leading the government and the city backing them up. Moriaki Hirohara ( ) merely notes his previous job as principal of Osaka Prefectural University. (Thanks to Maho for shooting the posters).http://homepage.mac.com/jonathan_lewis/blog/2004/02/05#KyotoMayor01 |