Political Ad Season 2008: Hollywood Encourages Voters

Just about every major TV broadcast channel is currently dedicating a majority of its programming to the 2008 presidential election. And rightfully so as the election is the topic on the top of Americans' minds right now. So much emphasis on the election comes from the current economic downturn striking our nation or perhaps it is because the election is only a week away. Either way, advertisers have picked up on this hot topic and have been busy cranking out their finest political work to keep up with the intriguing points of this vote. Not only has the advertising industry been generating ads for each candidates, but there have been numerous advertising campaigns created to promote the act of voting. The stress from each political party of actually encouraging Americans to vote seems to be a bigger issue this election than ever in the hopes of properly shaping America's future.

The effort put into persuading people to go out and vote has arisen heavily from motivational sources such as Rock the Vote and other mass registration initiatives. But this movement has recently gained more support by some unconventional, yet very effective and useful sites, such as Google Maps. An online video is helping to drive traffic to the Google Maps site, which points visitors to their local polling station, features dozens of celebrities encouraging viewers to do the opposite of conventional voting public service announcements: not to vote. Throughout the first two minutes of the video, the repeated message is "don't vote," "don't vote," "don't vote," until one really does not want to vote anymore. Eventually though, the true objective of the video reveals its antagonizing ways of saying that one really should vote, all the while feeding the viewer quick frames of recognizable faces like Forest Whitaker, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jennifer Aniston, to name a few. I have seen that things like this consistent barrage of visual name-dropping seems to be the common trend, when dealing with young adults signing up to vote, especially more than ever on the Internet, likewise other efforts have received a great amount of press coverage, including those by the organization, Declare Yourself, which features images of celebrities like Jessica Alba (see image to left) and Christina Aguilera bound and unable to speak out, or rather depicting their inability to vote. The illustration of these images is focused more on using sexuality and shocking brutality instead of emphasizing the real message that one should not allow your voice to go unheard this election. Of course these videos and images are not without opposition by critics or comedians, as online user generated content mocking these messages frequently appear (one of the best examples is actress, Hayden Panettiere, telling the viewer not to support John McCain). However, I feel the overall significance of these efforts so far suggests that these ads are more than enough encouragement to get voters out to the polls. This is indicated by the youth voter numbers from the state primaries earlier this year. A recent article in AdWeek, outlined a majority of the marketing and advertising efforts that incorporate Hollywood stars. The article goes on to touch upon the fact that the vividness of celebrity endorsements seen in this election is more so than in any past election.

While there may be some successful inspirational campaigns from celebrities, not all voter registration campaigns are equally effective. Gap generated the "Vote for ____" campaign aimed at stimulating youth voters through a series of videos that also use a wide variety of different spokespeople to spread their message. The vast range represented in spokesperson demographics such as age, race and interests, reaches far beyond those seen in the Declare Yourself video. But instead of quick snippets of each celebrity, Gap strangely lets Bill Maher ask you to vote for BBQ, or has Kristen Bell saying to vote for those who cannot. Many corporate sponsors, similar to Gap's own initiative, have joined forces with the likes of Declare Yourself and Rock the Vote, amongst others, by backing their efforts with exposure and money. I feel, however, as though these Gap ads in particular are an easy way for their recently struggling company to become incorporated into the politically responsible category. All Gap did was simply front a budget to slap their logo on the cluttered list of corporate-backed celebrity endorsements. Meanwhile their image may increase as a result, but sales and profits may not be so lucky in the long run. The warmth in all of this lies within the companies who care enough about actually being useful in their own ways to this political season. For instance these companies may be inspired enough to hold voter drives or even passively take the backseat in image advertising for a few months while politics takes over, instead of salivating at the opportunity to improve brand value or awareness.

The funniest but most self-serving video of those released online is an advertisement by the forgotten Reebok spokesperson, whom also conveniently links to the Google Maps page, Terry Tate, in which he pummels Sarah Palin in his own version of a voting initiative video. Other videos have humor involved as well but are steered directly at voting in a partisan way. One such video from numerous popular young actors includes Blake Lively, from the TV show Gossip Girl, in a promotion for assisting in the cause at MoveOn.org that encourages young adult viewers to talk to their parents about voting for Barack Obama (see image to right). It is a uniquely twisted ploy diverting away from the usual PSA's that encourage parents to talk to their young adults and instead empowering the young adullt to talk to their parents. Much of the voter initiative seems to be attempts at driving voters towards the Obama campaign perhaps due to his relation and appeal to younger voters over the older McCain. The efforts by celebrities to incorporate their image into strong messages is a continuously useful medium and whether or not their messages are serious or not, or even partisan, it is necessary for those who can impact the masses to continuously make the right choices to voice their opinions to guide those afraid to use theirs.