Election campaign advertising

Pic. 2.4. Labour isn’t working	1979. At this time, many people were disappointed with the high unemployment that had arisen under the Labour government. The slogan is clever because of its double meaning (pic. 2.4).
Pic. 2.5. Same old Tories	This Labour campaign poster from 1996 uses the “A” of the word “TAX” to form a road traffic warning triangle with the slogan “Same old Tories. Same old Lies” (pic. 2.5).
Pic. 2.6. New Labour	August 1996. The poster of Tony Blair with “devil” eyes caused numerous complaints to the advertising standards authority (pic. 2.6). It was clearly intended to portray Tony Blair as a man who could not be trusted. The poster backfired since public opinion was very much against this form of personal attack.
Pic. 2.7. Labour’s tax bombshell	March 1992. Many people in Britain were beginning to think that the only way to improve hospitals, schools, etc. was to pay more tax. The Tories disagreed (pic. 2.7).

a Post-Reading Tasks

I. Agree-or-disagree section.

1. Do you agree that the culture of the nation is reflected in advertisement? How?

2. Do you agree that advertising is a real art? Prove your point of view.

3. Do you agree that advertising negatively influences on human brains and speech?

4. Do you agree that advertising makes people buy needless things?

 

II. Answer the following questions.

1. Which form of advertising (outdoor advertising, advertising on public transport, in newspapers and magazines, or on television and radio) is the most successful to your mind? Give convincing arguments in support of your opinion. Who is the targeted audience in each particular case?

2. What new ways of advertising to get consumers’ attention do you know?

3. What do you know about online advertising? What is it used for? How does online advertising differ from TV- or press advertising? Where do usually online ads appear? Do you have to scroll down to find it?

4. What is the difference between corporate and product advertising? Give examples for each type.

5. Why do press and television companies allow to place advertisements in newspapers and magazines and on TV?

6. Think of the types of advertisement that appear in different kinds of TV programs: talk shows, children programs, quizzes, etc. How do these types differ? Trace what advertisements are showed during sport programs, talk shows, etc.

7. How much does advertising affect you?

8. Do you think advertisers should have the power and influence they do?

9. Should there be restrictions on the nature of political advertising, especially in the run-up to a general election? If so, what restrictions would you like to see?

10. 'Nasty and childish advertising campaigns reduce politics to a very low form of competition.' Discuss this view in the light of some recent political advertising campaigns.

 

III. Analyze political campaign posters given in the text.

1. What do they have in common?

2. What stylistic devices and advertising techniques are used in these posters’ design?

3. How did election campaign posters change in process of time?

4. Were these political campaign posters successful to your mind? Would you personally believe them?

 

IV. Explain the following items on the basis of the text.

1. Audience profiling and reasons for this.

2. TV advertising and audience targeting.

3. Political advertising and campaigning – using examples of recent election campaigns. How is it made? For what purposes?

4. The influence and power advertisers have.

 

V. Write a small report (200 words) on one of the following topics.

1. How does the culture of a particular nation influence on advertising? (Compare advertising industry in Russia, America, Great Britain, etc.)

2. How do consumers’ earnings, gender, education and social habits influence on the choice of advertising techniques, media and types of products being advertised? (Take into consideration audience profiling)

a Pre-Reading Discussion

Do television commercials irritate you?

How can television commercials be useful for viewing audience?

Would you like to ban commercial breaks?