PARC Analysis "Heroes"

Days before the election, the Kerry-Edwards campaign launched “Heroes,” an ad which gives thanks to “ America 's soldiers and families for their sacrifice and stresses John Kerry's commitment to always support our troops” (www.johnkerry.com ). It is a direct response to the Bush campaign's ad, “Whatever It Takes.” The two ads were released on the same day, demonstrating once again the Kerry campaign's strategy of rapid response, and of leaving no ad unanswered (Orin).

Throughout the campaign, the Bush campaign has consistently criticized Kerry for his “flop-flopping” on the Iraq war and for allegedly voting against providing funding for America's soldiers (http://www.georgewbush.com/News/Read.aspx?ID=2945 ). Kerry has also been criticized by President Bush for calling Iraq war the wrong war at the wrong time:

First of all, what my opponent wants you to forget is that he voted to authorize the use of force and now says it's the wrong war at the wrong time at the wrong place. I don't see how you can lead this country to succeed in Iraq if you say wrong war, wrong time, wrong place. What message does that send our troops? What message does that send to our allies? What message does that send the Iraqis?

No, the way to win this is to be steadfast and resolved and to follow through on the plan that I've just outlined (President Bush at the first Presidential debate, 9/30/2004 -- http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2004a.html).

Moreover, the ad appears at a time when the campaign has become highly negative. “Heroes” first appeared the same week as “Wolves,” an ad that drew much public and political criticism for its highly negative tone and use of fear appeals. Kerry's criticism of Bush's handling of the current war also generated negativity within the election. “Heroes” arouses feelings of hope, nostalgia, and patriotism that directly counter these feelings of negativity, and acts to keep voters from being “turned off” from the election during its final days.

It's Morning Again in America . . . Again.

As stated by West, the visual aspect of political advertisements is the most important part of the message (4); “Heroes” is no exception. Although the verbal text is important, the power of this ad lies in its use of visual condensation symbols. As defined by Graber, a condensation symbol is “a name, word, phrase, or maxim which stirs vivid impressions involving the listener's most basic values” (289). In television, a condensation symbol can also be a visual image; in political advertising, the desired viewer response is often feelings of patriotism and national pride. Thus, the American flag, the bald eagle, and the Declaration of Independence have emerged as powerful condensation symbols often employed in political advertising. “Heroes” makes use of the American flag and the eagle, in addition to numerous other condensation symbols: family, children, home (houses), brides and weddings, and the citizen-soldier.

One of the marks of a condensation symbol is its ability to be used universally within a culture. That is, the symbol should not belong to any one ideology or group within the dominant culture. The visual images used in “Heroes” are not unique to the Democratic Party; rather, these images are used by both the Democratic and Republican parties, to the same ends. Both parties rely on these symbols of “traditional” and pastoral America to generate within viewers feelings of patriotism and peace. During the 1984 election, President Reagan released an ad titled “Prouder, Stronger, Better,” which featured pastoral and idyllic images of American life (http://livingroomcandidate.movingimage.us/index.php ). “Heroes” uses essentially identical images--a boat in a harbor, flags waving, people working, weddings, etc. Not only do these ads employ similar images, they employ almost the same number of images and use them in similar patterns.

Because condensation symbols, as well as other generic visual, verbal, and stylistic elements of political advertising, are so powerful, they are repeated in political ads from year to year, election to election. Thus, the same images that appeared in campaign ads from the 1960s and 1970s are present in ads from the 1980s and 1990s. They still are prevalent in today's ads. The current election has seen ads that echo Johnson's 1964 “Daisy” ad (Bush's “Risk” and Kerry's “Looking”), Reagan's 1984 “Bear in the Woods” (Bush's “Wolves”) and “Prouder, Stronger, Better” ads, and George H. W. Bush's 1988 ad “Tank Ride” (Bush's “Windsurfing”).

Although it is clear that the Kerry campaign chose these images for their connotative power, it is interesting to note that the ad's creators did not choose images that might appear more “up to date.” The images in “Heroes” are designed to encourage viewers to think of the “ideal” past, however much of a cultural myth that past may be. That is, although the images used may evoke feelings of hope and patriotism in some viewers, they are not necessarily images that resonate with modern viewers. The ad does not feature any clearly indefinable minorities or scenes of urban life. Thus, although Kerry's website does not indicate where the ad was shown or what audience it targets, we can infer, based on the visual images, that the ad was designed to target white, middle-class, rural and suburban voters who are middle-aged or older.

Kerry's ad stresses that voters can still feel patriotic, yet want a "fresh start" in the White House.

This ad, which contains seven separate images of American flags, makes clear that Kerry honors U.S. soldiers even as he lobs daily missives accusing Bush of foreign policy blunders. For the past few days, for example, Kerry's campaign has made a major issue of news that nearly 400 tons of explosives have disappeared from a former Iraqi military installation.

President Bush unveiled his final TV ad of the campaign yesterday, pledging to do "whatever it takes" to defend America — and prodding voters to see the war on terror as the key issue in picking between him and Democrat John Kerry….

The ad doesn't mention Kerry but because voters across the country rate Bush as stronger in the war on terror, any success in shifting the debate to terrorism in the final days could help the president in the super-close race. Kerry's campaign quickly countered by releasing a patriotic-toned ad of its own that says that U.S. soldiers in Iraq are "heroes" but their commander-in-chief isn't.

As Election 2004 draws to a close, the presidential candidates and the independent groups supporting them are using their final television ads to make their most emotional appeals of the campaign season…

Similarly, the latest Kerry-Edwards ad – called "Heroes" – attempts to compensate for negative perceptions of Sen. John Kerry as a pessimist who undercuts U.S. soldiers in Iraq through his unrelenting criticism of Mr. Bush's handling of the war effort.

"The last two weeks are always heavy," says Kenneth Goldstein, a political science professor who directs the University of Wisconsin 's political advertising project. "There is always lots of clutter, the campaigns are always desperate to shine through in some fundamental way and we know from lots of good geeky political science research that ads that are able to stimulate emotions are more likely to be effective."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/27/politics/main651844.shtml

Ad Analysis

Ad Context

It's Morning Again in America . . . Again.