The “Whatever it Takes” ad has been released during the final week of the campaign to show the strength of the President and his commitment to the war on terror. This ad is also the last ad that the Bush/Cheney campaign plans to release before the election. Articles in Time Magazine report what many have thought—that the race is a close one and each candidate must pull out votes wherever they can.

The ad also may be in response to complaints that George W. Bush looked aggravated during the debates, and to show that the President is a strong and well-spoken leader. The ad is extremely positive. As Nelson and Boynton write, “Perhaps the best distinction between ‘negative' and ‘positive' ads…is the difference between direct and indirect characterization of the opponent” (100). This ad does not attack John Kerry in any direct way, but the RNC and other Bush-supporting groups have launched these negative ads instead (see “Risky” by the RNC for an example).

The ad is controversial in that it uses doctored pictures of military personnel. The same images of serviceman appear several times within one frame. Spokesmen from the Bush campaign assure viewers that this was unintentional. An article in Reuters says, “ It then shows clips of people apparently listening to the president, including a crowd of soldiers. But some of the faces appear more than once in the image, which flashes across the screen as Bush vows to ‘never relent in defending America , whatever it takes.'”

This ad assumes that Bush has shown himself to be a strong leader throughout his first four years in office, and that he will continue to do so if reelected. “Whatever it Takes” shows President Bush in a sensitive light as well, showing both that he is committed to the war on terror and that he sympathizes with the men and women of the military and their families and friends. His compassion and emotion over the deaths of U.S. service men and women is quite obvious and touching.

Color Scheme

George W. Bush's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention is used as the organizational scheme for “Whatever it Takes.” The President is seen in bold and patriotic colors, with an American flag draped across the background. He is wearing an American flag pin, with a patriotic blue tie. As Darrell M. West writes, “Color communicates vivid messages in ads. Media consultants use bright colors to associate their candidates with a positive image…” (8). The color scheme in “Whatever It Takes” shows Bush in a patriotic and positive way.

These colors continue throughout the ad in the bright-colored flags and faces of the audience. The ad continues to have a red, white, and blue theme, although these colors are not always visible. Even though George W. Bush is the main image for most of the ad, audience members are shown at various points, holding flags, wearing patriotic colors, and in military uniform. In fact, there is not one frame in the ad that does not contain an American flag. This sets the tone for “Whatever It Takes” to display its patriotic sentiments.

Music and Sounds

The ad begins and ends with the sound of roaring applause, presumably from the Convention audience. This applause is especially emphatic at the end of the ad, when Bush has finished speaking. The audience clearly agrees with what the President has said, and shows their support for him and his actions. Perhaps this applause shows the audience how many others are supporting the President's campaign, and was used to encourage others to support him as well.

The music in the ad is upbeat, providing an emotional background to the ad. The melody also comes to a crescendo at the end of the ad when Bush has finished speaking, heightening the effect of the applause. Once again, the loud music conveys approval of the President and an overwhelming support of his campaign.

Because there is no visual text except for the words “President Bush” at the beginning and the disclaimer at the end, the President's words must convey the message powerfully. There is no stuttering, no mispronunciations. His words are chosen and filled with emotion. These words, combined with the patriotic images, allow “Whatever It Takes” to send a memorable message to its viewers.

The Images

The image of the president delivering his speech is seen through most of the ad, with the audience interspersed when it serves to emphasize a particular point. For example, when the Bush says, “I have met with the parents and wives and husbands…” a picture of a woman, near tears, watching the speech intently appears. Pictures of military men, widows, and supportive crowds are shown in addition to the images of the President. These images are carefully chosen to display the patriotic theme of the ad.

The most prominent image seen throughout the ad is the American flag. As discussed above, the flag is brightly colored, and is featured both behind the President and in pictures of the audience. In every frame, the flag is present. It waves in front of the face of a military officer, is in the background of the woman who is presumably a widow, and is shown in the hands of the crowds of supporters. The most emotional use of the flag is in the image of a young boy, facing away from the camera, holding a small flag and looking out over a large (although doctored) group of military men. This again continues the emotional theme of patriotism.

It is interesting to note here that the only women in “Whatever It Takes” are Laura Bush and the widow. None of the servicemen pictured are women, nor are they pictured in the crowd of people at the Convention. They only time women are seen in the ad are in one image of people standing on the street waving flags and holding signs in support of George W. Bush.

Editing

These images of the President are interspersed with pictures from the audience that display visually the words the President is speaking. Because the ad is sixty seconds instead of thirty, the pace of the ad is much slower than normal. This allows the viewer the time to take in the words and images more fully and creates a feeling of calmness. President Bush can speak at a slower and more moving pace because he has the time to do so in this ad.

Bush returns to a theme that polls show is his strength with voters. He has consistently scored better than Senator John Kerry on issues related to national defense.

The campaign is also closing with a "positive" ad, after spending most of its advertising time and money on ads that attacked Kerry. Bush's advisers had said all along they would try to "close the sale" with voters by spotlighting Bush, not Kerry.

The first lady's appearance at the end is also meant to make the ad more appealing. Focus groups have shown that voters respond positively when she is in Bush's ads.

Bush's last ad is slated to be "Whatever it takes" (recut to remove the doctored soldiers). "Whatever" (as I like to call it) features a segment of Bush's Republican convention speech and is pretty powerful (Note to intrepid bloggers: try to find the original audio and compare with Bush's words in this ad. The Bush campaign has been known to digitally manipulate his vocals to make him stutter less . If you can hit them over doctoring the audio after they got knocked for doctoring the photo, ohh, it would be glorious.)

President Bush's campaign acknowledged on Thursday that a television ad depicting soldiers listening to Bush speak had been doctored so that some of the faces of the soldiers appear more than once…

“Now we know why this ad is named ‘Whatever It Takes,'” Kerry campaign senior adviser Joe Lockhart said in a statement. “This administration has always had a problem telling the truth from Iraq to jobs to healthcare.”

Ad Analysis

Ad Context

Color Scheme

Music and Sounds

The Images

Editing