AD CONTEXT 

Michael Steele is currently serving as lieutenant governor of Maryland with Governor Robert Ehrlich. While Governor Ehrlich is running for reelection, Lt. Gov. Steele decided to run for Maryland 's open seat in the U.S. Senate. Although Lt. Gov. Steele was considered unopposed for the Republican nomination, he aired this first ad prior to the primary election to start gaining visibility against his Democratic opponents who were running ads in their bid for their own party's nomination.

AD ASSUMPTIONS

In this advertisement, Lt. Gov. Steele criticizes Washington for being impersonal and corrupt. He makes these assumptions without offering any details or providing supporting evidence, convinced that his audience readily agrees. While these assumptions are important to his message, they only preface the ad's central meaning. As the title of the ad suggests, Lt. Gov. Steele is campaigning on the claim that he will be a different kind of senator. He distances himself from Washington and offers a fresh look and feel to the audience. The language of the ad communicates this message, but the cinematography, visual imagery, and music and sound effects are what holistically create the meaning of difference in this the ad.

CINEMATOGRAPHY 

Lt. Gov. Steele begins his ad by saying, “ I know what you're thinking. I know what you're feeling.” As he says this, the camera shows a headshot of his shoulders and face at eye level. When one considers the camera as the mediated eyes of the viewers, one understands that “the way in which a person is framed may suggest an interpersonal distance between that person and the viewer” (Meyrowitz, 1982, p. 225). This initial shot of Lt. Gov. Steele shows the audience what they would see if they were engaging him in a personal conversation. Thus, this camera frame creates an interpersonal space that engenders intimacy, friendship, and trust.

In contrast, as Lt. Gov. Steele continues by saying, “ Washington has no clue what's going on in your life,” the camera cuts away from his face to a shot of his torso and hand gestures. The absence of a face in this shot graphically illustrates and reinforces the verbal description of Washington, D.C. as impersonal and out of touch with the real concerns of the nation's voters. Furthermore, the cut away from his face disassociates the negative meaning of the message from the speaker.

Interpersonal space is reestablished when the camera returns to a headshot of Lt. Gov. Steele as he says, “ They blame each other… they work the angles…while you're just trying to make today better than yesterday” (emphasis added). As he verbally distances himself from Washington and sympathizes with the audience, the interpersonal frame visually reinforces that Lt. Gov. Steele is different. He is on the side of voters, and that they can trust him.

Although the ad uses cinematography in conjunction with language to create the meaning of difference, most of the shots use standard camera angles and positioning. However, toward the end the ad, the camera uses an unorthodox camera angle that heightens the meaning of difference. The shot is from above Lt. Gov. Steele's head looking down on him as he looks up at the camera. The camera is cropped close, even cutting off the top of his head, so his face fills most of the screen. The fact that the cinematography is unlike that of typical political advertising is the message itself. As is the visual style, so is the candidate—different.

VISUAL IMAGERY

In addition to the close ups, there is one wide shot in the ad. It shows Lt. Gov. Steele seated on a stool, with one foot propped on a rung of the stool and the other on the ground. This casual posture is also not typical of images coming out of Washington. Once again, the ad presents the Lieutenant Governor as an approachable friend rather than a distant politician.

Behind and to the side of Lt. Gov. Steele is his name largely displayed in metallic-gray, three-dimensional block letters sitting on the floor, with a presence and life of its own. At the end of the ad, the Lieutenant Governor is standing to the side of a blue nameplate with a metallic sheen that reads, “Michael Steele for Maryland ,” with the word “Steele” in the same gray, block letters protruding out of the background. Computer animation shows steel bolts being driven into each corner of the nameplate, securing it to the wall or background. This is a graphic play on words, with the visual imagery rendering Steele's name in steel-like letters, and the bolts reminiscent of steel (Steele) workers, the moniker of campaign volunteers. Again, the image of steel is not one normally associated with Washington , which is more often depicted with images of marble or stone, furthering reinforcing Steele's difference.

As if the lettering and graphic images are not striking enough, they are set against a light, sky blue background with a soft, white glow emanating from the center of the screen. Psychologists Terwogt and Hoeksma (1995) found that color is connected with mood, and blue typically induces positive feelings and happiness. Thus, the cool blue background of the ad serves to establish a positive mood and associate feelings of happiness and contentment with Lt. Gov. Steele. This mood inducing visual reinforces the message of contrast between the frustration that the audience assumedly feels toward Washington and the uniqueness of Steele.

MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTS

Music plays an important role in the persuasive power of commercial advertising (Cook, 1992; Hecker & Stewart, 1988) . Likewise, music is often crucial to the persuasiveness of political advertising through its ability to communicate feelings (Nelson & Boynton, 1997). The background music is a prominent feature of this ad and complements the meaning of difference created by the cinematography and visual imagery.

The music in Lt. Gov. Steele's ad is uncharacteristic of political advertising. Typical political spots use dramatic, heroic, upbeat, or sentimental soundtracks (Nelson & Boynton, 1997). While the music in Lt. Gov. Steele's ad is upbeat, it is also something that most political music is not—fresh, even hip. The ad uses a light, somewhat jazzy soft rock background, featuring electric guitars grooving over the easy rhythm of a drum set. Like the cool blue background, this type of music established a positive, happy mood. It also invokes a friendly and conversational tone (Nelson & Boynton, 1997), which complements Steele's casual posture mentioned previously. Together they create a relaxed, intimate space in which audiences view Steele as trusted friend rather than a politician. In addition to the verbal claim that Steele is different, the music engenders a fresh feeling that sets Steele apart from the typical Washington fare.

Even within the fresh feel of the music, a strategically placed sequence of measures accents the Lieutenant Governor's key message. About 20 seconds into the ad, Steele says, “You know, to get a different kind of government, you're gonna need a different kind of Senator.” Just as he begins to say, “you're gonna need a different kind of Senator,” the guitars in the music play a bluesy cord progression that draws attention to the key verbal phrase of the message and further communicates the feeling of difference. The verbal claim accesses the audience's cognition while the music appeals to its emotion, both of which are crucial components of persuasion (Nelson & Boynton, 1997). Coupled together they create a more complete and vivid meaning of difference.

In addition to music, political ads sometimes use sound effects to invoke feelings and create and accentuate meaning (Nelson & Boynton, 1997); the Steele ad features such sound effects as well. As mentioned previously, the end of the ad shows Lt. Gov. Steele posing next to a metallic-looking nameplate, and computer animation shows bolts being driven into each corner of the nameplate securing it to the wall or background. The image is enhanced by the sound of a powered bolt driver, reminiscent of the kind of machinery used by steel workers or mechanics. While adding to the vividness of the visual imagery, this sound effect accentuates the meaning of difference because it is not a sound normally associated with Washington politics.

Steele for Maryland, Inc., August 22, 2006 , Press Release

TEMPLE HILLS , MD – Today, Michael Steele's campaign for U.S. Senate began running their first TV ad, titled “A Different Kind of Senator.” The ad is set to run statewide – in the Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Hagerstown, and Salisbury media markets - for two weeks.

“This ad highlights the very core of Michael Steele's campaign: if you want a different kind of government, you need a different kind of Senator. Michael Steele will be a fresh, independent voice for change in the U.S. Senate, committed to talking straight about what's wrong in both parties and working toward real solutions to the challenges facing Marylanders,” Steele Campaign Manager Michael Leavitt said.

http://www.steeleformaryland.com/FirstTVAD.htm

Baltimore Sun, August 23, 2006, by Jennifer Skalka

In the first television ad trumpeting his U.S. Senate bid, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele suggests he'll be a “different kind of senator” who will criticize both political parties. He does not mention that he is a Republican.

The Maryland Democratic Party issued a statement yesterday accusing Steele of using the ad to mislead voters about his allegiances.

“Michael Steele is trying to be someone he is not,” said Derek Walker, the party's executive director. “Independent? Hardly. Steele supports Bush on Iraq , on prescription drugs, on stem cells. All the TV ads in the world can't erase the fact that Michael Steele will be another vote for George Bush and Dick Cheney in the Senate.”

Jennifer Duffy, editor and political analyst for The Cook Political Report. . .said the ad appears to be designed to get voters' attention and to show Steele as an outsider. “I think that is who they want voters to see Michael Steele to be: edgy, urban, different,” she said.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.steele23aug23,0,2681524.story?coll=bal-mdpolitics-headlines

NationalJournal.com, 8/23/2006 , by Erin McPike, Patrick Ottenhoff, Jane Roh, and Irene Tsikitas

In its article on Steele's debut this morning, the Baltimore Sun noted that the ad never mentions his party ID. The two lines of text don't indicate his affiliation, either - a detail that continues to crop up in the African-American Republican's blue-state campaign.

A day after holding an off-the-record session with reporters in July where he compared being a Republican to wearing a scarlet letter, Steele came clean about his anonymous remarks.

Despite this context, it's notable that the media firm producing Steele's ads, OnMessage Inc., is also responsible for Michigan gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos' (R) on-air efforts. Gov. Jennifer Granholm's challenger isn't up front about his party ID, either, and strikes a similar tone as Steele.

http://nationaljournal.com/members/adspotlight/2006/08/0823index.htm

Washington Post, 9/7/2006, by Matthew Mosk

Republican Michael S. Steele's sunny Senate campaign ad tells voters that he will “talk straight about what's wrong in both parties. You know, to get a different kind of government, you're gonna need a different kind of senator.”

Yet his candidacy is financed by some of the nation's best-known Washington Republicans -- White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove was the host of Steele's first fundraiser -- with help from “Team Steele,” a group of lobbyists assigned to bundle hefty PAC contributions.

How campaigns are financed is a perennial topic among Washington insiders. But in a year when almost every Maryland Senate candidate is trying to be viewed as an anti-Washington outsider who will battle cronies and special interests, the fine print of fundraising reports can raise some doubts about those claims.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/06/AR2006090602119.html

NationalJournal.com, 9/19/2006

Political ads tend to come in two flavors: the kind in which candidates shake hands with supporters and embrace schoolkids, and the kind in which basso-voiced announcers warn that the opponent is bad news. So far, Steele has taken a third approach: the candidate as your pal, the friendly, reasonable guy who's beyond politics.”

“The much buzzed-about spots” are “designed to reinforce Steele's assertion that he would be a different kind of senator.” UMBC prof. Thomas Schaller: “These aren't just another red-white-and-blue, glad-hand-at-the-parade, here-are-my-three-talking-points-about-health-care ads. The fact is, people are talking about them and you're writing about them. That tells you how effective they are, and it compounds and magnifies their impact.”

“What's different, too, is what's not said in Steele's commercials. The spots never mention that Steele is running” as a GOPer, or that he is LG, or that he was once MD GOP chair. “Indeed, the word ‘Republican' doesn't appear anywhere on Steele's Web site, and his official bio omits his tenure” as GOP chair. When Steele won the primary, his campaign's official news release reported only that he won “his party's primary” without bothering to say which one.

Cook, G. (1992). The discourse of advertising . London: Routledge.

Hecker, S., & Stewart, D. W. (eds.). (1988). Non-verbal communication in advertising. Lexington, MA: Heath.

Meyrowitz, J. (1982). Television and interpersonal behavior: Codes of perception and response. In G. Gumpert & R. Cathcart (ed.), Inter/Media: Interpersonal communication in a media world (pp. 221-241). New York: Oxford University Press.

Nelson, J. S., & Boynton, G. R. (1997). Video rhetorics: Televised advertising in American politics . Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

Terwogt, M. M., & Hoeksma, J. B. (1995). Colors and emotions: Preferences and combinations. Journal of General Psychology, 122, 5-17.