Campaign ads - the best and the worst. Part one - advocacy ads
In response to the Robin Hood Tax ad, which is one of the best campaigning ads I have seen for a while, I thought I would post some historically very effective political and advocacy ads. I’m also currently reading The Political Brain, by Drew Westen that looks at the role of emotions in political campaigning. It has been an eye-opening read, so this also gave me some inspiration for this post.
This list is by no means definitive and if anyone wants to send links to some campaigning ads, that would be great, I’d love to watch them.
This post will focus on a few advocacy ads, starting with the Robin Hood Tax ad that has been the focus of the media of late. It is a very simple ad, two voices, one face but plenty of emotion. Bill Nighy plays a leading banker who ends up squirming in response to the questioning about why a Tobin Tax shouldn’t be created. Squirming bankers is something that reverberates with a good portion of the public at the moment. This campaign plays to the slightly divergent emotions of good will and revenge brilliantly.
This next ad scares the heck out of me, although I’m not sure how effective it is. Shock ads, as I have written before, have the tendency to decline in effectiveness over time simply because of people being desensitized. I’m not sure anyone would be able to put themselves in this guys shoes, unless they have been in the same situation.
This shock ad from PlaneStupid, the organisation that focuses on climate change issues caused by the global aviation industry, is different from the previous one however. Shocking - yes. Disturbing - definitely. Effective - most certainly. Polar bears dropping from the sky crushing cars and smashing into buildings may seem like an odd choice, but it is actually very clever. The stance is that every person on a trans-Atlantic flight creates 400kg of carbon. Most people can’t conceptualize what that means however. A polar bear, which is also an icon of climate change devastation, is imaginable. Therefore this appeals to our sense of wanting to save these animals, horror at their gruesome deaths but it also puts our carbon footprint into a physical and understandable context. It was filmed in Canada, but it could be any city, again personalising the imagery.
The final ad is one that has screened on UK screens recently and was the subject of a number of complaints, but is far more subtle that the polar bear ad. Act on CO2 is a non-departmental government body that is the public face of the Government’s climate change policy. This ad simply shows a father telling a bed-time story to his child, but it is a story of the effects of climate change and includes drowning pets and other disturbing results of unabated climate change. But this ad is clever in the fact that it appeals on a personal level to adults and children. This ad scares children, hence the complaints, but it also contextualizes climate change for them ensuring they understand the potential of doing nothing. It also will frighten adults on a parental level - how can I let my child live in a world like this, what can I do to prevent it?
As I said, this isn’t a complete list, but it just a tester. I’d love your thoughts and if you want to send me other campaigns, feel free. I’ll post the political ad blog in the next couple of days.
Cross posted with my personal blog
Tags: act on co2, advertising, advocacy, bill nighy, climate change, drew westen, Marketing, Plane Stupid, political brain, robin hood, shock ads, tobin tax
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Comments (3)
February 11th, 2010 at 4:11 pm Posted by Tina Louise
I think the Robin Hood Tax stands out most for me because it is a reflection of an incredible idea - the others are reflections of facts that need to be addressed (in part) by the RHT. The difference is that the RHT campaign is a SOLUTION and the others are warnings/threats/intimidation.
Robin Hood Tax:
Sheer brilliance as an idea however it was campaigned in my opinion. The superb Richard Curtis/Bill Nighy ad makes it all the more wonderful to understand and hope for.
Kill Speed:
I can’t watch this and tend to turn over when it appears. I understand the need to drive safely and do not need to be told - but I am pleased if the ad speaks to those who don’t understand how easy it is to die in a car accident.
Polar Bears:
Well conceptualised and effective. Does what it needs to do.
Bedtime Story:
Hmmm… as a mother and grandmother I found this uncomfortable and I’m not really sure why. I have always opted for the divine Winnie the Pooh at bedtime and didn’t like seeing this little girl so sadly concerned for a future that we should be making a happy place to go into. I understand the concept and the importance of the message - just didn’t sit comfortably with me.
Namaste,
Tina Louise
@tinalouiseUK
February 12th, 2010 at 8:51 am Posted by Hugh McKinney
Nice selection Nick. I personally like the shock tactics of ads like the THINK campaign - if it prevents even one death then it will have succeeded. It is very striking and compelling.
I thought the Robin Hood tax video was a little artificial but the message was good.
Your blog demonstrates very well how different approaches to messaging can have an impact and be relevant to different people for different reasons.
February 12th, 2010 at 4:01 pm Posted by William Heald
I like these ads, but I think that the first time you watch them is so much more powerful than when they are subsequently watched.
Also I alwasy feel the adverts are very powerful, but that they lose power when you realise who creates them. For instance the Bill Nighy ad is good, but I switched off when I saw the campaign running it. Same with the plane stupid ad. The fact that the ads are created by partisan organisations makes me feel that there must be another side to the debate and that on its own this ad is not a trustworthy source of information. Political ads have this same effect on me. As a result I do not heed them.
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