Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Political TV Ads Can Be Wasteful. But That Is Changing.
No matter what you are watching on TV these days you are sure to see a political commercial or two. But how affective are they? According to recent studies they are getting more and more influential. The main problem with these ads is that the politicians are not sure how to exactly work them. Questions like how much money to spend?, what channels and networks to air on?, and if it is even worth it? are frequently asked. The TV ads are staring to become more and more popular though. What are your thoughts on this method of campaigning? Does it have an affect on you when you see one of these commercials?
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Political television ads is something that I have never really thought about as being this complicated. I understand the development of new and cheaper methods for politians to broadcast their television ads but I have never taken them seriously. These ads are obviously biased and may not even be that affective if they aren't being broadcasted to the right audience.
ReplyDeleteI hate seeing political ads on commercials. Personally, they make me feel skeptical about what each candidate's motives are. Do they really care about the issues being discussed, or do they just want to appeal to the public? I really hate the commercials that bash other candidates; they just make the person doing the bashing look like a jerk, more so than the other who is being talked badly about. A 30 second display of a candidate is hardly anything, and not enough to completely win me over.
ReplyDeleteI could probably count on my two hands the number of memorable political ads I've seen not through a commentator discussing it. I have cable which I hardly watch anyway and when on the Internet I use Adblock Plus. Ads do not affect me much because I have little unwanted exposure to them.
ReplyDeleteYeah I can see what the article is trying to say. So much money is wasted on this ads but many aren't so much as affected by them. Besides, political ads can be quite controversial because many of them don't even tackle major issues instead choosing to resort to the tactic "Hey I might suck but wouldn't you rather have me than someone who..." Overall, political ads are simply not worth it.
Political television ads are irrelevant and a waste of money. They honestly make me so mad when I'm trying to watch something on YouTube or my favorite show. I do not see how they can persuade someone. Both candidates are bashing each other and some take it too far. Commercials tend to exaggerate a lot and you can never be certain if they are telling the truth. I personally think it's a waste of money and ineffective.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don't pay much attention to the political tv ads. I usually change the channel because they bother me so much. The ads usually spend more time bashing the opponent and do not highlight on the qualities of the person that the ad is actually for. Like Marie said, you can never be quite sure if they truly mean what they say. To me, they are just not worth the time and effort put into them.
ReplyDeletePolitical ads are OK as long as they're giving off the message of what that specific person is going to do to help the people watching. When the ads get into bashing the other candidates, I get a little annoyed and mad. And just like Rachel said, they also make me question the person's motives. I understand that politics/campaigning is a race, but how can a person expect me to want to vote for them when I see them promoting hatred through a TV ad?
ReplyDeleteWhile political adds are a nuisance at times, I think they are a pretty good way for candidates to get votes. If anything, they at least remind the general public of the candidates for an upcoming election. However, I don't think they should be played all of the time. The ability for politicians to always place adds on air keeps them thinking more about re-election than doing their job. In addition, I think there should be set dates of the year when candidates can advertise. This would prevent us from being annoyed and curtail the effects of politicians constantly campaigning rather than doing their job. It would also ensure that qualified candidates are elected, not just candidates who can throw down millions of dollars for ad campaigns.
ReplyDelete(Sorry if this posts twice. It wasn't working for me earlier today.)
ReplyDeletePolitical ads first came to my attention when I stayed with a host family in the Pittsburgh area in early November of last year. Their television stations played back-to-back political ads ad nauseum, and they were completely used to it! They brushed it off as an annual phenomenon while the other guest and I were shocked at the ridiculous amount of time dedicated to the ads. While that was a bit extreme, it was certainly effective, and TV reaches people of all social classes, education levels, races, genders, and political affiliations. This is more than any rally or campaign event could do. I was also interested in the expansion of these advertisements to other platforms. The article only discussed tablets, but I, being a teenager, immediately thought of my phone. While I still feel that the ads are effective, I certainly don't want them on my phone's browser every time I want to google something.
Considering I do not have the opportunity to watch television shows at the time they are aired, political ads do not affect me much. With shows that I record, I can skip straight through the commercials. However, when I do see the ads, I generally tend to block them out. They aren't truly benefiting anyone. The ads are just opportunities for politicians to bash on one another.
ReplyDeleteThis article highlights how much planning really goes into campaigning as a candidate. The process of deciding where to air ads and on which platform to air them seemed quite complicated. All of this thought going into campaigning means that there is less thought being put towards solving issues in our country. Why do campaign ads have to be so common in American society? Why can't there be strict limits to campaign periods and funding spent on campaigns? Television campaign ads influence viewers even though they may not realize it. They are important methods by which to advocate one's candidacy. However, I think the average American as well the candidates themselves might appreciate less focus going towards campaigning with name-calling and corny testimonials and more focus going towards working out the issues in government that prevent it from being effective.
ReplyDeleteI watched a documentary on advertisement, and it detailed how important particular words and phrases are in ads. Research is constantly being conducted to see what words make people really listen, but the problem is, nobody will want to listen if the quantity of political ads remains where it is at. Not only are political ads seen as an annoyance by most, but they often don't even promote a candidate, they just bash another one. I would have to say that political ads don't affect me as much not only because I find many of them repetitive, but the ideals brought up in the ad are mostly generic and don't go into the real detail that you should be making a vote based upon.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed in recent years that the majority of the political adds I come across in my day to day life aren't found while watching tv, but watching YouTube videos. I think this ties into the central issue of the article, wasteful advertising, because web based adds are much more efficient and effective, because they are more focused towards people that are receptive to it. If your google history includes a lot of political sites, political adds are more likely to come your way. It is things like this that will eventually become the platform for political adds.
ReplyDeleteTV ads arent really meant to convince anyone to vote one way or the other. They are far too obviously biased for that. However, what they CAN do is energize voters and get them out to the polls. If I have an Anti Obama ad on the TV, it probably wont convince that many democrats to vote Republican. However, it will convince many Republicans to get out and vote, if only to vote AGAINST Obama and other Democrats.
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