The Anatomy of an Attack Ad
By Marty Toohey
WASHINGTON, Oct. 29, 2002–Grainy footage and unflattering photographs. Bold letters jarring a viewer’s attention. A stern voice attacking a candidate’s political record.
Attack advertising. It’s a campaign technique that’s proliferated over the past 20 years, and it’s dominating the House race in the recently redrawn 5th District, a place where even beer and bikini babes are losing airtime to attacks on Republican Rep. Nancy Johnson and Democratic Rep. James Maloney.
Attack ads have furthered the perception that politics is a dirty game, but they have also proven an effective way to differentiate one candidate from another, most experts agree. But the ads work by distorting the issues and appealing to fear over intellect, and they create a population disenchanted with American politics, experts warn.
“The thing people need to remember is, these commercials are constructed very carefully, by very skilled people, to manipulate viewers’ sensibilities and sell them a point of view,” said Paul Petterson, chairman of the political science department at Central Connecticut State University. “Nothing in these ads is there by accident – every sound, every image is there to evoke a response.”
The ads use some obvious techniques, like Johnson and Maloney accusing each other of gutting Social Security and forgetting the interests of the district.
“What’s unfortunate is that a lot of these ads have no explanations,” said Cindy White, professor of political communication at CCSU. “They’re designed to give the average voter a very specific and neat peg to hang their vote on, like, ‘Oh, that’s the tax candidate.’ They train us to think politics can be contained in a 30-second ad.”
But attack ads also include subtle techniques, White said.
“When you see one of these ads, you see the worst possible photos while a voice attacks a candidate’s record,” she said. “Really, what they do is try to associate an ugly face with an ugly message.
“I saw an ad against Johnson with a photo that made her look like she had been up all night drinking,” White continued. “And Maloney has been portrayed just as badly.”
Appealing to fear is another technique commonly used, White and Petterson said.
That means ominous sound effects, threatening music and bold, shocking headlines. The color red frequently appears in attack advertisements; that color is used as “a red flag” that immediately puts viewers in an information-receiving mode, a mode in which they’re a less discriminating audience, White said.
“They jar our attention, then use effects to bolster the notion that we can’t trust this person or should even fear them,” she said.
The ads are all about doing what it takes to differentiate a candidate from an opponent, Petterson said.
“What they’re saying is, basically, ‘I’m a good and decent person, while my opponent would try to sell you a broken car,’” he said. “I think in the case of Maloney and Johnson, their message has been lost in attack after attack after attack.”
Despite the proven effectiveness of attack ads, first used on a large scale in the 1980 elections, Petterson and White warned that the ads can create disenfranchised and disgusted voters. Sometimes that’s intentional and can favor a candidate; in the 5th District, that effect is probably unintended, White said.
“There is evidence linking attack ads to lower turnout,” she said. “And my personal feeling, in talking with friends, co-workers and students, is that we’re sick of them.”
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
