Shortly before super Tuesday, as conservative radio commentators railed on John McCain for ostensibly liberal views (ABC News, CNN), Mitt Romney launched a brutal attack on John McCain. I first saw this ad while eating dinner on Monday, February 4. I immediately yelled to a friend of mine in the another part of my apartment to come out and watch it because I knew that this ad could do serious damage to John McCain. In the end, the ad proved to be too little too late. I can only wonder what the race would have looked like if Mitt Romney would have run this ad earlier on and succeeded in painting John McCain as a liberal.
View the ad at YouTube.com
What Makes This Ad Persuasive?
- Surprise. This ad really took me by surprise. When I saw this ad for the first time (and did not know how the it ended), I immediately assumed that it was an anti-Hillary ad by a conservative 527. However, about half way through when it showed John McCain, I was taken aback. This element of surprise is extremely effective.
- Guilt by association. If there is anybody that conservatives despise, it is Hillary Clinton. This ad associates John McCain with Hillary Clinton in a pejorative way.
- Anonymous. The ad is ostensibly supported by a neutral group of concerned citizens.
2 comments:
Do you think a female narrator is significant in this ad? I also noticed the background music, with a rather ominous tone.
There is no doubt that the ominous music plays a role in the persuasive strategy of the advertisement.
About the female narrator, I am not sure whether it is entirely significant. There are plenty of smear ads with male narrators, but it may well be deliberate here for reasons I do not see.
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