[Opinion] Political Ads

A little girl is holding a daisy. She innocently plucks the petals counting to ten. Cut to a different kind of countdown – leading to an atomic explosion. The narrator somberly intones, “These are the stakes. To make a world in which all of God’s children can live. Or to go into the dark…” This was the TV ad of Democrat presidential candidate Lyndon Johnson, aired only once on CBS on September 7 1964.

The first political television spots were aired in the 1952 presidential campaign between Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stephenson. But the most affecting political ad was Johnson’s in 1964. This so-called Daisy ad was highly successful in attacking Republican candidate Barry Goldwater, who said small nuclear weapons should be used in the Vietnam War. Johnson is one of the U.S. presidents who brought changes to political campaigns; Franklin Roosevelt was a master of radio and John F. Kennedy a master of TV debates.

In Korea, President Roh Moo-hyun is well known for the success of his TV ads. His emotional TV ad in the 2002 presidential election – the image of Roh Moo-hyun shedding tears with John Lennon’s song “Imagine” playing in the background – was thought to be more appealing to voter sentiment than Lee Hoi-chang’s rational ad on the theme of a recklessly-driven bus. I wonder what kind of TV ads political parties are preparing for the coming general election.

There is criticism over political parties for being locked in image politics such as relocation of party offices and visits to temples. Many are concerned that parties rely only on so-called “impeachment winds” or “Park Geun-hye winds” and fail to compete with each other on good policies or candidates. Against this backdrop, emotional TV political ads might also contribute to confusing voters. The decision is up to voters. And it’s also voters who have to pay the price if they make wrong decisions swept away by emotional appeals.