Author Archives: a.liu1

Campaign Ad Analysis – Amson

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amsons-analysis-post

Option #2:

After much thought, I decided to do my primary ad on “Hillary Clinton: Daisy” which revisits the original “Daisy” ad from the 1964 campaign.  In terms of context, there are many similarities in both ads, some of which are compelling and important to note such as the same implied message that disaster was imminent if we chose the “wrong” candidate and how both ads attempted to depict the other as dangerous and in a negative light.  Although the modern ad speaks to the original one by showing Trump as another “Goldwater”, it would be facile to ignore the key differences and elements that makes “Hillary Clinton: Daisy” unique.

I think in the contemporary ad, more rhetoric is used, much like the structure of a documentary, to describe the issues and stakes of voting for Trump while the historic one does it almost entirely through the imagery of the little girl counting down the daisy petals and in the later explosion scene if not for the short commentary towards the end.  More significantly, the differences in form highlight the variations in the tone by focusing on different aspects of the visual-audio effect towards the intended target audience, which demographically, is obviously different from that of 1964.

To articulate these elements more precisely, it is imperative to examine the ad by partitioning it into three equal segments of 10 seconds.  The first 10 seconds are grayscale, beginning with Hillary Clinton and the voice over from the original Daisy lady who is now probably in her 50s. This was perhaps trying to foreshadow a connection between the current election and that of 1964 and augment the stakes of this election by furthering the line of argument.  The next 10 seconds pan out from grayscale and directs viewers’ attention to the news correspondents statement “why can’t we use nuclear weapons” and the image of Trump talking before finishing the scene with Trump saying “bomb the sh*t out of them!”.  Therefore, I think it is important to think about the contrasts between these segments and analyze how the differences in form alters our perception of both ads, despite the similarities in their intended messages.

 

References:

Primary ad:

“Hillary Clinton: Daisy.” New Republic. Hillary for America, 31 Oct. 2016. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

https://newrepublic.com/political-ad-database/hillary-clinton-daisy/MTAvMzEvMTY6RGFpc3k

 

Secondary ad:

“Peace Little Girl (Daisy),” Democratic National Committee, 1964 Maker: DDB: Aaron Erlich, Stan Lee, Sid Myers, and Tony Schwartz Original air date: 09/07/64 Video courtesy of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library. From Museum of the Moving Image, The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2012. www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1964/peace-little-girl-daisy  Accessed October 31, 2016.

Group C Post – Amson

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Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Give Us the Ballot” Address at the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom in Washington, D.C (1957) was perhaps one of the most important speeches delivered in the Civil Rights Movement.  MLK begins with the Supreme Court decision three years ago and how it was met with fierce opposition by many states before highlighting the hypocrisy of the problem: “The denial of this sacred right is a tragic betrayal of the highest mandates of our democratic tradition”.  Not only does King establish moral inquiry of the problem but posits that they will ensure their basic rights if given the equal right to vote.  He does so precisely when he repeats rhetorically – “Give us the ballot” six consecutive times and each followed by a supporting claim such as alleviating racial hatred and establishing peace and justice after Brown v. Board of Ed.  Being one of the more famous quotes in his speech, as reflected by the title of this address, he articulates his argument superbly when he brings up the necessity for the “fourfold leadership” to “make racial justice a reality”, which he then describes in clarity.  Examining the text as a whole, it is clear how he alludes to Christian morals as the inspiration for the movement when he mentions the mutual “agape” and love of God that seeks not for Black Supremacy, but rather for racial equality and representation.  More importantly, however, I want to focus on the last paragraph because King makes an important prophecy of progression when he says “Keep moving amid every obstacle. Keep moving amid every mountain of opposition”. Although we are not quite there, we have made tremendous progress in racial equality and he can be proud knowing that the minority voice is now taken seriously in American politics.

Because of the nature of the text, it also makes sense to examine the quantitative report titled “An Intriguing Link Between Police Shootings and Black Voter Registration.” by Majumder, Maimuna.  Not only does it alludes to King’s “Give Us the Ballot” address by analyzing recent data on Black Voter Registration, it posits a statistically negative correlation with police shootings of blacks. This is really interesting because King was trying to fight the violence of oppression through the Civil Rights Movement by seeking the equal right to vote.  Astonishingly, the quantitative report supports King’s claim as the findings indeed suggest less police shootings in states where more blacks were registered to vote. However, it also raises a strong sociological question as to why this is the case?

Two questions I suggest to consider are 1) Judging from both texts, to what extent has racial justice become a reality yet due to MLK’s “Give Us the Ballot” address? and 2) If not, is the problem more because of our government or the law enforcement today?
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Reading: King, Martin Luther Jr.   “Give Us the Ballot.” Washington DC (1957) King Encyclopedia, Stanford University.

Relevant contemporary text:  Majumder, Maimuna. “An Intriguing Link Between Police Shootings and Black Voter Registration.” Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 29 Sept. 2016. Web. https://www.wired.com/2016/09/intriguing-link-police-shootings-black-voter-registration/ Accessed 27 Oct 2016.