Primary Ad: https://newrepublic.com/political-ad-database/hillary-clinton-sacrifice/OS82LzE2OlNhY3JpZmljZQ
Secondary Ad: http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/issue/war
War and military advertisements are known to invoke the interests of viewers. In both of the campaigns chosen for analysis, which include Hilary Clinton’s “Sacrifice” and George W. Bush’s “Weapons”, there is military underlying and disheartening of their candidate’s policies. Clinton’s ad not only focuses on the rhetoric of her opponent Trump, but it does so by simultaneously showing images of war veterans, which is similar to Bush’s military ad. Through the analysis of “Sacrifice”, I was able to see the similarities between the ads made in 2004 and 2016, but also their differences which include the content of images portrayed and the way they regard their opponent.
Both campaign advertisements focus on military aspects, where they focus more on what how their opponent’s beliefs are detrimental, versus mentioning how their actions will be advantageous. Both simultaneously portray the object they are focusing on while they mention it. For example, Bush’s ad shows the helicopters and fighter jets as he talks about Kerry’s opposition of it. In addition, Clinton’s ad portrays a woman’s wearing her son’s dog tag at the same moment a parent who lost her son is mentioned.
In George Bush’s ad, the voice-over is speaking of Bush’s opponent, but the viewers never hear Kerry’s voice. In addition, Kerry is never portrayed in the ad, only soldiers are shown. In “Sacrifice” most of the commentary in the commercial is from her opponent Donald Trump himself, with scenes that actually show him speaking. This shows that there can be no doubt of whether it is propaganda or if it was actually said by the candidate. In “Weapons” viewers can question if Kerry actually did the things mentioned, while Clinton’s ad uses clips of Donald Trump speaking during interviews. In Bush’s “Weapons”, there are only two scenes portrayed throughout the entire ad, with the only other changes being the text. “Sacrifices” portrays different scenes for the different scenarios of Donald Trump’s rhetoric. The fact that multiple war heroes are shown from different families not only makes it relatable, but being able to see their reactions to his rhetoric makes it more relatable to viewers watching at home. Through the strategies used by Clinton, a viewer is able to see areas where Bush’s ad is lacking. Even though both ads are in regards to the same issue, Clinton’s ad is much more relatable to most viewers while Bush’s appears to target people have great interest in militaristic affairs.
You do a very thorough job here of discussing the formal elements of each ad. The imagery, the audio used in the form of the voices that can be heard narrating, and even also the content of the actual voice overs themselves. You also talk about the effects that including these things in the ad has. Although I do feel like you could have deepened your analysis in this regard by talking a bit more about how these images and sounds have the effects you believe they have. Also it’s important that you spoke about why these particular formal elements were chosen for these ads rather than any others. For Hillary to ensure that her ad has a broader appeal, for Bush it’s to target a specific demographic.
The way you put the analysis together raises some important questions about the role these candidates believe the military plays in our democracy. By attempting to make certain implications about the way that people ought to vote given these references to the role of the military in this country, clearly they view considerations related to the military as being important in the Democratic process itself. Perhaps by examining the ads a bit more we can come to some sort of conclusion about what this role is and how each candidate defines the Democratic process such that it can admit of such an important role for military related matters.
I am not sure if you’ve gotten the same ideas as I have by looking as these two ads together, but hopefully my comments can get the ball rolling for you at least.