Listen to the Music!!

Joel Johnston (john774@regis.edu)

Political blog post

10/7/12

Link to view Video: http://youtu.be/IGm47IIRQhc

    

     I wanted to wait until I watched the debate to write this political blog post. For me personally I have no place in the upcoming election, because it is simply something I feel I cannot control. However, I do feel I may be able to instruct you and everyone else who reads this on what political ads are trying to get you to perceive. They all may not seem as straight forward as you may think. Here is taking a critical look at this particular ad, and the persuasion techniques they are using to try and collect your vote.

     Reading chapter 3 of the book “The Social Animal,” by Elliot Aronson has showed me a variety of persuasion techniques that are used in ads that you should be aware of. I will use the ad above to demonstrate a few of them. One tool being used is familiarity, the more you see it the more you tend to like it. For this ad you see and hear Romney throughout its entirety. It’s being presented to you over and over again to try and get you to like him. Another tool used in this ad is conditioning. This is a big one used in this ad. Romney’s face is being paired with smiles and optimistic music, while Obama’s name is being paired with frowns and depressing music. Basically just by using the pairings you are being conditioned or trained into thinking Romney brings smiles, joy and prosperity while Obama brings depression, sadness and guilt. Neither may be true, but that is how this ad is using that tool. The biggest tool I see being used in this particular ad is Fear + Direction. This technique for persuasion is used to scare you into feeling one way so you will do another. This ad specifically points out poor employment rates and military cuts. To the unaware person they may be thinking something along these lines. “OMG if Obama is reelected I will never find a job and terrorists are going to kill me.” Of course this may or may not be true, but just know the people who created this ad want you to think you will become a millionaire and the U.S. will become a military powerhouse striking fear into the hearts of its’ enemies.

     By doing research, and by research I mean watching many ads from both candidates, I have noticed one major similarity that the book by Aronson may not discuss. They have BIG BOLD LETTERS and theme music. I may be the only person who feels this stands out the most, but that’s simply due to the fact I do not care what the ad is saying. According to Whan Park and Mark Young (1986), music in ads can be used in two ways. The first way is perceived attitude. For instance in this video the music was somber at first then gradually became uplifting. This is something the viewer may not be entirely aware of, but this particular ad uses music as an added effect to make you “feel” like choosing Romney is the more optimistic approach. The article by Young and Park also talks about music being a cognitive distracter. When people are made consciously aware of the music in ads, the message interpreted became less clear to the individual. So basically just the type of music selection can be a persuasive tool in ads. The particular ad I used does not use many words to read until the end, but be aware those big words are just trying to focus your attention. The facts in commercials may not be the reason you feel one way or another, it may just be the music!!!

     So basically I hope from reading this you can tune out the cues or simply be more aware of what the ad is trying to get you to perceive. Look for these tools in some other ads and see how they are being used to make you feel.

Works Cited

    

Aronson, E. (2011). The social animal. (eleventh ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.

Park. W., Young, M (1986) Journal of Marketing Research, Consumer response to television commercials the impact of involvement and background music on brand attitude.