Political Advertising

Advertising has always been a central feature of American culture. Providing that the mass media is said to be both pervasive and inescapable, political advertisements have benefited from this cultural norm. As a matter of fact in recent years, political advertising has become essential to campaign strategy.

In political advertising there are no rules when it comes to the content and form of political advertising. The advertisers are not accountable to any regulatory body for the accuracy of their claims. They engage in so called “comparative” advertising, in which they are given allowance for criticizing their opponents by whatever means possible. To control the incessant propaganda, the press at times acts as mediators by running “ad-watch reports, but this is also monopolized in a sense which therefore fuels public cynicism.

Today’s Fact:
“Considerable evidence suggests that the negativity associated with contemporary political campaigns has created an "avoidance" mentality which is serving to shrink the electorate and the level of political participation generally.” (Department of Communication, Stanford University, 1999)