Political Advertisements.... Do You Read Them?

[mel]

With the legislature finished, the attention of Hawaii politicians will focus on their campaigns for the summer and fall election season. Many will turn to our traditional and alternate print media resources. Lots of money will be spent here on ads touting political promises, past accomplishments, upcoming events and attacks on the opposing candidate and party. Do any of you pay close attention to this stuff? Are candidates investing good money on print advertising or are they simply throwing money away?

The election season brings a good windfall of added revenue to Hawaii print and broadcast media and related industries such as advertising agencies and graphic design firms.

Agree or disagree?

[Albert]

Re: Political Advertisements.... Do You Read Them?

I rarely watch television but recently when having lunch at a place with lots of those things, I saw one of the Bush2 commercials. It was aggressively anti-Kerry (who isn't even yet the official opponent!). Seemed a bit premature, to me.

As Bush2 said so repeatedly in his speech to the Arabs, "this isn't the America I know."

[pzarquon]

Re: Political Advertisements.... Do You Read Them?

You know, one of many upsides of gathering my news, even local news, online is that print ads become almost invisible, if not entirely irrelevant. If I buy a paper, it'll be the Sunday Star-Bulletin, and that's it. And I already tune out ads as I read, be they political or for Kim Chee Hot Lady XVII Karaoke Bar.

That said, I probably do read "position ads," whether they be a candidate buying space for a specific issue or by a local advocacy group urging politicians to do something. Clearly they have more to say than you could fit in a 30-second TV spot. It's the random "smiling face" ads with nothing more than slogans and pictures of spouses and kids that strike me as the biggest waste of print ad money.

[Pomai]

Re: Political Advertisements.... Do You Read Them?

As an educated voter, I already KNOW who I want and don't want back in office. Unless they're new to politics, they could be completely absent from television and/or print advertising and I still know which box I'm checking at the polls.

A website is the way to go for any politician in this day and age. It's relatively cheap, interactive and gets their message out like no other media can.

There's two PET PEEVES I have when it comes to advertising for political campaigns...
MUD SLINGING - Can't stand it! It give the impression that candidate is childish, unprofessional and lacks a plan of their own.
And OVER-SIGNING THE ROADWAYS. You know.. 20 gazzilion signs of the same candidate on every street corner of a typical suburban roadside. What an eyesore! And it makes that candidate look DESPERATE. Total turn-off!

Nonpartisan voter.