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Political Advertising: SALESMANSHIP VS POLICIES, By Dr S.Saraswathi, 20 Jan, 2014 Print E-mail

Events & Issues

New Delhi, 20 January 2014

Political Advertising

SALESMANSHIP VS POLICIES

By Dr S.Saraswathi

(Former Director, ICSSR, New Delhi)

 

Media reports mention names of some big advertising agencies with which political parties are busy negotiating handling of their publicity for the big battle 2014.  Evidently, the ensuing General Election is going to be the most interesting electoral fight since the days of Internal Emergency of mid-1970s. The advent of vigorous competitive ‘political advertising’ on a scale never before witnessed has already been unfolded.

 

The rise of regional/State political parties has increased the number of contestants in the field. This has intensified the spirit of competition and the need for aggressive political marketing. It has confirmed that coalition governments are unavoidable at the Centre. And this has elevated small parties also with just one digit membership in the Lok Sabha as important players in national politics. Their stake in Parliament election has grown high with an assured role in coalition formation either by the Congress or the BJP, and also a prospective future for a federation of parties that may ascend to power without any national party. The political climate is indeed a challenge for political advertising machinery to market their product, that is, their client.

 

The success of the AAP in Delhi has brought a powerful contender to challenge not only established parties but also some important leaders. Opinion surveys suggest that the AAP can upset the calculations hitherto made by both the UPA and NDA and also by the invisible and mysterious Third and Fourth Fronts.

 

Hence, all those in the electoral battle are compelled to invigorate their campaigns with fresh ideas and sophisticated tools. Professionalism is required in campaign management. The text of propaganda materials need to be judiciously prepared and communicated with caution and conviction. Indeed, parties are undergoing a tough test in salesmanship.

 

The US is considered the mother of “invention” of political advertising as a tool for communication at all levels for all purposes. It connects citizens/voters on one side and office seekers/candidates on the other. Recall that the television campaigns of Eisenhower in 1952 are still remembered for effectively transforming his image as a military leader to a peacetime President. Thenceforth, television became the most important medium of political advertising.

 

Political advertising as a distinct form of political activity is rather new in India though all parties have always been propagating their policies and views. It becomes very active for short periods before elections and generally remains dormant at other times. The product to be advertised may be an individual or a political party or a group of parties who are members of an alliance, or an ideology/policy. 

 

As in many other countries, conducting elections to political offices, political advertisement began in India in the form of putting posters and banners, distributing handbills and pamphlets, and addressing public meetings.  Poster wars sometimes end in offensive pictures and also lead to disfigurement of public and private walls in many places despite the ban imposed under the Model Code of Conduct.

 

The first formal political advertising agency was engaged by the Congress in the early 1980s by Rajiv Gandhi. Propaganda-in-charge was an important person in many parties. Jayalalitha started her political career as Propaganda Secretary in the ADMK formed by MGR. Communist parties in India always had propaganda cells to communicate their policies to the people.   

 

Catchy slogans like “Garibi Hatao”, and “Democracy in danger”, and image building strategies used in  “Feel good factor”,  “India shining” and “Bharat Nirman”  are contributions of vigorous advertisements that enrich election literature. Slogans, by sheer repetition, become substitutes for ideology/policy to lure the voters. Strategies provoke counter strategies.

 

In political advertisement, images overtake issues and policies. It tends to place importance on personalities rather than ideologies. Advertisement tends to be general rather than specific in its content. Giant size pictures of leaders greet road users and their full-page size photos occupy space in newspapers alongside products on sale advertised by business people.

 

Negativity is a predominant phenomenon in oral representations due to its direct appeal to attract audience. When lapses and drawbacks of opponents are presented in a negative campaigning, there is scope for fun and entertainment in the speech. Such speeches draw big crowds. Positivity in the form of listing achievements and promises is adopted in print media advertisements in India. Importantly, anything in print is likely to be taken as truth by ordinary readers.

 

Government advertisement of welfare programmes falls in the category of positivity, but raises a question of rational utilization of funds. Government information is mixed up with political advertisement for the advantage of the ruling party. Central and State governments have to publicize schemes in operation as information so that they can be availed of by the needy and will not be restricted to those nearby who are aware of them. There is no element of anybody’s achievement in carrying out social service schemes.

 

Election Commission’s Code of Conduct does not allow government advertisements of its own functioning during election times. However, there is a feeling within the Congress that their loss in some recent elections is due to their failure in projecting their achievements in the last 10 years and that this should be corrected. Political observers, therefore, are sure to meet what is dubbed as “advertisement blitzkrieg” in coming weeks.

 

Advertisements presented like news are called “paid news” – a new phenomenon in Indian elections. Issuing paid news is an offence under election law in India. Paid news is a degraded form of political advertisement which damages independence of the press and amounts to violation of election rules by candidates.

 

The Election Commission has recognized Radio and Television as important media of election-related information and has adopted a policy of allotting time for contesting parties to propagate their views. But, presentations should be balanced and fair and subject to dos and don’ts issued by the Commission. Parties generally adhere to the Code and present mostly their manifestoes which hardly interest the voters.

 

Viewers and listeners are more interested in political debates which are becoming increasingly popular. Debates normally pertain to recent events, but are important source of information on the past and on the current views of parties. Heated exchanges among spokespersons of rival parties are witnessed; and the TV anchor is sometimes accused by disgruntled participants of not being impartial and fair. These debates have become major political advertising platforms and parties send their best speakers to represent and defend their standpoints.

 

Among the Indian citizens, a small percentage only can follow these debates. Hence, posters, processions, and public meetings and rallies continue to be the major form of political advertising. 

 

Indian voters do not voluntarily seek political information to decide their voting choice. For, decisions are made on perceptions, images, and notions and rarely on issues. Political advertising in India has naturally become a contest between growing salesmanship and surviving issues where even policies are to be sold like products. ---INFA

 

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

                                                                              

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