Fear, Humor, Emotion: The Political Ad Tricks That Sway Voters

Turning on the TV these days causes ad expert Tobe Berkovitz to groan in frustration.

And when pre-Election Day content is especially egregious, he admits to lashing out at the screen with critiques that only his wife can hear.

The onslaught of subpar political advertising blaring across the airwaves is what irks him. And it will only get worse between now and Nov. 8, he says.

It’s the cliches. It’s the “rainbow coalition” of people parading across the screen, allowing candidates to suggest they’re supported by many ethnicities, races, and other “identities.”

“To me, it’s like, ‘Here we go again,’” said.

=”I was in the business 30 years,” Berkovitz, now advertising professor emeritus at Boston University, told The Epoch Times. “Now, my goal is to not watch any of this” garbage anymore.

“I start trying to click [away from it] as fast as I can, or I just sit there and moan” and complain to my wife about how poorly crafted “all this stuff is.”

But he understands the ad creators’ conundrum.

At this point in election season, there’s no time to craft clever campaigns. With a little more than a month until Election Day, hired consultants scurry to control a candidate’s message.

Their aim: avoid getting forced into reaction mode, triggered by attacks from an opponent or the media.

No More Mr. Nice Guy

In the early days of a campaign, wordsmiths carefully craft compelling messages.

“Campaigns that have resources absolutely message-test the content that goes into their advertising,” often in the form of focus groups, Jake Neiheisel, an associate political science professor at the University at Buffalo and a specialist in political communication, told The Epoch Times.

If the response is favorable with paid ad-watchers, the message moves forward.

When ad-watchers frown, commercials are sent back for more tinkering.