Visual Analysis of Political Campaign Posters in US 2016
Presidential Elections
Thesis
By
Mansura Mehidyeva
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree of
Bachelor of Arts
In
Mass Media and Communication
State University of New York
Empire State College
2016
Reader: PhDr. Todd Nesbitt, Ph.D., M.A
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Todd Nesbitt for introducing me to the
field of Political Communication and inspiring me to dedicate my thesis project to this
field. Additionally, his help and support throughout the project, as well as my studies were
more than a student would expect.
I would also like to thank Professor Beth Lazroe for her classes in Visual Analysis that
truly altered my perception of images and were extremely eye-opening.
I am extremely grateful to my parents for giving me this opportunity to study abroad and
gain valuable knowledge and experience throughout my academic life. I highly appreciate
their support and willingness to help out by any means when I was faced with hardships.
Lastly, I am thankful to the contribution of the people that are close to me. Eynar Isayev,
thank you for your immense support and ability to show me the right way. A special
thanks to my friends, Zhala and Alia who over a long distance were an infinite source of
inspiration.
Table of Contents
1.
Introduction…………………………………………………..………………5
2.
Political Communication……………………………………………..………9
2.1 The Field of Political Communication……………………………….…..9
2.2 Politics and Media………………………………………………………12
2.3 Public opinion……………………………………………………………15
3.
Visual Analysis Theories……………………………………………………17
3.1 Semiotics Theory………………………………………………….……..17
3.2 Visual Rhetoric…………………………………………………………..19
3.3 Content Analysis…………………………………………………...…….21
3.4 The Process of Decoding…………………………..…………………….22
4.
Visual Analysis of Political Advertising……………………………………..25
4.1 Case Studies: Obama ’08 and Reagan ’80…………………………….….25
4.2 Democratic Candidate: Bernie Sanders ………………………………..…29
4.3 Republican Candidate: Donald Trump……………………………………38
4.4 Summary…………………………………………………………………..47
5.
The Impact if Strategic Images on The Public .……………………………...49
5.1 Decision-Making…………………………………………………………..49
5.2 Persuasion………………………………………………………………….51
6.
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...55
7.
Works Cited .………………………………………..…………………………58
8.
Bibliography …………………………………………………………………..64
Abstract
This paper analyzes how aesthetic elements constructed in political advertising posters
influence the voter and to what degree it influences his or her decision-making process.
More specifically the paper will explore what techniques are used for presenting the
candidate at their best and how frequently these techniques appear throughout one’s
campaign. This paper will analyze the posters produced during U.S. presidential elections
in 2016, whereas one candidate is chosen from Democratic Party (Bernie Sanders) and
another comes from the Republican Party (Donald Trump). The analysis will compare and
contrast the approach of these two political forces have towards the public they are
attempting to reach out to.
The paper concludes that politicians are able to manipulate voters’ emotions by a
systematic positioning of aesthetic elements and usage of specific symbols. Emotions
elicited have an impact on the spectator’s decision-making process
1. Introduction
Powerful daily introductions of increasingly information flows have become a basic part of
everyday life. We hear people talking about an issue, we read news learning about the
current local or international events, thus for the main part of the day we are highly exposed
to different images that convey a specific. These images can vary from an advertising piece
seen on the street, tram, metro or newspaper to pictures that appear on social media,
whenever the page is updated. In the daily rush, images turn into one of the quickest
sources of sending a piece information; a viewer would be more receptive to a picture of a
product and base his or her opinion on it, than reading a full text or even a few sentences
about it. Consequently, every aspect of a picture should convey the detailed information
about the product shown to the observer, thus he or she can reflect on it or partly activate
their cognitive thinking.
Product like advertising strategies are applied during the political campaigns of the
candidates who are trying to raise awareness among the masses and attract as many
electorates in the given area as possible. Subsequently, every single image shown to the
audience plays a substantial role in the development of the candidate’s public image.
Whenever the message is seen, as the first impression, the viewer collects visually the
information represented and automatically conceptualizes it. During the process, opinion
about the candidate is derived from the mental image formed in the mind of observer and
5
remains fixed with a low probability of changes (Zenor, 2014). Thus, the very first
indirect encounter of the candidate and its potential follower should serve as a basis for
the further development of this parasocial relationship, a friend-like interaction between
mediated persona and an onlooker (Rubin and McHugh, 1987, p. 279-292).
One of the greatest influencers of the post-World War I American nation is a person who
immensely shaped the basic concept and understanding of the human self and the
architect of public relations – Edward Berneys, have successfully implemented
psychoanalytical techniques of his uncle Sigmund Freud in adverts and political
campaigns to pull certain societal strings to trigger desired outcomes from large numbers
of individuals. Berneys, for example managed to shift the public opinion on the character
of President Coolidge. The thirtieth president of the United States was often considered to
be glum-looking, by organizing a pancake breakfast with vaudevillians with hope that
cameras would catch his smile. The next day headlines announced “The President nearly
laughs” subsequently leading him into re-election after several weeks (Curtis and Kelsall,
2002).
The technological development in the sphere of communication and mass media for the last
100 years substantially changed the paradigm of political communication. This through
how it establishes the candidates’ image and the way it is perceived in public. The
cornerstone throughout these years in the political hemisphere became the development and
the demand for television. The first politician to utilize the television as a tool for spreading
his message to large publics was Dwight D. Eisenhower; this point revolutionized the
political communication in a manner of visual representation (Allen, 1993, p. 352-359).
Later in the context of presidential elections, the first televised political debate took place in
6
1960, where John F Kennedy managed to become accustomed with the contemporary way
of connecting with the public, as well as reinforcing his image of a fresh and modern man.
The non-verbal communication became a privilege for Kennedy in this race, he was able to
charm his audience by means of his body language; meanwhile Nixon was unfamiliar with
the essence of image building through the live medium. Fifty years later, Obama and his
campaign team discovers the practical use of the internet in the political horse race and the
unique approach towards this medium helped him to appeal to the younger generations and
build an image for him. Each of these candidates apprehended the importance of the new
and more visualized mediums available achieving a successful outcome.
This advertising principal based on the emotional approach, rather than cognitive, questions
the whole spirit of the democratic society. A viewer manipulated on the irrational level is
not able to make a rational choice of the product (or candidate, in this case), while being
completely unaware of the subconscious process of the information (Hartmann, 1935, p.
99-114; Brader, 2005, p. 388–405). Unfortunately, the issue lies much deeper than just an
acknowledgment of the circumstances; the viewer has to focus on the political agenda of
the candidate rather than his image. Franz, Freedman, Goldstein, and Ridout (2008) argued
that “campaign advertising in general serves to corrupt and debase the democratic
discourse, to mislead and confuse citizens, to shrink and polarize the electorate, and to
constrain elected representatives in their efforts to promote good public policy” (p. 262–
268).
7
The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which aesthetic factors are applied in
political advertising posters and these can communicate a persuasive message, in order to
identify effective strategies in visual political communication.
8
2. Political Communication
This chapter will attempt to illustrate the field of political communication, define its
concept, relationship with the media and explain its interrelationship with the public
opinion. It is important to comprehend the concept of political communication and
understand how it works, in order to analyze the visual conduction of political campaigns in
The United States and examine the way in which it influences the public.
2.1 The Field of Political Communication
In order to understand the essence of the political campaigns, the structure of the visual
representation, and how profoundly it impacts the choice of the electorate, it is important
to actualize the concept of political communication and its historical background.
Political communication tracks the process of creation and dissemination of political
information as well as its influence on the masses. Scholars find it hard to concisely
describe what political communication is and how it works in its core.
According to the Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, political communication is a
communication process where the information is conveyed across politicians, the news
media and the publics; the messages are transmitted from the governing institutions
towards citizens, among politicians, and from public opinion towards authorities, in a
hierarchical manner (2001).
9
Denton and Woodward (1998), state that political communication is defined as process that
focuses on the political message and how it influences public sphere, not regarding the
source of the message, but its content. Thus, first of all it simply follows the basic rules of
the communications, where a sender transmits a message to the receiver with probable
noise and expected feedback after the message is decoded. Some also argue that political
communication is highly connected with the propaganda, due to its strategic approach to
the persuasion (Swanson and Nimno, 1990).
McNair believes that political communication does not solely depend on the verbal and
written attributes on of the political figure (or party), visualization plays a privileged role in
this process. Consequently, the image created and utilized throughout the whole political
career carries great responsibilities for the definitive outcome (2003).
Political communication could be applied on the national as well as on the supranational
level. In case of the global political communication experts develop an original conception
to establish, which is defined as strategic political (Torture, 2013). Strategic political
communication is simply a political communication that thoroughly examines social
scientific techniques to understand human interactions and media profile; decides what
should be communicated or withheld to influence a public opinion in a specific
manipulative way, as well as creating alliances and government policies (2013).
10
The development of the political communication hinges on the chain of the events that
eventually formed the modern political process. The historical aspect highly influenced the
perspective in which the political arena is seen currently; within the historical outlook, such
factors as media, technology, and culture influence the path in which political
communication is led. This field is considered to be relatively young, as it was
acknowledged in the 1970’s; however, this area of study was practiced far earlier than 40
years ago. The pioneers of the political communication studies considered to be “four great
men”: Harold Laswell, who examined political propaganda in his research, Handley Cantril
& Gordon Allport with early studies of persuasion and public opinion theorist, Walter
Lippmann. Each was highly influenced by social psychology, which signifies the
prioritized role of this field in the political communication domain. Designated as a subdivision of the political science, political communication gradually commenced from the
comprehension of interest groups in the political environment; Bentley argued that politics
is an interaction between interest groups. Lastly, political communication was highly
influenced by the media studies; this field is a keystone in measuring the effect of political
success (Ryfe, 2001).
11
Technology shifted the political communication model from the national to global level.
It widens the public in terms of the accessibility and impact on the masses as well as
encourages faster processes within the governmental organizations. It is also argued, that
due to technological advances in the current era, political communication becomes more
globalized and there are no longer borders concerning the information flow. The
significance of the technological development in the communication field has been
recognized by Dalrymple and Scheufele (2007), who presented the statistical
differentiation between users of traditional and online media in regards to political
knowledge. The results showed the statistically significant difference between these two
groups of users, in favor of online media users (Miller and McKerrow, 2010).
2.2 Politics and Media
Media as an inevitable part of our daily lives is coming in various forms. It could be used
for educational as well as entertainment purposes. Moreover, political communication
was heavily influenced by the media studies; above all, media constitutes a large part of
political communication. Political figures and organization communicate their messages
through the media to reach larger masses. The communication could occur through
different vehicles such as news, advertising, interpersonal, musical, and others. However,
the preferences moderately shifted from the traditional media in print to electronic media,
online or in television. The relationship between political actions and the media is snug,
politics need media to gain wider influence, while media needs politics for the agenda
setting purposes. Nonetheless, when the communication is centered on political
campaigns, media is one of the primary components for the successful effect.
12
The mass media itself collects all the information and disseminates it to the public, helping
the crowds to stay informed; however, according to the agenda-setting theory, it is far
more than simply informing people. Media is not telling you what to think, but to set an
agenda that is current and relevant for the media (McCombs, Shaw and Weaver, 1997).
This perfectly fits the political agenda, whereas key figures are able to create news for
their personal purposes. Donald Trump, 2016 presidential elections candidate, could be a
perfect example; whatever he says that is considered to be irrelevant or radical
immediately appears on the news, not only on the national level, but globally. Coleman
and Banning (2006) described a term ‘second level agenda-setting effect’ in their research;
they claim that second-level research suggests that “attributes of candidates and issues
emphasized in news coverage become the attributes emphasized by voters.” Thus, it is
argued that this kind of framing has an enormous impact on a voter’s irrational choice.
As a result of high demand of massive reach and impact on the community mind, politics use
advertising in its every form during campaigns. Since 2008, when Obama and his team
became the successors of the online advertising, scholars began to analyze how internet affects
the masses. In spite of the challenges in limiting the information on the internet, politics
managed to successfully promote themselves with micro targeting and a more tailored
approach. Furthermore, internet users are able to find alternative news and educate themselves
on political matters. People tend to look for the information online since they share the
lack of political information on the traditional media (Bordiga and Stark, 2004). With the
rise of the internet a new medium appearing in the form of social media; it involves
billions of people in the 24/7 interaction. Social media assists as a tool for personalized
communication with each user. The key figures on the global political arena such as
13
Obama, Putin, or Merkel heavily utilize this modernized medium in order to promote and
share their ideology. Presidential elections in 2016 represent the role of social media in
presidential campaigns. Besides the websites that are customized according to the
candidate’s image, each has their own Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram online pages with
thousands of followers. At this stage candidates use the social media for promotional
purposes, however, appearing as if they are sharing simple thoughts, photos and videos
with their online “friends.”
Politicians also heavily use advertising during the campaigns. They attempt to appear on as
many mediums as possible in order to have a considerable influence on masses. Print ads,
direct mail, handouts, television ads, online advertising (online videos), radio ads, political
signage, and others. Politicians tend to issue positive as well as negative advertising. The
positive generally manifest the good qualities of the particular candidate and claim why the
electorate should vote for him or her, while negative advertising highlights feeble features of
their opponent. Every four years, when it comes to presidential campaigns, candidates invest
millions of dollars on producing advertising and creating a public image. But does it actually
work? Does the advertising persuade? Franz and Ridout (2007) in their article presented works
of many scholars and conducted study themselves on whether advertising persuades (p.
465-491). In the literature review they came to a conclusion that the impact is “sporadic,
either non-existent or significant but fairly small in magnitude” (2007). As a result of their
own studies, they concluded that advertising influences the perception of the candidate and
voter choice, particularly on the people who are considered to be “politically illiterate.”
14
2.3 Public Opinion
When the topic touches upon media, politics and their relationship, the concept of public
opinion is one of the main factors of this sophisticated relationship. The information created
through the political actions is highly in influenced by the public opinion and vice versa.
Politicians have an enormous impact on how the public opinion is shaped through
manipulation of the events and their depictions. According to the Oxford Dictionary, public
opinion is “A view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or
knowledge.” Politics enter the public sphere in order to influence or ‘help’ to shape the public
opinion.
According to Jürgen Habermas, public sphere is a platform which allows the ‘birth’ of the
public opinion and discloses the public debate on the political ideas, where the media
serves as a medium for forming a rational public discourse (as cited in Iosifidis, 2013).
This public discourse is vital in forming successful operations of liberal democracy in the
society. The concept of democracy does not only apply solely the freedom and freedom of
choice, it stimulates the choice to be perceived skeptically, analyzed critically in order to
give an individual a right to make profound and rational choice. Here the public sphere
plays an enormous role in conceptualizing the political ideas through the public dialogue,
which gives a citizen a chance to analyze his and his interlocutor’s standpoint objectively
and rationally.
Phillips Davison (1958) highlights the importance of distinguishing the public from the
groups (p. 91-106). Members of the public do not necessarily know or interact with each
15
other, the only connection they have is the interest shared or “public interest”.
Nevertheless, it is difficult to define public interest since it alters throughout the time
segment and varies in different context. Each culture, society, organization, or individual
perceive the media or the information given by the media in different ways applying it to
their own objectives. Therefore it creates a different perspective and complicates the
process
of
defining
the
“public
interest”
as
a
universal
index
16
3. Visual Analysis Theories
In this chapter different visual analysis theories will be discussed in the context of political
advertising. In order to understand the core of visual analysis it is important to examine
these theories proposed by the visual communication experts. The chapter will look at
semiotic theory, analyze visual rhetoric and how it works in political communication, as
well as scrutinize the way the messages are decoded and processed. Moreover, this chapter
will explore the scale of impact of the images on the mind of the voter, how the visuals
subconsciously affect viewer’s perception of the candidate.
3.1 Semiotics Theory
To understand the way communication is managed visually and how the message travels
across the audience, we have to take a look at the concept of semiotics. Semiotic theory is
the study of sign processes, it analyzes how the signs are constructed and how they are
interpreted by the viewer (Hamel, 2011). According to Berger (2014), the first one to come
up with the term semiotics was American philosopher Charles Sanders Pierce and was later
developed by Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure to semiology (p. 3). In addition,
Saussure’s book A Course in General Linguistics was the first one to suggest the semiotic
analysis. The field of study could be applied in film, theater, architecture, zoology and all
other areas that are attempting to comprehend the communication and the way it works.
17
Saussure (1983) suggests that the sign does not solely represent an object; rather it
discloses a specific concept. He believes that the sign consists of two main components:
‘signifier’ and ‘signified’(as cited in Fiske, 1990, p. 43-45). Hereby, signifier represents the
actual form (i.e. square) and the signified is responsible for the mental concept. The
relationship between two components is inconsistent, the meaning of the sign highly
depends on the culture where the signs are structured. For example, in the culture where
democratic values are non-existent the interpretation of the eagle might differentiate from
the American view as a sign of freedom.
The way the signs are constructed depends on the medium (Berger, 2014). Different
aesthetic aspects influence the construction of those signs and the meaning they convey.
The camera angle, the colors used in the image, the lighting used, the perspective of the
image, all of these factors impact on the outcome of the picture. It is up to the author of the
image to manipulate those factors, in order to create a picture that transmits a specific
message to the viewer. For instance, if the illustrator chooses to depict the politician from
lower angle it represents his or her authority and a viewer subconsciously puts himself in a
subordinate position. This could be interpreted negatively as well as positively depending
on the culture and overall personality of the viewer. Some might feel uncomfortable, others
may feel more connected to the politician. One way or another, the creator presented the
politician as a powerful, independent character.
The semiotic analysis is also a subject to a major criticism, despite its importance of image
decoding. The analysis is mainly concerned with the relationship of the signs and
18
tends to ignore the quality of the work itself; it neglects the bigger picture and focuses on
its particular elements solely. As Berger (2014) mentions “semiotics is not really concerned
with art, but rather with meaning and modes of cognition (the codes that we need to
understand a text)” (p. 37).
Semiotics in the political context has been examined by the philosophers such as Ernst
Cassier, who analyzed political semiotics in relation to the concept of utopia and C.G. Jung
that applied political semiotics to his Archetypes theory (Drechsler, 2009). A few studies
have observed semiotics in the political nature to analyze the images used for general
elections (William J. Jones, 2013) and propaganda posters (Lu Xing-Hua, 2005).
Semiotics is important in relation to political advertising. The camera manipulation and the
image constructed influences the outcome of the image presented to the public. The mental
image that will be fixed in the minds of the viewer will influence their opinion on the
performance and likability of the candidate.
3.2 Visual Rhetoric
Visual rhetoric theory has a slightly different approach towards interpretation of the
images, compared to semiotics. Rhetoric theory looks at the hidden message within the
picture and analyzes the way it affects the audience. The main questions that should be
asked are “why” and “how.” Scott (1994) states that the image-maker (sender) creates the
message according to the shared knowledge and understanding of the audience, intended
to impact a specific response (p. 252-273). Thus the cultural knowledge shared amongst
the audience works as a foundation for the interaction and persuasion. As Grancea (2014)
19
mentioned: “understanding the meaning of an image implies the application of known
conventions of the genre to which the image belongs that are not confined to visual
literacy but rather to knowledge of that genre” (p. 146). For example, the Thai negative
political advertising featuring dog masquerading in a human form as a politician might be
understood differently in American culture due to a specific cultural understanding of the
dog in Thai culture.
Nevertheless, Scott (1994) argues that we must learn to recognize the pictorial material as
a symbol rather than interpreting them according to mentally established patterns. In other
words, the rhetoric theory focuses on the visuals as a communication system.
When applied to political advertising, visual rhetoric theory plays a large role in the
construction of the meaning in the picture. The politicians and their PR team could easily
manipulate the public if the theory is carefully studied and implied. Erickson (2000) came
to conclusion that the politicians tend to use visual rhetoric for self-interested purposes.
Hereby, the images tend to mislead the public on the matter of political issues,
“misdirecting” the public attention, in order to “exert the political dominance”. This
unethical practice deteriorates the concept of liberal democracy.
3.3 Content Analysis
Compared to previously mentioned theories that essentially examine the pictures
according to the aesthetical features, content analysis is empirical by its nature and
delivers more objective and verifiable data. According to Fiske (1990), “it analyzes the
denotative order of signification” (p.136). The main goal of the content analysis is to
20
collect quantitative data without any bias involved. The methodology is based on
determining a specific component and counting its occurrence in media over a specific
period of time.
Applied to the political sphere, content analysis assists in understanding the political
agenda of the candidate. For instance, the study examines the number of times the
candidate features children in their advertising as a part of their official campaign. As a
result it might turn out that children tend to occur more in republican candidates’
advertising compared to democrats. In spite of the factual numbers given the study neglects
the way children are presented. Therefore, Fiske (1990) highlights the fact that content
analysis leaves us with the question ‘so what’ and lacks the question ‘why’ and ‘how’, thus
not presenting any specific argument that would support their claims (p. 143).
Gerbner (1970) underlines that the content analysis’s advantage lies in its nature of looking
at the material from the perspective of whole message system rather than from the
individual point of view. He believes that this analysis reflects our social and cultural
values (as cited in Fiske, 1990, p.143).
Berger (2014) suggests that the best way of analyzing the content is including the historical
as well as comparative elements (p. 138). By looking at the data from the historical
standpoint the study can reveal trends and identify changes; from the comparative
perspective the differences between specific societal and cultural values can be analyzed.
Applying content analysis in political advertising could be used as a tool for
counting the most frequently appearing elements. This paper specifically focuses on
21
distinguishing aesthetic elements that appear on posters of Democratic candidates as well
as Republican candidates in order to present the difference in approach towards its
supporters on the side of both parties. Since Republican and Democratic candidates
endorse different political agendas, the exploration of the visual elements each uses will
reinforce this idea.
3.4
The process of decoding
As mentioned above, the interpretation of the messages depends on the cultural background
of the viewer, the meaning of signs is embedded on a subconscious level. Eco (1965) based
on the observation of the way people decode the messages conceptualized the term
‘aberrant decoding’ which states that the message which was encoded for a specific
audience utilizing the shared codes will be decoded roughly close to the encoding (as cited
in Fiske, 1990, p. 78-82). But the same message decoded by the audience with different
cultural backgrounds leaves the meaning disrupted. This should be taken into consideration
while the image is analyzed. However, Scott believes that cameras are made to structure
the picture in the Western manner, therefore creating a standardized western way of seeing
the picture. This results in ethnocentric view (1994).
Connotation is a part of the decoding process which refers to the cultural meaning of the
word (or sign). The connotation of the word and sign is based on historic, emotional and
symbolic elements associated with it. On the other hand, denotation represents the literal
(dictionary) meaning of the word. For instance, terrorism denotes an unauthorized use of
violence in pursuit of political purposes; the connotation of the word could vary amongst
22
the cultures, but in Western countries the word connotes fear and safety hazard. These
concepts should be taken into consideration during the analysis of political images, in
order to understand the difference between universal meaning and irrational meaning of
the signs and words in the American culture.
Saussure (1983) also identified that there are two ways in which codes are organized. First,
is paradigm which is a set of signs from which one is the one is chosen to use (as cited in
Fiske, 1990; p. 57). For instance, types of animals (cats, dogs, horses) altogether form a
paradigm. The second one is syntagm, which characterizes the message where the chosen
signs of paradigm were combined (1990). Fiske also proposes a “communication test” that
helps identify and define the significant difference within paradigm and syntagm (p.109110). It is an imaginary technique which offers to alter the elements of the image and
assess the meaning. For example, a political advertisement in the United States features
both, black and white people standing next to the White House. If the White House is the
subject to change (i.e. to Capitol instead) the meaning of the message will remain the
same. Thus the building is not the paradigm of significance. Nonetheless, if we mentally
substitute black and white people by solely white, the context of the picture will be
changed and the message could be potentially conveying a racist message.
The idea of paradigm and synatgm implied in political advertising plays a significant role.
The designer produces a poster and chooses specific elements that fit together in order to
create a unified meaning and the choice of elements to be utilized comes from the set of
paradigm and syntagm.
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4. Visual Analysis of Political Advertising
The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the political images used during the current
presidential elections (2016) the candidates chosen are from the leading names in each
party. Also addressed are two historically iconic images of Barack Obama (2008) and
Ronald Reagan (1980), in order to examine the degree to which visual elements
influenced each leader’s followers. The methodology will include the combination of
aforementioned techniques, which will assist in explaining the way aesthetic elements are
generally used in political advertising in order to influence voter’s choice. As a
foundation for the analysis the techniques and terminology used by Beth Lazroe in her
book Photography as Visual Communication published in 2001 will be used in the
process.
4.1 Case Studies: Obama ’08 and Reagan ‘80
Image A1 is the iconic Obama Hope poster, created by street artist Shepard Farey in
agreement with Obama’s campaign team, became a symbolic sign of his 2008 presidential
campaign (Tolbert, 2010). The poster creates an emotional bond between the viewer and
the candidate, by representing Obama as a leader that is able to support his people and
move the country forward.
24
The poster’s thoroughly chosen colors are a strategic combination of red and blue, with
white insets. Despite the prevailing amount of blue color which represents the Democratic
Party, red color is extremely vivid and creates a feeling of equal depiction of both colors.
The angle of the camera is eye-level, which makes the audience feel the connection with
Obama and identify him as a casual yet stately man. The image-maker presented Obama as
“one of us” and thereby created an emotional bond between the viewer and the candidate.
The audience is not “otherizing” Obama, rather seeing him as a leader running as a person,
for people. The way Barack Obama raised his chin slightly up the way he looks up creates
a feeling as if he is looking at the God and follows his path. Moreover, than a half of his
face is colored white, the lighting that falls on the most part of his face. Creates an illusion
of the heaven light falling on the right part of his face. This makes the audience believe
subconsciously that Obama is connected to higher forces and that whatever he does is done
solely out of conscientious reasons. The word “Hope” itself underlines the nature of
Obama’s deeds.
Image A1: Fairey, S. (n.d.). Hope. Retrieved from
http://www.complex.com/style/2012/11/10-iconic-political-posters/barack-obamahope-poster (Originally photographed 2008)
25
The rhetoric of the image is slightly inclined towards the representation of Jesus, whose
mission is to change the world for better. Tolbert (2010), Williamson and Ferrara (2013)
argue that the rhetoric of this iconic image stands for the depiction of black culture. They
argue that Obama echoes hard past of longtime fights for civil rights. In fact, his character
shown on this poster represents all the African-American civil rights movements’ leaders
such as Malcom X and Martin Luther King. In addition, Williamson and Ferrara (2013)
believes that Obama’s Hope rhetoric intentionally presents him based upon the American
mythologies of heroes such as Abraham Lincoln (p. 748).
Image A2 represents another presidential candidate, Ronald Reagan in 1980’s. This image
contains a large amount of signs underlying Reagan’s American nature. It is important to
take into consideration the ongoing Cold War and how Reagan and his campaign team
made a strategic choice by bringing Reagan’s Americanism out. On the background of the
image different American landmarks such as Statue of Liberty, Capitol, Manhattan, Mount
Rushmore, and other American traditional buildings are pictured. This presents a patriotic
approach of the president and he calls his people to follow him on that path.
The eye-view camera angle, whereas Reagan “looks” into the eyes of the viewer shows
Reagan as down-to-earth man. He is one of us. This photo commutes Reagan’s connection
with his supporters, he does not have to get off his “high horse,” and he is always there for
his people. The cowboy hat worn only headlines his dedication to American cultural
practices. The cowboy hat also conveys (especially during 80’s) brutality, macho, charming,
and savior qualities. With regards to application of these terms to the context of Reagan’s
political advertising, the poster does not solely present his belonging to the culture, but rather
his apprehension of cultural traditions and his strong and brutal cowboy character.
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Another factors pushing on patriotic emotions to elicit on the side of the viewer is
representation of the country flag on the word “America” written in big bold letters.
Moreover, the “Reagan country” written under does not point out solely his belonging to
American culture, but rather tries to show that every American patriot is invited to build
this country with Ronald Reagan.
Image A2: Reagan, C. (n.d.). America, Reagan Country. Retrieved from
http://www.complex.com/style/2012/11/10-iconic-political-posters/america-reagan-country (Originally
photographed 1980)
Overall, Reagan and his team made a critical choice by using the approach to the audience
during wartime elections, where the country needs a leader that will unite the people and
will remind them where they belong to and where they come from.
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4.2 Democratic Candidate: Bernie Sanders
During presidential elections 2016 two main candidates have progressed to the final rounds
leading to democratic nomination for president: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
Clinton leading for some time, until Sanders began getting more publicity and made
significant gains in the polls. Furthermore, Bernie Sanders is a social democrat and as it is
known Americans are inclined to connect this concept with communism. Therefore, this
subchapter will analyze the techniques used in the posters presented by his campaign team
and will examine first, the degree to which these images play on emotions, and second
what political messages might be understood from the images presented.
Image B1: Lewis, A. (n.d.). Not Me, US. Retrieved from https://berniesanders.com/thiscampaign-is-about-you/
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Image B1 representing the silhouette of Bernie Sanders from the back, contains large
number of aesthetical key elements, altogether contributing to the poster eliciting emotional
response and emphasizing Sanders’s political position. Concerning the colors, the poster
presents four colors: dark red, light red, yellow, blue, and dark blue. Blended together the
colors are associated with rainbow, which signifies happiness and joy. However, it is fair to
say that light blue color is predominating in this picture emphasizing his belonging to
Democratic Party. The decision of coloring people with such a variety of colors might also
signify Sanders’s inclination to unite people of different gender, class, and race. In other
words, the picture features people coming from different backgrounds being united and
fighting altogether for the same cause.
The way Sanders holds his hand up creates a line that is used strategically to highlight a
few points. First of all, the spectator is supposed to visually travel Sanders’s body from
down to up (which is replete with people in the meanwhile). Hereby, the viewer notices
people within his body shape rather than Bernie Sanders alone. Thus, the image maker does
not fully emphasize the attention on the candidate, as it is generally done, but rather focuses
on the people. In fact, presenting people silhouettes inside of Sanders’s body shape
represents an implicit caring and deliberation about the American nation. It is important to
mention, that the word “US” is almost fully filled with people as well, highlighting the fact
that people have to unite together, it is not only about Bernie Sanders, people play
important role in his agenda. In the meanwhile, part of the text saying Not me, is empty,
sending the sign of the void of Bernie Sanders’s actions without the nation standing with
him.
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In addition to all these factors, the poster serves the viewer by inviting him into it. The image
maker chose a specific angle of placing people body’s “inside” of Bernie Sanders.
The poster sends the sensation of belonging to this group by using viewer space. The
spectator is invited to be a part of this political movement. He feels as one of those people
following Bernie Sanders on his path to the White House. This factor creates a strong
emotional bond between the audience and Bernie Sanders, under the circumstances the link
is also established with the imaginary followers of Bernie.
Investigating the symbols used in the image according to visual rhetoric theory, his fist
raised up in the air has been used strategically, in order to stress more on irrational response
from the viewers. The raised fist sign stands for the solidarity and unity. However due to
historical movements from the side of minorities, particularly on American soil, the fist
also represents opposing forces (Calbris, 2011). In the context used, the fist represents
Bernie Sanders as a part of those resistance forces. This is rhetorical symbolism used to
send out the message of unity and solidarity to the audience. Subsequently, in one picture,
the author tries to create an emotional connection with the viewer, by serving as a tool for
reminding them of who they are and where they come from.
Image B2, featuring Bernie Sanders with people once again, takes a slightly risky step in
choosing the symbolism depicted, however, the picture also creates an ambient
atmosphere. The picture presents a number of people standing in line, in profile, from the
left side the face shapes are bleeding from the frame, leaving the observer questioning the
number of people standing in the line. The last person on the right is Bernie Sanders. He is
the only one whose face features are clearly visible and recognizable. Perhaps, by doing so
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the author intended to show Bernie Sanders’s ability to lead people and become a
successful leader. Furthermore, the candidate is pictured out of the frame; he is not standing
with them, the horizontal line cuts the connection between Sanders and his followers.
Nevertheless, this technique invites the viewer to stand next to Bernie Sanders and continue
the line. The originator created a slightly 3 dimensional effect, by putting Bernie Sanders
out of the frame, while keeping him close to the spectator. This leaves the viewer with the
feeling of imaginary physical connection.
Image B2: Rogers, J. (n.d.). Together. Retrieved from https://berniesanders.com/thiscampaign-is-about-you/jermaine/
In image B2 the designer’s idea to use these specific colors represents the variety of
people on the picture. If judging each color on its own, they send out warm and friendly
messages; the colors are not too bright and sharp, even the tone of red color is not too
prominent and matches the combination.
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Despite the faces represented do not visualize the facial feature of those people, the author
highlighted the face shape of those people to underline their diversity and uniqueness.
Depending on the race, gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation as well, the physical traits
vary (Ossorio, 2006; Moskowitz, Turrubiates, Lozano and Hajek, 2013). By tracing their
face shapes according to their race, gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation, he highlights
their belonging to different groups of people, coming from different background.
Hereby, the author, once again, draws attention upon the diversity of Sanders’s followers
and his relationship with these people. Bernie Sanders and his followers, both are pictured
on the same level, showing their equal social positions with no hierarchal division
between Sanders and his supporters.
Face silhouettes put in line also create a triangular shape; more specifically the angle
between the neck and the chest creates a shape of an arrow. The ‘arrow line’ is continued
by five silhouettes and finishes the moment it reaches Bernie Sanders. These arrows point
at Sanders, while observing, the viewer will visually travel the arrow line to meet the
candidate. This technique underlines the focus on the protagonist of the picture; in
combination with other aesthetic factors such as depicting Sanders outside the frame and
presenting his facial traits, while hiding others, the image-maker stresses a lot of attention
on the main character, accentuating his importance. Nonetheless, at the same time the
author is not letting Sanders to play the main role in the picture and does not stress upon his
superiority. Moreover, the angle of the picture is center on eye-level. This aspect sends out
a friendly invitation to the viewer, creating a feeling of belonging to this group of people.
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Image B3: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Lenin and Stalin. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.gettyimages.com/event/years-since-the-death-of-joseph-stalin130583067?media_id=89856241 (Originally photographed 1953)
The most obvious visual rhetoric that is presented on the poster is the analogy with famous
picture featuring ‘fathers of communism’, that are Marx, Engles, Lenin, and Stalin. Image
B3 presents an original pictorial material. The decision behind choosing this visual rhetoric
is questioned. However, judging upon the stereotype and prejudice people have towards
the communism, this might serve as an intimidation tool towards the audience. On the
other hand, the American nation might have not been exposed to the poster featuring
fathers of communism, therefore having a limited notion about the rhetoric of this picture.
In addition, the author might have intended on pointing out the overall political position of
senator Bernie Sanders, which is social democracy.
The last Bernie Sanders poster that will be analyzed, does not feature the candidate himself.
However, the picture uses strong and strategic aesthetical cues to build up a picture
stressing out Bernie Sanders name, while his figure is absent. Image B4, compared to afore33
mentioned posters, is a photograph rather than a graphically created picture. The poster
feature a silhouette of a young man standing with his back facing the spectator and facing
the crowd below him.
The poster strategically utilizes the lines to highlight the main points of the image. Firstly,
young man’s arms raised up, create two parallel lines pointing out the poster that he is
holding. The poster features Bernie Sanders’ name on it; therefore, the main focus of the
picture falls on his name. The viewer visually travels over man’s body, finishing the
“journey” upon the poster, mentioning the candidate’s name. The roof of the building
creates a horizontal line, clearly dividing the photo into two parts, serves as another factor
stressing upon Bernie’s name on the image. The lower part of the image is black and white
and uses high contrast, while the upper part is colored in blue and utilizes lower contrast.
Subsequently, Bernie Sanders’s name poster, which is also high contrasted, is placed on the
blue background that makes the poster singled out.
Overall, the poster mainly uses a high contrast to leave the sky part of the picture plain.
Even though the colors are not highly visible, the color of the upper part of the photo could
be defined as light blue. Moreover, in comparison to the middle ground of the picture,
which depicts the mass of people, the young man on the foreground is in low contrast;
consequently, the importance of the presence of this figure is highlighted. He is the
protagonist of this poster, he is the one who holds up Bernie’s name, thus his figure is
sufficient and has to be visually prominent.
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Image B4: Sigala, H. (n.d.). Together. Retrieved from https://berniesanders.com/thiscampaign-is-about-you/jgjzeau/
The middle ground, picturing a large mass, creates a feeling of chaos. In the context of this
poster, the chaos conceptualizes a political revolution. The main player of the picture is
placed on a higher position compared to the public, which could be observed from the high
angle. Technically this represents his superiority in relations to the mass; however, the fact
that he stands facing the crowd, creates a closer connection between the mass and the
young man.
The figure of the young man is bleeding out of the picture frame; the audience is not able to see
the down part of his body. This technique creates a slightly 3 dimensional effect once again.
Therefore, the image uses viewer space and invites him to follow the man. In addition, the
eye-level angle makes the spectator feel as if a part of the crowd. The bleeding factor of the
poster also leaves the viewer questioning the full number of supporters. It is open for his or
her imagination to decide the massiveness of the public.
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The text of the image stating “We are democracy”, stresses on the significance of unity.
By saying so, the author offers the spectator to join in the community. He points out the
fact, how each of us is an important contributor to the democratic functioning of the
whole nation. It is not only about Bernie Sanders, the image-maker underlines how we
should contribute to common good and become united. This factor presents the political
strategy of Bernie Sanders, whereas the candidate highly believes in strength of the
people and attempts to avoid the ‘me’ feature from his agenda.
Summarizing the analysis of Bernie Sanders’s political campaign posters, common
features could be identified. These features serve as a tool for reinforcing the emotional
bond with the viewer. In all three posters analyzed above, the image-maker stresses out
the ‘we’ factor. Judging upon that factor, Bernie Sanders shows his ability to rely on
people and to what degree he values every single follower. Overall, the image-maker
attempted to put as less stress on Bernie Sanders figure as possible. It is all about him
and them together, not him alone. Another common technique is a strategic use of
viewer space. Looking back at each poster, the viewer is able to imaginarily become a
part of the crowd, the line (standing next to Bernie Sanders), or participate in political
revolution, following the young man. Thus, it makes the spectator feel a special
connection with the people featured on posters. These two elements combined create a
feeling of the urgency of becoming a part of this political movement. Sanders’ posters
do not emphasize on his political agenda, as much as pushing the ideas of unification
and inclusion.
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4.3 Republican Candidate: Donald Trump
Compared to Democratic Party, the number of Republican candidates was notably
sizeable. Throughout the horse race some of the candidates, even those that seemed to be
promising, withdrew from the race. Towards the final months of the campaign, three main
candidates were leading the polls: Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich. Compared
to his opponents, Donald Trump had a unique political program that attracted large number
of American people. Nevertheless, he is highly criticized for his extremist tendencies; his
agenda is based on nationalistic approach. The analysis will explore first, how do images
influence on emotional response and second, what political messages his posters and
political images convey.
Image C1 presents edited version of well know Uncle Sam Wants You for US Army,
that was spread around during wartime propaganda campaigns. The image-maker
shifted Uncle Sam’s face to Donald Trump’s and changed the text to Trump’s campaign
slogan. The lack of strategic positioning of the aesthetical elements in the picture does
not constitute an immediate emotional response or simply do not attract the viewer.
However, due to the patriotic symbolism utilized in the poster establishes a strong
relationship between the audience and the candidate.
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Image C1: I Want to Make Ametica Great Again. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.brandchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/donald-trump-makeamerica-great-uncle-sam.jpg
The symbolism is built through the emphasis of the colors used: red, blue and white. These
colors represent the American flag, subsequently the combination of these colors represent
the American nation. Furthermore, Uncle Sam/Donald Trump wears a hat with stars
printed on it, hereby fully representing an American flag outfit. The dark blue jacket worn
over the bright white shirt makes this area highlighted and assists the spectator in playing a
visual tennis, where the spectator coordinates the attention between Trump’s face and the
text. This factor helps to balance the attention between the face and face expression of the
main character in the image and the text. In this particular representation, the facial
expression is not attracting attention solely based on the highlights created by the contrast.
Trump’s facial expression embodies anger and pressure; therefore it distracts attention
from other details and concentrates on Trump. More specifically, his face expression
sends out negative message, the viewer might feel subordinate to the candidate, feeling as
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if he is shouting at them.
The finger pointing straight at the viewer also adds up to the disturbing pressure upon the
spectator. Taking into consideration the fact that the original Uncle Sam poster was used
for army recruitment as a part of war propaganda. Subsequently, the image-maker wanted
to make the viewer feel obliged to obey the protagonist. The position of pointing finger
also disturbs the viewer space, whereas the audience feels the disturbance in personal
space. In addition, the audience is located slightly lower than an eye-level angle. Even
though it does not completely present Trump’s superior approach, the poster positions him
on a higher position. Thus, the viewer either otherizes Trump, meaning that he is
oppressed, or the spectator might reinforce his connection with the candidate through
subordination.
The text of written on the poster reflects candidate’s official campaign slogan. Perhaps,
compared to the official one, the text of the poster focuses on the “me” factor. While the
original slogan states “Make America Great Again!” highlighting the importance of “you”
to participate in the process of making America great again; the poster text focuses on
Trumps wishes. To be more precise, the text does not elaborate on what they want from the
viewer. In spite of the lack of “guidelines,” all other aesthetical elements stress on the
spectator, making him or her feel constrained.
The creator simplified his task, by choosing such a strong historic symbolism for the
poster. Referring back to the visual rhetoric of the images, this poster uses Uncle Sam as a
way of sending out a specific message crafted for American people. Uncle Sam is
considered to be one of the most famous and beloved American symbols, he “symbolizes
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the way Americans see themselves (Hicks, 2006). Accordingly, the image provokes
emotional response, particularly patriotic emotions. The viewer might feel slightly
vulnerable due to the flow of patriotic emotions based on historical background of the
country and its cultural values. The poster reminds the viewer where they come from. The
emphasis on patriotism is the only factor that strongly connects the viewer with the poster
and Trump.
Compared to the previous poster, Image C2 creates a more peaceful atmosphere around the
poster. Nonetheless, the aesthetical elements of the image were not used strategically;
therefore the poster does not leave one with any strong emotion. This poster is also an
edited version, the original version feature planet Earth, instead of rectangular shape with
Trump name and slogan written on it.
Image C2: Trump Train. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAKh7JLGheL/?taken-by=realdonaldtrump
40
Eight hands chained together, create a round shape in the center of the photo. This directly
emphasizes the significance of paying attention to whatever is contained within the shape,
especially with highlight contrast on the background. In this case, the shape contains the
endorsement of Donald Trump campaign. The name of the candidate and the slogan are
featured in the rectangular form. Trump’s surname is the most bolded and the most visible
part of the shape. Furthermore, the endorsement also contains five (5) stars, which is
usually associated with high quality service and assistance (hotel ratings) or high general
positions in militaries. Therefore, the presence of stars conveys the message of excellence
and authority. It is important to mention that chained hands do not only shape a round,
they shape could also be associated with the sun, whereas the wrists represent sun rays.
Since the hands are bleeding out the frames, which invites the viewer to join in and
become a part of the poster. Thereupon, the poster constitutes positive and friendly
atmosphere.
Despite the lack of strong aesthetic elements featured, the poster uses strong symbolic
messages. Firstly, the image represents the hands that belong to people from different
races. In fact, all these hands chained together depicts a racial equality. In due course, it
represents unity and solidarity. The image calls upon unification and peace. In addition,
the way the hands are placed simulates the prevention sign. If communication test,
proposed by Fiske (1990) applied and the rectangular shape will be replaced by the planet
Earth (the original picture), the meaning of the picture shifts, the signification perfectly
accords with the meaning of the image. Thus, the importance of the object presented the in
the center serves as a cue of the poster. But in this specific case, this factor puts the
viewers in a confusing position, because the image communicates the message as if
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Trump’s name is and should be prevented. Therefore, the image does not resemble
Trump’s political agenda and conveys vague and unspecified message.
Overall, the image does not state its purpose and focus visually as well as verbally.
The text does not specify anything except the candidate’s surname and slogan. The nonstrategic approach towards creation of the picture resulted in poor visual content that
does not present any political agenda and does not play on emotions.
The last Donald Trump official campaign poster is visually constructed better, than two
previous images. But compared to the first poster, Image C3 also utilized national patriotic
symbols to highlight the Trumps Americanism and dedication to that country. In spite of the
large amount of symbolic messages constituting the image, lack of strategic positioning
of aesthetical elements do not create a necessary atmosphere for the viewer to be highly
attracted. Moreover, aesthetic elements used limit the spectator from establishing an
emotional connection with the candidate. One of the aspects influencing this outcome is
the use of American flag. The image creates a sense of heaviness (the flag is bleeding off
all the edges); it seems like the flag that covers the picture, restricts the viewer from the
elements placed underneath. Even though the American flag is an integrate part of
American culture and “has become not only an important part of our country’s history
but an integral component to being an American citizen” (Marmo, 2010, p. 45), it
confines the audience to visually access other details of the picture and to minutely
analyze the given material.
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Image C3: We Need Real Leadership. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/14/donald-trump-nazi-soldiers-tweettop-republican-polls
Due to the flag overlaying the other items of the poster, the image is divided into many
parts. The most visible division comes between Donald Trump and the dollars, White
House and soldiers. The division is extremely visible, since two parts of the picture look
completely different and do not have any connection with each other apart from a vertical
line, which technically divides them. Colors highlight this detachment; the right part of the
picture is also divided into five parts, each featuring different elements. This division
contributes as an element that mentally separates Donald Trump from the objects
presented on the right side of the image. This, however, does not reflect Trump’s political
position, therefore this specific strategy was used unsuccessfully.
The left side of the picture shows Donald Trump. Since he is not contained and bleeds off
the edges, the image creates a feeling of heaviness. The angle of the camera is on eyelevel; therefore the viewer is able to relate himself to the candidate presented.
Nevertheless, the way he squints, lightly insinuates his contemptuous attitude towards the
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audience. Depending on viewer’s temper, this might be either fully neglected or result in
dissent.
On the right part of the image different nationally well recognized elements were used. The
first one is a pile of dollars fading off the edges, thereby leaving the viewer questioning an
actual amount of dollars. Dollars are also one of the most recognized American symbols.
Nonetheless, in the context of Trump’s presidential campaign, the dollars also represent
Donald Trump’s strong connection with businesses and overall emphasizes his capitalistic
views. The next cultural element presented is the White House. This building represents
the culture and the history of the US; this house has been an object where millions of
politically vital questions were discussed, the place where tough decisions were made, and
the venue for so many historically important events. Furthermore, by featuring the White
House in the poster, the image-maker intended on linking it with Trump. Consequently,
the poster sends the message about Trump’s confidence in relations to winning
presidential campaign and making the White House his new home. The last cultural
element outlined is 4 soldiers. US military is a huge part of the American nation and
represents the strength of the country and its people. It also stands for the historical
experience of the nation and reminds its people of what they survived through and what
value their military brought on a global level. Taking into consideration Trump’s political
agenda, when the candidate endorses military actions and encourages people to act upon
his nationalistic standpoints this part of the image perfectly resembles his position
regarding this matter.
Surprisingly, after a detailed examination the poster was turned out depicting Nazi soldiers
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instead of American. Later, but not immediately, the poster was deleted from all Trump
supporting database. According to Holpuch (2015), who wrote an article in Huffington
Post called Donald Trump campaign tweets photo with Nazi soldiers – then leads polls,
which talks about the scandal, after the inspection it turned out that “the soldiers actually
have the SS eagle insignia on their arms”. Nevertheless, the image does not represent
actual SS soldiers; it is a reincarnation available online. Why did image-maker decide to
use Nazi soldiers will probably be left as a mystery. Notwithstanding, the author of the
article elaborates on the fact that in the same hour as the photo was published online,
Trump took the first place among republicans on a national poll.
Overall, Donald Trump’s posters are not properly conducted, since the powerful
aesthetical elements are not used or create an opposite reaction. For instance, as it was
mentioned above, the line divides the picture in to two parts (Image C3), therefore the
viewer mentally detaches elements of one part of the picture from the second part. There is
no specific system in image-making spotted; therefore the overall performance of the
posters is not outstanding. Nonetheless, Trump pushes on patriotic emotions by putting
various cultural elements reminding the viewers who they are and what their country
represents. As well as Bernie Sanders, Trump does not apply his political agenda in his
posters. Rather the primary idea is to push on patriotic emotions and focusing attention on
Trump as an individual; compared to Sander’s that avoids emphasizing ‘me’ factor.
4.4 Summary
Visual analysis of campaign posters produced by two competing parties emphasizes
the overall ideology of each party and each candidate. Comparing Bernie Sanders and
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Donald Trump according to their posters, analysis shows great differences between their
approaches towards the voter. The composition of Bernie Sanders posters indicates his
attitude towards his followers; the image-maker picked on the specific values an
underlined their significance in this race. The audience observing Sanders’s posters are
given an opportunity to join the community. Moreover, the composition of the posters
make the observer feel related to Berne Sanders and his followers; this is significantly
highlighted through the strategic utilization of aesthetic elements such as lines, angles and
space.
While Bernie Sanders attempts to attract the potential audience by applying special
visual aspects that convey an anticipated emotional response, Donald Trump chooses
to avoid a systematic usage of aesthetic factors; therefore his posters do not produce
any strong emotional connection with the audience.
Both cases are perfect manifestation of how candidate’s personality is reflected upon the
visual representation. Even though both of the candidates do not underline their political
agenda or their views on political issues in their campaign posters, the image composition
presents how each of the candidates feels about the issues and the nation as a whole. Based
on the elements chosen, the spectator can distinguish candidate’s personality.
Consequently, after examining the poster, the viewer will be able to either identify with the
presented candidate or oppose him or her.
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5. The Impact of Strategic Images on the Public
The following chapter will explore the effect of an imagery representation of the
candidate as a part of official campaign. First, the chapter will review decision-making
processes and analyze how emotions are involved in it. The previous chapter analyzed
visual elements of different political posters, arguing that those posters carry an
emotional character: specific positioning of particular aesthetic elements construct
meaning for the audience, which associated with particular emotions felt. Therefore, it is
important to understand to what degree those emotions have an influence on viewer’s
perception in a political decision-making context. Secondly, the chapter will examine
how persuasive political advertising is and how emotions are manipulated in order to
attract the potential voter.
5.1 Decision Making Process
Every human being is exposed to the decision-making process. On a daily basis we are forced
to make some kind of decisions: from eating, sleeping, and other casual interactions to more
complex political and social decisions. In the context of political elections, each voter’s final
decision has an enormous impact on subsequent social changes in the country.
Composition of the image is not the only aspect affecting voter’s decision-making
processes. There have been extensive research on the process of decision-making,
investigating the factors that have an influence on it. Schvaneveldt and Adams (1983) argue
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that the way adults involve themselves with the decision-making process highly depends on
sex, age, social class, religion, lifestyle, and temperament. The skill develops through social
interaction. However, in connection with political decision-making, there are three (3)
primary factors influencing voter's behavior in the context of political campaigning:
personal identity (identification with candidate), personal ethics (ethical and moral
principles), and personal benefit (what benefits the voter could receive) (Levine, 2005). The
study revealed that the most significant motivator behind voter’s decision-making process
is overt personal benefit (2005). Nevertheless, these results oppose the basic democratic
values, whereas the voter should process the information according to social values, rather
than personal.
A number of studies argue that a voter engages emotions during the decision-making
process (Naqvi, Shiv & Bechara, 2006; Huddy and Gunnthorsdottir, 2000; Brader, 2005, p.
388–405; Hartmann, 1935, p. 99-114). The level to which people rely on emotions during
this process is not defined; it depends on the personal approach on the side of each viewer.
However, it is argued that political commitment and involvement are the primary factors
that provoke strong emotional response (Huddy and Gunnthorsdottir, 2000; Jin, An and
Simon, 2009). On the contrary, another study found that people lacking enough of political
information are more vulnerable towards the advertisement message (Franz and Ridout,
2007). One way or another, these studies provide a strong evidence for the presence of
strong emotional response.
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How specifically do viewer’s emotional responses influence overall candidate
evaluations? Chang (2001) also conducted a study, where he established a mediating
process of ad-evoked emotion. According to this model, ad valance (assigned negative or
positive emotions) has an effect on the candidate evaluations through the mediation of adevoked emotion. Nonetheless, it is important to keep in mind, that the cultural differences
have a large impact on the way messages are constructed in political advertising and what
kind of emotional response it triggers, if it induces one. The experimental study has shown
a sustainable difference between the U.S., Japanese and Korean political advertising
strategy implications. Surprisingly, the results have indicated that Japanese ads are more
inclined to use logical appeal, while U.S. and Korean advertising were carrying an
emotional appeal, with no significant difference.
5.2 Persuasion
Does political advertising actually persuade the viewer to vote for a candidate? Of course,
advertising is not the only source of political information. The voter has a big choice of
platforms that will be able to educate him or her enough, in order to be capable of
rationalizing the final choice. It is hard to examine how specifically persuasion works in
political advertising, but the exposure to it could affect an attitude towards the candidate
(Franz and Ridout, 2007).
Some critics argue that political advertising campaigns can influence voter behavior, by
manipulating emotions. Brader (2005) conducted a study measuring how enthusiasm and
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fear emotions are manipulated in the political ads and examined whether it has an impact
on voter’s choice (p. 388–405). The results have shown that by manipulating visuals and
music in political advertising, the voter can potentially alter his or her choice (2005).
Moreover, as Phillips, Urbany and Reynolds stated, political affiliation has an influence on
the way the political ad is processed in the mind of the spectator (as cited in Daignault,
Soroka and Giasson, 2013) and has an impact on candidate image evaluation (Kaid,
Postelnicu, Landreville, Yun and LeGrange, 2007). Franz and Ridout (2007) specify in
their study the difference of ad processing and perception among Democrats and
Republican. The study has concluded that those who strongly relate themselves to
Democrats are more sensitive towards political advertising, while strong republicans are
indifferent to that matter (2007). Another study came to conclusion, regarding emotive
imagery being the most persuasive tool, particularly among those who support the matter
presented (Huddy and Gunnthorsdottir, 2000).
Some assert that political advertising is not persuasive in all the cases. It strongly depends
on the viewer, his background and on the candidate or as a representative of a particular
party. For instance, Surlin and Gordon (1976) claims that if the subject of the advertising
is not likeable to the viewer’s interest, the advertising will fail at “cognitively reaching”
this target group. Furthermore, during the political campaigns candidates utilize positive
political advertising, where they attempt to reinforce their positive traits. However, in
order to win the race, candidates have recourse to negative political advertising, which is
utilized to take advantage of their opponent’s negative attributes. Studies have shown that
an audience is more resistant to persuasion in negative advertising rather than positive
(Daignault, Soroka and Giasson, 2013).
50
The process of persuasion might also take place in viewer’s subconscious mind. The
image that the viewer is exposed to does not solely represent all the best features of the
product or service, contrariwise big companies avoid this strategy altering it with depicting
the ideology that they want to share with the masses and leave a colossal impression on
the subconscious level. The concept of subliminal stimuli means sensory stimuli that
appear to be below the weakest stimuli for consciousness (Loftus and Klinger, 1992).
Subliminal messages have the strongest impact on the development of the human
perception of the world as a whole, our future attitudes, values, preferences and overall
behavior highly depend on the messages read or seen throughout the entire life; the
trickiest part is that the whole process occurs without basic conscious consent of the man
(Zanot, Pincus & Lamp, 1983; Moore, 1982; Gratz, 1984).
Political figures also count on the subliminal messages in the advertising and anticipate the
potential electorate to become the active one. The strategy is practiced in positive as well
as in negative advertising. Looking back on the elections in the 2000 (George H.W. Bush
vs. Al Gore), in the negative advertising by Bush against Al Gore, where he is subject of
criticism for government funding of prescriptions for pensioners, the word “RATS”
appeared in white capital letters on the black background for a fraction of a second, as a
part of the word “bureaucrats”. It is considered to be one of the most prominent occasions
of subliminal advertising during the presidential elections. In fact, each financially
dominating candidate chooses to leave ‘invisible’ messages to influence thousands (Kaid,
2001).
51
6. Conclusion
Advertising has definitely integrated into our lives without any consent and has an
enormous impact on our behavior, changing views and attempting to persuade the target
audience to act upon a given matter. With the advent of technological convergence and
development in the sphere of communication, the way advertising works has sustainably
changed. Nowadays, it has an ability of reaching niche markets serving as a subset of
target markets enabling the marketers to manipulate the advertising according to the
preferences and interest of once thought unreachable market. As advertising develops, the
ability of political campaign to adjust to these transformations is a vital part of political
communication, in order to be capable of approaching as broad of a base as possible.
Incorporating traditional and digital advertising, marketer’s gain a great deal of control
over what is said, how it is said, and in what way it affects the consumer behavior. As it
becomes almost impossible to avoid advertisement, it definitely has an increasing impact
on our daily interactions, at very least becoming a part of our subconscious mind, whereas the
information received by glance or side vision remains fixed and affects our behavior.
The analysis of visual elements incorporated within the political poster, in this paper, have
shown how specifically each element contributes to the overall campaign agenda. More
specifically, the paper analyzed how each party’s candidates take different kind of
approach towards its audience. If Bernie Sanders was trying to mainly focus the attention
on the importance of the viewer to become a supporter, Donald Trump chose to leave a
stress on his or his name, not picking on any emotions, rather than patriotic. It is difficult
to claim that given visual material actually resembles each candidate’s party. However,
52
images reflect upon each candidate’s personality traits and style.
Some critics argue that advertising has a positive impact on voter turnout; however the
effect is not consistent (Franz, Freedman, Goldstein and Ridout, 2008, p. 262–268).
Additionally, some critics believe that political advertising contributes to development of
cynical attitude among voters; however, one study found that young voters feel more
efficient in a matter of political information due to political ads. Notwithstanding,
according to Pew Research Center (2000), the American public is not in favor of political
advertising (as cited in Jin, An and Simon, 2009). However, it does not mean that the mass
will fails to be influenced by the ad message. As previous chapter discussed, subliminal
messages are a integral part of the equation, where even if chosen to be ignored the
message remains in the minds of the audience.
Nevertheless, the study has limitations making it difficult to generalize its findings. Firstly,
the author of the paper does not possess the necessary cultural knowledge of the American
nation. The meaning of specific symbolic signs might have been interpreted by an
American group of people. As visual analysis theories suggest (except content analysis), it
is important for the audience to have the same cultural knowledge as the author of the
image, in order to be able to read decoded messages in closely same way as it was encoded
by the image-maker. Kim (2005) found in his study, that the differences in political system
and cultural attributes play significant role in the outcome of political ads in the matter of
content and style. Secondly, the findings of this study are considered not to play a major
role on a wider picture. Political advertising in the form of posters is not the only platform
used
for
gathering
the
political
information
about
the
candidate.
53
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58
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59
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Chang, C. (2001). The impacts of emotion elicited by print political advertising on
candidate evaluation. Media Psychology, 3(2), 91-118.
Coleman, R., & Banning, S. (2006). Network TV News' Affective Framing of the
Presidential Candidates: Evidence for a Second-Level Agenda-Setting Effect through
Visual Framing. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 83(2), 313-328.
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Available from: Communication & Mass Media Complete, Ipswich, MA.
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American meaning. Kaleidoscope: A Graduate Journal Of Qualitative Communication
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Ossorio, Pilar N. "About Face: Forensic Genetic Testing for Race and Visible Traits." The
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics. 34.2 (2006): 277-92. Web.
Rubin, R. B., & McHugh, M. P. (1987). Development of Parasocial Interaction
Relationships. Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 31(3), 279-292.
Ryfe, D. M. (2001). History and Political Communication: An Introduction. Political
Communication, 18(4), 407-420.
Saussure, F. D., & Bally, C. (1983). Course in General Linguistics. London: Gerald
Duckwort.
Schvaneveldt, J. D., & Adams, G. R.. (1983). Adolescents and the Decision-Making
Process. Theory into Practice, 22(2), 98–104.
Scott, Linda M. Images in Advertising: The Need for a Theory of Visual Rhetoric. Journal
Of Consumer Research. September 1994; 21(2):252-273.
64
Smelser, N. J., & Baltes, P. B. (2001). International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral
sciences. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Surlin, S. H., & Thomas F. Gordon. (1976). Selective Exposure and Retention of Political
Advertising. Journal of Advertising, 5(1), 32–44.
Swanson, D. & Nimmo D. "New Directions in Political Communication: A Resource
Book." Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1990, p. 9.
Tolbert, Caroline J. Political Research Quarterly, December 2010; vol. 63, 4: p. 860-862.
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56(2), 135-150.
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Rhetoric and Public Affairs, 18(4), 748.
Xing-Hua, Lu. Political representation within the libidinal economy of a pictorial space: A
political-semiotic reading of three propaganda posters of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
Semiotica. November 2005(157):213-232.
Zanot, E. J., Pincus, J. D., & Lamp, E. J. (1983). Public perceptions of subliminal
advertisng. Journal of Advertising (Pre-1986), 12(000001), 39.
Zenor, J. (2014). Parasocial politics: Audiences, pop culture, and politics. London:
Lexington Books.
65
66