Majority votes "Nix" for McGovern

Poor George McGovern’s positive and informal 1972 campaign never stood a chance against the media icon that is Richard Nixon.

Having won the previous election and already spent a term in office, Nixon had already created a media image for himself. Unfortunately, the image that Nixon had created was not going to be sufficient to win the election, and the Republican Party took the liberty of changing his image to more of an “everyman”. Advertisements took insights into Nixon’s life and relationships with various people, and painted him as a more friendly and fun-loving guy. By doing this, the voters found themselves able to better relate to Nixon and felt more comfortable having him run their country despite his previous broken promises and failures. (See “Nixon the Man”)

The Republican Party was not the only one to use positive advertising to persuade the public to vote for their political leader. The Democrats did the same for McGovern, though to a far less successful end. In his advertisements, McGovern spent much of his time with the people of the United States and making him appear to be one of them. The advertisements did not use the same sort of catchphrases as the Republican opponents, and unfortunately, it made the Democrats fall short and seem incredibly dull. None of the advertisements appeared to be particularly convincing. (See “Young Vets”)

While Nixon used positive ads to change the country’s view of him, a lot of the most successful advertisements criticised McGovern, thus keeping Nixon in a more positive light. Such negative ads used a lot of strategies that hit the Democrats hard and thrust the Republicans into the hearts of the American public. (See “McGovern Defense”)

McGovern’s anti-Nixon advertisements didn’t hit until too late in the campaign. The country had already been convinced that Nixon’s character was not only better, but he had more knowledge concerning politics and the economy of the United States. It is possible that the Democrats could have been successful, had they been on the attack. Unfortunately, their strategy was not nearly as successful as the Republicans’, thus ensuring that Richard Nixon won the election for the second term running. (See “Voting Booth”)

Both parties had a targeted demographic, and again, the Republican party blew the Democrats out of the water. In the ad “Nixon the Man”, Nixon was seen having a good time with various races of people of different social classes and genders. This gave appeal to much of the United States, as everyone felt included. McGovern worked in an entirely different manner, by addressing various groups of people specifically in separate advertisements. While he still addressed everyone, he seemingly placed people on different levels because they were not shown as one. The isolation of various communities really took its toll on McGovern’s political campaign, and allowed Nixon to once again slide in for a win.

In conclusion, the advertising campaign given by the Republican Party was clearly more effective than that of the Democrat Party. While Nixon was involved in scandal and his public image was questionable, his advertising team did a far better job than that of McGovern in ensuring that he become leader of the United States.

"Have a happy period. Always." Probably not.

I remember a commercial for Kotex coming out a while back that took all of the clichés from feminine hygiene product advertisements and turned them into a parody. The actress in the commercial feigned that typical commercials for feminine hygiene products made sense, and that such products made her period enjoyable. Through the ad, the concept of a “sisterhood” was established by only including females who appeared to be the best of friends. Snippets of other feminine hygiene product ads were shown to add to the desired comedic effect, such as women dancing, playing on a beach, and spending time with their cats.

The snippets used in the advertisement showed beautiful women who were loving their lives in all of their feminine glory. This would create a hayday for Pozner, who would see the actresses used for the advertisement and point out that all of them are forced to live up to a standard of beauty that the advertising industry has created. Kilbourne’s reaction would be similar, as none of the women appeared to be overweight and the lighting was fabricated to the point that it was unrealistic. Women were made to appear fantasised, as if they were not even real women.

The idea of a “sisterhood” is incredibly popular in advertisements for feminine hygiene products. It is most likely used because during “that time of the month,” women tend to want to bond with one another and feel each other’s pain, so to speak. With the exception of the aforementioned Kotex ad, I personally believe that ads for feminine hygiene products are absolutely ridiculous and do not convince any women to buy the product. Feminine hygiene products are necessary to all women at one point in time, so they will be bought regardless of the supposed “sisterhood” shown on television.

The models used to display this “sisterhood” appear to all look similar in that they are thin, tanned, and beautiful. Take for instance, the following Playtex sport advert:

While tampons are used by almost all women at one time or another, the advertisement emphasises through the models in the image that only beautiful women play sports and therefore need tampons. Through the tagline in the advert, “Game time. Any time,” Playtex insinuates that sports are only possible for women if they use these specific “sport” tampons. And without physical activity during that time of the month, it would be impossible to be one of the beautiful tanned women in the image.

According to Solomon, “ads should be in the realm of fantasy, not realism”. Unfortunately this is not evident in the Playtex advert, nor is it in the following Tampax video:

Similarly to the Playtex print ad, the Tampax video focuses on a “sisterhood” between attractive women who all use the product. While there are men in the ad, they take a background role as images of laughing women take over the screen. As a woman myself, I can honestly say that even if I used Tampax, I probably would not feel like laughing as part of a “sisterhood” during my period. That’s just not how it works.

Finally, I would like to comment on the tagline, "Have a happy period. Always." 

This tagline is simply insane. It puts down women for making them seem like horrible, moody people once a month. And with the help of this product, they could be perfect all the time. This is a comment on gender roles that is entirely misogynistic. It insinuates that women are to be constantly cheerful and willing to be wonderful at all hours of the day. This is impossible for any sane human being, and therefore shouldn't be used as means of manipulation to buy a product. 

This is why I feel that the Kotex ad that makes a mockery of all other feminine hygiene product advertisements is effective. It eliminates the too common idea of an eerily happy “sisterhood” and replaces it with the idea that other advertisements are ridiculous. The product won’t be life-changing and make your period a happy time, but it will essentially do the job it needs to do.

"The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup"

I know from personal experience that the smell of coffee in the morning is invigorating. As someone who needs caffeine at the first sign of consciousness, I am the first to admit to that. I firmly believe that advertisements for coffee should be representative of an energetic awakening for those who have an addiction to caffeine.

The Folgers jingle, “the best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup,” is surprisingly accurate. Every morning, the thing I look forward to most is a hot cup of delicious coffee. And since I am a student and can’t afford to go to Tim Hortons on a daily basis, Folgers is my first choice for a brand of coffee grounds. Some of the ads Folgers has used to sell their product, however, do not quite live up to expectation past the jingle.

The first Folgers ad that did not live up to expectations that comes to mind is the following holiday ad. Essentially what happens is a young man returns home to his family for Christmas, and together, the family wakes up to steaming mugs of Folgers coffee and bond over the breakfast table.

As much as the ad attempts to be heartfelt, it loses its purpose in that the coffee plays no role in the advert. Yes, the brother and sister are pouring a cup of coffee as they have an unnaturally heartfelt conversation between siblings. And yes, the mother smells the coffee and automatically knows that her son must be home. But really? They aren’t happy about the coffee, they’re happy that their family has been reunited.

According to Barry, the objective of the advertisement precedes the concept and the campaign. The objective in the Folgers ad is clear: the product must be sold to middle-class families. Following the objective, the concept is created (the holidays are a time when families get together) and the campaign for Folgers is displayed as a form of television advertisement.

The campaign also follows Barry’s theories in an alternate manner: the targeted audience should be persuaded to buy the product by using four categories:

1. Demographics à Folgers coffee is generally sold to middle-class families. Generally there are both parents and children involved, though children may have aged significantly.

2. Lifestyles à Such families have busy lifestyles and may not have time to see one another on a regular basis. They are often on the run, but use a morning cup of coffee as a catch-up time.

3. Behavioural à The family in the advert is depicted as functional and calm, despite the commercial taking place over the holidays when most families find themselves in a constant state of panic or chaos.

4. Psychographic/Attitudinal à Those in the commercial seem particularly happy and show a strong focus on building family relationships.

As I have previously stated, I believe that the tone of a coffee advert should be energetic, as coffee is used to help people have an energy boost after a much-needed sleep. Folgers has taken energy in an opposite direction, however. They have opted to show a family in their pajamas as they wake up happily to the arrival of their son and brother. Personally, I don’t think this works because there are very few families who can be calm when they wake up, before they have had a cup of coffee. In this way, the coffee isn’t being used by people who would generally use it to feed an addiction.

Of course, Folgers effectively uses an appeal to emotion (pathos) by having a happy family reunite over the holidays. As someone who has just returned from an 8-month term of studying in England, I can honestly say that the Folgers ad did give me a feeling of nostalgia, and made me remember my parents and brothers meeting me at the airport.

Do I think the Folgers ad is successful? In a way, yes. It is not a typical advert for coffee, so it is distinctive from others, such as Maxwell House and Tim Hortons. However, I do feel that information concerning the coffee itself was left to be desired. Personally, I did not like the advert. I thought it was corny and far too sentimental to adequately represent the feeling that coffee gives me. I don’t know how well sales went following the advertisements, but since Folgers is still available today, I assume it did well.