Political advertising is comparable to other advertising in some ways, yet there are distinct differences as well. Political ads are similar to others forms of advertisements through the offering of products or services marketed to consumers/viewers. The political candidates are “packaged” and his/her sets of beliefs, values, and promises are sold to viewers, with hopes to secure their votes.
However, there is a vast difference between political advertising and other forms of advertising in that political ad focuses on selling ideas, values, and beliefs, rather than actual products or services. The information presented, via these ads, is but ideals of the political candidates. Crichton indicated, “Most advertising people believe advertising …show more content…
For other advertising, deception advertising may lead to lawsuits, physical and psychological damages, and may be detrimental to consumers. For political advertisement, unfulfilled promises may result in a candidate not being reelected and unfortunately, through time, the deception is no longer significant to society. Additionally, inaccurate information is often presented without major challenges from viewers. David Gordan, noted, “Citizens make voting and political decisions in part based on media content, and political advertising has become an important and pervasive method for candidates to get their messages into the public’s mind. Political candidates have found that negative, deceptive, and even untruthful ads about their opponents are effective and acceptable. Thus, it should be no surprise that candidates resort to this type of political advertising, even though these ads are intended to distort the truth and confuse the public” (Gordan, 2011)We as a society questions and expects “truth” in the information advertised for products and services. Yet, we do not challenge or even demand that the information advertised by political ads to hold “truth.” We generally dismiss these political advertisements as unimportant and have come to accept these as naturally occurring forces, individual wars between political opponents/candidates. This notion is apparent in our judicial system,
However, there is a vast difference between political advertising and other forms of advertising in that political ad focuses on selling ideas, values, and beliefs, rather than actual products or services. The information presented, via these ads, is but ideals of the political candidates. Crichton indicated, “Most advertising people believe advertising …show more content…
For other advertising, deception advertising may lead to lawsuits, physical and psychological damages, and may be detrimental to consumers. For political advertisement, unfulfilled promises may result in a candidate not being reelected and unfortunately, through time, the deception is no longer significant to society. Additionally, inaccurate information is often presented without major challenges from viewers. David Gordan, noted, “Citizens make voting and political decisions in part based on media content, and political advertising has become an important and pervasive method for candidates to get their messages into the public’s mind. Political candidates have found that negative, deceptive, and even untruthful ads about their opponents are effective and acceptable. Thus, it should be no surprise that candidates resort to this type of political advertising, even though these ads are intended to distort the truth and confuse the public” (Gordan, 2011)We as a society questions and expects “truth” in the information advertised for products and services. Yet, we do not challenge or even demand that the information advertised by political ads to hold “truth.” We generally dismiss these political advertisements as unimportant and have come to accept these as naturally occurring forces, individual wars between political opponents/candidates. This notion is apparent in our judicial system,