Furthermore: Where the Headlines Take You
A presidential election always seems to create a lot of news, especially as Election Day approaches. I'm sure you've seen and/or read an awful lot about McCain, Obama, their speeches, their policy ideas, and their campaigns. So even if you're interested in politics, you might be getting a little tired of hearing about it all! I can tell you, I'm definitely feeling ready for a new set of headlines. But, all the news I've seen about the presidential campaign — including a recent episode of local radio call-in show Think Out Loud — has made me wonder a bit, lately, about the history of political advertising. How did campaign advertising get started? Is it a twentieth century phenomenon? Are there ads from the past that really changed the course of a campaign, and if so, what were they like?
The Living Room Candidate — a multimedia exhibit from New York City's Museum of the Moving Image — collects hundreds old television and internet commercials for presidential candidates from Eisenhower and Stevenson in 1956 to McCain and Obama in 2008. It's fascinating to see how much advertising has changed over this fifty year time span, and the exhibit also provides election return maps, a list of related websites, and more.
What about ads that focus on issues, rather than candidates? Revolutionary Tides: The Art of the Political Poster, 1914-1989, by Jeffrey T. Schnapp, is a gorgeous coffee-table sized book with page after page of posters from around the world, produced for mass audiences and featuring nearly every important political topic from posters encouraging people to buy war bonds and military recruitment posters to posters promoting public health and literacy.
And, a bit further afield, Arthur Asa Berger's Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture analyzes advertising's affects on popular culture. Berger devotes an entire chapter to political advertising, but also discusses many other types of advertising, examines the culture of consumption, and considers how advertising works as a venue for communication.
Posted by Emily-Jane
Comment guidelines
Comments are moderated by the Multnomah County Library. The Library reserves the right to remove unlawful or off-topic comments. In order to protect your privacy, refrain from posting personally identifying information. Posting of images is not permitted. All comments must conform to the MCL Social Software Policy.
By submitting a comment, you agree to the comment policy.
Please only use a firstname or a nickname when submitting a comment. Last names may be edited by blog moderators.
