In recent years political advertising has clearly been playing an increasingly important role in election campaigns in democratic countries such as the United States. The purpose of this paper is to show some of the advantages and disadvantages of political advertising, but will primarily focus on the disadvantages. Over the years the type of advertising used by political candidates to attract votes has changed as the society and technology has changed. In the past candidates concentrated on personal selling by getting out and meeting people in the streets and making political speeches in local halls. Since the 1950s, campaigns have become more planned and professional with advertising agencies and political consultants increasingly being utilized introducing more scientific market research and strategic marketing strategies. There has been a huge increase in the amount of technology available to marketing strategists, and therefore there is also more technology being utilized in political campaigns.
There are many advantages and disadvantages for advertising in politics. Often, a negative view of the issue is expressed to a greater extent than a positive view. The negative views discuss the evil affects of political man
One of the most influential forms of media is the television. The power of televised advertising is able to bring new political ideas to people who have not previously experienced them. This type of media is a very strong and powerful tool. The images that can be used on the television can be very effective in presenting ideas and issues accurately.
The idea of an advertising campaign based on factual positive knowledge of the issues would be very acceptable. The existing media technology available could be very beneficial to that cause. Unfortunately our resources are not always used in the most positive and truthful manner. This trend will most likely continue without change in the near future. If their vote is truly important to them the voters should take more responsibility to spend time researching the views of the candidates.
Over the past few decades the ways in which political candidates solicit the public vote have changed drastically. In the past, coverage of political candidates was largely composed of news stories and interviews by experienced and respected journalists. In today's campaigns corporate media plays a larger role than ever before. Today’s world puts increasing demands on journalists including tight deadlines and fewer resources available for their use. This environment often leads to respectable journalists using words around pictures that may be sent to them from promoters of certain political campaigns. These pictures may be deceiving and may only benefit the sending party, and diminish the image of the opposing party. Competition among television and radio stations, and newspaper companies is continuously increasin