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Act, austerity, BBC, campaign, Conservative, domestic, free protest, free speech, gagging law, Labour, message, Mike Sivier, mikesivier, negative, paid holiday, positive, prosperity, Question Time, scrap, soundbite, Tories, Tory, Transparency of Lobbying, UKIP, videobite, Vox Political
Take a look at the video above. Is it effective?
I think it is. A short message with a sting in its tail, coupled with a soundtrack that supports what’s being said by adding emotional connotations (‘Britishness’, turning to a harsh wind).
It’s a soundbite in video form – a videobite, if you like. Memorable, shareable – and easily debatable, because the message is so clear.
Conservatives are very good at putting out negative soundbites for their opponents. It would be useful to give them a taste of how it feels, so please share the video wherever you like.
Here’s another example of negative campaigning, found on the social media, on the subject of UKIP:
As effective?
Nobody seems to talk about UKIP’s domestic policies. This was mentioned, to great effect, on the BBC’s Question Time yesterday (Thursday).
The trouble with this one is it’s a ‘deep’ poster, meaning you have to scroll down to see the end of it – so the effect is less immediate.
The sad fact is that both of the above are more effective than so-called ‘positive’ campaigning, in which a political party or its representative promotes its policies as better for the country than anyone else’s.
Yesterday, the Labour Party announced it will repeal the so-called ‘Gagging Law’ – The Transparency of Lobbying (etc) Act – if elected into Parliament. At the time it was passed, Vox Political said this marked the end of free speech and free protest in the UK and the article had a huge audience of more than 100,000. So this announcement should have been greeted with joy, right? What response do you think it got?
It has been read just 128 times and of the three comments on the site, two are hugely negative – the first words being “I’ll believe it when I see it”.
It shows how far politicians have fallen in our trust.
That’s why negative campaigning is on the rise.
It seems those who want the public’s trust can only earn it by showing that the others don’t deserve it.
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