"Welcome back to “Advice with Mr. Fredrick”. Now, Mrs. Johnson will ask me some more questions."

"Mr. Fredrick thank you for all of your help, but now I really need to know about politics because a friend of mine is a candidate for mayor and I want to help her improve her communication with the people. Can you tell me how I can do that?"

"Of course! But since the real meaning of the word politics is often misunderstood, I will make its definition clear."

"Great!"

"Well, politics is the process and conduct of decision making for groups. Politics is the deciding on a course of action and satisfying that course for many people. Usually, governments use politics, but academic or religious bodies can also use it."

"But how can political advertising influence people?"

"Political advertising can influence many people to like or dislike a specific political entity".

"How can that happen?"

"This can happen through the media by any of the following things: Magazines, newspapers, commercials, speeches, political debates, TV channels (talk shows, news stations), editorials, billboards, and bumper stickers".

"So, what you mean is that a candidate can try to convince a large amount of people to vote for him, or to have an aversion to his rival?"

"Yes! That’s exactly what I am saying! This kind of communication can be used to intentionally mislead the people for a certain candidate. Many times, the media has a role in deciding the outcome of an election."

"So, it’s really important to have the support of the media if you want to win an election."

"Yes! Absolutely! The help of the media is essential."

"But, if you are saying all of this, isn’t political advertising the same as ordinary advertising?"

"Well, they are quite alike, but they aren’t the same. One of the differences is that political, opposing to ordinary advertisement, takes into account the opinions of the public much more than ordinary advertising mainly because in political you must remember that if the people don’t like what you are saying, you can get fired. Another difference is that in political advertising if you make mistakes, you can get in trouble and would have to wait for some years before trying again. Most of the time you have no second chance to make a good impression. The most important difference is that politicians can influence our lives, and ordinary advertising doesn’t."

"Wow, so political advertisement is a lot more complicated than ordinary advertisement."

"Yes, it really is."

"In the last elections I was amazed at how many political campaigns are based on negative advertising. The candidates spent most of their time attacking their rivals."

"Yes, many candidates do that to put their opponent in a negative light so that people believe that they are the best option."

"Can you give me an example of it?"

"A great example of this kind of advertisement is a flower commercial called Daisy Spot, which was made by Tony Schwartz in 1964. In this commercial, Lindon Johnson attacked Goldwater’s policy. The point of the commercial was to make the viewers believe that if Goldwater were president he would endanger humanity by making use of America’s nuclear ability. It showed a little girl picking flowers, tearing off petals, and counting down from ten, like it is done before firing a missile. After that, the camera focused on the girl’s eye, an explosion, a mushroom cloud billowing upwards and Johnson’s voice warning the public. This commercial aired just before the elections and it gained much attention. Johnson won those elections."

"Are there other kinds of political advertisement?"

"Of course! Another very important type of political advertising is propaganda. Propaganda is when a message is presented to convey an opinion of a group. The information in the message doesn’t always have to be true, and even if it is true, most of the time it doesn’t give complete information. Its goal is to support or disapprove a certain position. The information of propaganda is targeted to people’s opinion."

"How can propaganda be transmitted?"

"Methods for the transmitting of propaganda messages include: government and news reports, historical revision, radio, books, posters, movies, television, and leaflets".

"Can you give me an example of the use of propaganda in political advertising?"

"During Hitler’s government, he had a special minister for propaganda and he was in charge of manipulating the public by convincing them to think in a certain way."

"Wow, so then propaganda is really powerful! They were able to convince a large amount of people to believe what they wanted them to believe! Thank you for all of your help Mr. Fredrick! You have really helped me a lot! Now I really understand how political advertisement is a very important form of Professional Communication!"

"You welcome Mrs. Johnson! I hope your friend wins in her elections!"

Webdesgin: Maria

Content: Yona

Bibliography:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Politics

http://www.amalnet.k12.il/sites/commun/library_old/advert/bank/comi0265.htm