Politcal Ad Madness

Like typical millennials, we recently went a week without checking our mail. It turns out that it was the week leading up to the recent mid-term elections. In addition to seeing nothing but political ads every time I turned on the TV or picked up my smart phone to read a news article or look on social media; it turns out we had a whole mailbox full of mailers from politicians. This is no surprise, but it was eye opening to pull 25 political mailers out of the mailbox at the same time versus having a few trickle in each day. I couldn’t help myself but to spread them out all over the kitchen counter to admire. How idiotic! Not only did I have an estimated $25 (printing/shipping of double sided heavy weigh paper) sitting on my counter, but the marketing tactics were almost as comical as they were diabolical when you compared them to each other.

Both political parties were to blame. Statements like “ALL WE KNOW ABOUT THIS GUY IS HE HAS A MUSTACHE” and the most unflattering photos they could find of someone used over and over again. If they couldn’t find an unflattering photo of someone (wouldn’t that be nice), they would use tactics like turning them red or using an evil looking scratched up photo.

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to opt-out of negative political ads? If it’s not possible for the political parties and political action committees to administer an opt-out program, maybe they would just give up on negative campaigns all together. As ridiculous as the negative ads are, they can unfortunately be effective; I have caught myself believing them on a whim before I reminded myself that they are part of the problem with our frustrating and sometimes hopeless feeling political system.

An effective marketing campaign would be for a politician to send a half page low-budget black and white flyer explaining that they didn’t take questionable quid-pro-quo donations or that they donated thousands of dollars to help those in need instead. Just by using my rough estimation of $25 per house (only for mailings the week before the election), the numbers add up quickly regarding how impactful those funds could be used elsewhere.

What I did find extremely inspiring was watching a debate for a local election. I candidly haven’t followed local elections as closely as I should have in the past. Now that I have built my “forever home,” have been a resident in my city for 25+ years and am raising children in the community, I have been motivated to pay more attention to local elections. These people can make a significant impact and I would have honestly voted for all of them if I could have!

I don’t know what the answer is to fixing politics, but I hope we can make incremental progress to get things heading back in the right direction! I will personally be paying close attention to the types of marketing tactics that politicians are using when deciding candidates to support. Thank you for reading!