OPINION: Drivers crawling along the busy, two-lane stretch of Totara Stbetween Tauranga and Mount Maunganui have time to study the crop of local election signs.<\/p>\n
One stands out. It features a picture of a man, asleep on a couch, mouth gaping slightly open. The accompanying slogan is: \"I'll do my best but I can't promise anything.\"<\/p>\n
It's a joke, and the candidate isn't running for real. But it's probably the most honest political ad you'll see in the coming year.<\/p>\n
Hoardings are also now quaintly old-fashioned, in this age of online political campaigns.<\/p>\n
READ MORE:* Simon Bridges apologises to Julie Anne Genter for getting EV figures wrong* Facebook ads will dominate the next election* Jacinda Ardern remains 'relentlessly positive' despite negative Facebook ad about Simon Bridges<\/p>\n
Digital propaganda became ubiquitous in 2016, with the UK's Brexit referendum and the presidential election duelled out in people's Facebook feeds.<\/p>\n
SUPPLIED<\/p>\n
This joke billboard went viral after it was pictured on Facebook.<\/p>\n
The recent Australian election was fought online, with digital teams creating customised Facebook posts that was tailored to location, demographic, and even financial status.<\/p>\n
Online advertising is cheap to produce and run, and engagement rates are micro-analysed to assess what messages are resonating.<\/p>\n
New Zealand has finally caught up, and in the last few months, National has subjected its social media followers to a relentless blitz of online ads.<\/p>\n
They've lasered in on the Government's clean car \"feebate\" scheme, and built a campaign around the theme: \"New Zealanders can't afford this Government.\"<\/p>\n
In the main, they are negative.<\/p>\n
IAIN MCGREGOR\/STUFF<\/p>\n
Simon Bridges says Speaker Trevor Mallard's ruling on political advertising is a freedom of speech issue.<\/p>\n
Voters say they don't like negative campaigning, but they do pay attention to it. If a creative message scares, worries us, or provokes an emotional response we're much more likely to remember it.<\/p>\n
But there is also a golden rule: the most successful ads exploit truth. They hint at something voters already suspect or believe in.<\/p>\n
There's a good argument for negative campaigning: useful decisions are rarely made by weighing up only the positive information supplied by candidates. You'd never buy a car based only on glowing references from the manufacturer.<\/p>\n
'Attack' ads are less effective. They focus on personality or physical traits, not policy. And voters - especially in under-dog loving New Zealand - resist them.<\/p>\n
NZ NATIONAL PARTY<\/p>\n
The ad which prompted the Speaker's crackdown.<\/p>\n
There has been much hand-wringing about the rise of these online ads, and what damage they could do in a post-truth era. Some have called for a mandatory transparency tool for Facebook political ads.<\/p>\n
These concerns culminated in a humourless complaint from Labour about the edited use of Parliamentary footage.<\/p>\n
National had used a clip that showed Labour MP Deborah Russell rambling on about the ancient Greeks. Speaker Trevor Mallard stepped in an enforced an existing ban. <\/p>\n
The party also got slapped down for a 'car tax' ad and was twice admonished by the Advertising Standards Authority.<\/p>\n
And the Greens suffered their own backlash over a controversial skit that mocked Simon Bridges' accent. Public disapproval forced them to delete it.<\/p>\n
There's no evidence Kiwis are being passively manipulated by dirty tactics or misinformation, ready to harden into the political fury of Brexit or the US culture wars.<\/p>\n
The public are attuned to the rough and tumble of politics. They're more active, independent and critical than ever before: using social media to call out distortion, rebutting and attacking the framing of issues.<\/p>\n
Labour do have cause for concern in one respect. Social media negativity is more often the desperation strategy of underdog candidates.<\/p>\n
And this week, National switched gear: with a campaign extolling #9yearsofprogress.<\/p>\n
(Hey, no-one said positive ads had to be truthful).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Continued here: <\/p>\n
The golden rule of political campaigns: the most successful ads exploit truth. - Stuff.co.nz<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" OPINION: Drivers crawling along the busy, two-lane stretch of Totara Stbetween Tauranga and Mount Maunganui have time to study the crop of local election signs. One stands out Continue reading