The advent of YouTube as a communications medium has in a sense, liberated political ad writers.
No longer is it necessary for them to cram campaign messages into 15 or 30 second packages to suit TV’s iron schedules.
Now, because they can post their ads on the Internet in the hopes they will go “viral”, they have all the time in the world to express key policy ideas and sway voters.
And that is probably a bad thing.
The fact is 15 seconds is really all you need to hammer home a winning message; run anything longer than that and you risk boring your audience.
A case in point is a recent YouTube ad the Ontario Public Service Employee Union (OPSEU) has produced to whip up public anger against Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak.
The OPSEU spot is nearly four minutes long, but t’s so horribly tedious it feels like it lasts an eternity.
Seriously, whoever directed this ad was likely more of a frustrated film maker than a political ad guy – it’s all style, no content, no emotional punch.
And it goes on and on and on, without really making a point.
First off, the spot starts with a guy playing a harmonica in what appears to be the dustbowl of Oklahoma during the Great Depression.
This annoying harmonica scene goes on for nearly a minute, a nice establishing shot if it was an introduction to a two hour movie, but way too long for an ad.
Many bored viewers will tune out before the ad even gets to its second scene, which considering how horrible the spot is, might not be such a bad thing for OPSEU.
For those who don’t doze off, the second scene reveals a bunch of sad-looking people in medical outfits, who it turns out are supposed to be unemployed health care workers.
A few of the characters exchange a bit of lame dialogue:
“I really need work today, I haven’t seen a pay cheque in weeks,” says a woman.
“I have three children at home, one is going to university,” says a man.
This banter establishes one crucially important fact for the viewer: the “actors” in this ad are really terrible. (Hint: if you are going to have this sort of exchange in an ad, hire professional actors.)
Then after we learn that one of the workers has three kids, a redneck looking guy appears in an ancient pick up truck, which is highlighted in far too many artsy camera shots.
Anyway, the redneck guy starts “hiring” a few of the health sector workers, who happily climb into the back of the truck, so I suppose they can start work on a plantation somewhere.
The truck then drives off leaving a handful of disappointed workers.
One man not picked to work laments: “Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak expects public-service workers to compete for jobs that they already have.”
“Not all stupid ideas are good ones,” replies a woman. (Can someone explain to me what this is supposed to mean?)
A sticker on truck rear window reads: “Hudak Health Care Inc., Ontario, Canada.”
And that’s the end.
Now I seriously doubt many people would stick with this ad long enough to see the pay off, and even if they did, would anybody really get the message?
And in fact, what is the message behind this ad?
As far as I can tell, it’s either public sector workers don’t want to compete for jobs or that a Hudak victory will transport them back in time to the 1930s.
Either way, the spot fails.
I mean, will the casual Ontario voter care about health care workers scrambling into a pick up truck? Does it really matter to the average Ontarian if public sector workers, with their great benefits and legendary job security, have to compete for work?
A lot of Ontarians might think it’s a good idea.
In short, the viewers can’t empathize with the characters in this spot.
Of course, Ontarians might care about the consequences of Hudak’s plan as imagined by OPSEU.
What OPSEU should have done is provide a visual example of what would happen to health care for Ontarians if, horrors of horrors!, public sector employees ever had to compete with the private sector.
Maybe a closed down hospital, maybe sick kids crying.
As it is, the spot is a disaster, a joke. It certainly won’t advance their cause, which if you care about good government, is probably a good thing.
Of course, the other problem with this ad is not stylistic but ethical.
No doubt, unionized employees for were forced through their dues to pay for this ridiculous spot, even if they support Tim Hudak.
That’s wrong.
No one should be forced to support a political cause against their will.
They should especially not be forced to pay for terrible ads!
As OPSEU might put it, not all stupid ads are good ones.