5

Melissa is a Senior in Communication from Locust Valley, NY

Objective

It was announced on March 11, 2020 that classes at Wake Forest University would be postponed a week and then conducted online for an indefinite time. Throughout that week, public hotspots like Broadway Theatre announced that they would be ‘going dark’ and the NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament was canceled for the season. These operations were affected by the same affliction – the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the United States. COVID-19, first appeared in Washington State on January 21, 2020, perhaps from a citizen who traveled to Wuhan, China (Schumaker, 2020). Since then, the United States government has engaged the continuing threat of COVID-19, a crisis which has permeated all 50 States and most every aspect of daily life.

New York City was named the epicenter of the United States COVID-19 outbreak on March 20, 2020 (Schumaker, 2020). As a resident of Long Island, NY, living only twenty miles away from Manhattan, this virus was alarming, yet intriguing – a natural for my research. Before the world went remote, I interned at WXII 12, the local Winston-Salem NBC News affiliate. Nearly every day, I watched reporters curate stories about COVID-19, a peril that still seemed out of reach and non-threatening, despite warnings. This virus was perhaps less alarming due to the intense politicization that tangled its narrative even before it fully entered our lives.

COVID-19 arrived in a tumultuous time for the nation. A Presidential election was only eight months away; the pandemic became perfect ammunition to make or break the candidates’ relationships with voters. The federal and statewide government’s ability to handle such a crisis proved difficult, and politically it would be no surprise that COVID-19 themed advertisements would be crafted during the ever-escalating crisis.

Political advertising is “one of the most powerful weapons in the arsenal of any political marketing effort,” due to the way these advertisements can with relative ease reach voters on the internet, television, radio stations, and even billboards (Kaid, 2008). The goal of political advertising in general is to market a candidate in a zero-sum game depicting them electable, or not electable, depending on the sponsor. Essentially, “politicians shape the message they want to communicate to voters and spread it out in the form of a public message or political advertising,” in an effort to appeal to the ethos of their supporters and to sway those who do not support them (Maarek,1995).

There are very traditional forms of positive political advertisements, created by the candidate or by proxies who support them. Some examples of these positive advertisement styles include the “cinema verité” style, which shows the candidate interact with real people in normal situations, the “man-in-the-street” style, with an endorsement from ordinary citizens, the “testimonial” style which provides endorsements from high profile individuals, and the “neutral reporter” style which provides facts about the candidate, inviting viewers to make judgements on their own (Lahi, 2015). Negative advertisements, on the other hand, are usually created by the candidate’s opponents. These negative advertisements frequently utilize intense music, harsh graphics, testimony of how the candidate has disrespected the citizenry. This mode often employs self-indicting quotations inviting judgments of incompetence or insensitivity. The purpose of negative advertisements often is to prompt fear. According to Ted Brader at the University of Michigan, “Fear ads heighten attentiveness and weaken people’s reliance on partisan habits, while enthusiasm ads reassure you, and reaffirm the choice you’ve already made” (2005).

From a pool of 130 pre-convention COVID-19 related advertisements, I analyzed 65 of these. The specific set was chosen by random generation from the ~130 advertisements and I chose the first 65 that were generated.

There are two political advertisement techniques that are most prevalent throughout the COVID-19 ads, regardless if the advertisements were positive or negative. First, many advertisements, often across ads, repeat sound bites from each candidate. The goal of this technique is to paint a candidate is capable and consistent (or not). These sound bites continually reinforce or create viewer notions about candidates. Political theorist Danielle Allen explains the use of sound bites in political advertising as “the pleasure of recognition, or as Aristotle called it, ‘easy learning’” (Allen, 2008). Essentially, the goal of this is to create a positive or negative association in the viewers brain based on the sound bite used.

Secondly, many advertisements use a video editing technique where a buzzword (good or bad) is seen on top of a photo of a candidate or situation. This technique also creates an association that said buzzword is related to the image. The use of implied messaging is a common technique, to “unconsciously cause people to view a candidate more negatively” (Weinberger & Westen, 2008). These implied messages, however, can also be used in a positive way as well, with a positive buzzword overlaid on a positive image (like the American flag).

The objective of this analysis is to recognize the recurring tropes, themes, quotes, and other means of political communication seen in these advertisements, and how each presidential candidate is portrayed. The categorizations were designed to answer the question: What was the composition of pre-convention COVID-19 political advertisements?

Methodology

I reviewed the randomly selected 65 ads, dividing them into 5 categories. These categories of advertisements include: Anti-Trump and Anti-Biden Advertisements, Pro-Trump and Pro-Biden Advertisements, and Testimonial Advertisements from frontline healthcare workers, business owners, and voters, who provide firsthand account of how the government’s actions with the virus had personally affected them. In each category, the sponsor of the video was noted, as well as a summary of the video, the type of video (speech, use of voiceover, etc.), the videos goal, and length. Moments of repetition, when advertisements took advantage of the same sound bites or series of soundbites – typically cuts of Biden and Trump speaking – were noted. Many advertisements also took advantage of specific video tropes, like adding text over an image. Dividing the videos into these categories and subcategories aided in understanding which sponsors used which advertising technique and provided an account for how each candidate presented himself and how other sponsors portrayed them.

Results

I describe the results for each of the five categories and explain the subcategories that were noted in the advertisements. Additionally, I select advertisements from each category that represent a common theme as representative examples.

Anti-Trump COVID-19 Political Advertisements

The political advertisements that were against Donald Trump tended to take advantage of his inconsistencies with informing the public about the disease and its spread. The goal of these advertisements was to present Trump as an incompetent leader and blame his inconsistencies as an important cause for deaths and spread of COVID-19. Sponsors tended to take advantage of Trump’s apparent lack of awareness of COVID-19, both with the first appearance of the virus and as the severity became apparent.

One advertisement by American Bridge 21st Century, a liberal American Super PAC employed the incompetent leader premise this. This advertisement is titled Trump Played Golf (2020) and develops its message by showing important dates on the virus’ timeline, coupled with imagery of Trump playing golf, purportedly on those same days. Common sound bites of Trump were also used to enhance this idea of incompetence. These quotations, returned to later in this analysis, include “This is their new hoax” and “It’ll go away, just stay calm,” both of which convey the idea that Trump is not committed to the idea of the virus’s severity. At the end, this advertisement utilizes the technique of sending an implicit message by showing a graph with an exponential curve of the rising COVID-19 deaths. Over this image a text overlay reads “Trump’s failure to act cost lives”, which asserts that Trump’s actions are directly consequential to the deaths of Americans.

An advertisement titled Crisis Comes by Unite the Country, a pro-Biden Super PAC, suggests Trump is an incompetent leader by way of comparing him to past presidents (Crisis, 2020). This advertisement explains that “what matters is how they [Presidents] handle it [crisis].” An ominous voiceover explains how Trump relieved the pandemic response team positions in 2018, and how he “let the virus spread unchecked” throughout the country. The advertisement ends after thirty seconds with a black and white image of Trump with text that reads “This one failed.” This advertisement shared information about Trump’s job performance asking voters to drive comparative judgment. This subtly relays the message that he would not become competent as a leader in a second term either.

Another Anti-Trump COVID-19 political advertisement that enhances the goal of proving Trump to be an incompetent leader is The Lincoln Project’s infamous ad titled Mourning in America (2020). The Lincoln Project is an Anti-Trump Republican Super PAC, and this advertisement does not utilize the soundbite and implied message technique as previously mentioned but creates a feeling of intensity and drama. A menacing voiceover states that “more than 60,000 Americans have died from a virus that Donald Trump ignored,” once again promoting the idea that an act of incompetency directly resulted in death. Striking images are shown throughout this advertisement, with footage of people being dragged away on stretchers and a town in shambles. The idea of Trump bailing out “Wall Street, not Main Street” tells the viewer that he has picked and chosen who he does and does not want to help during this pandemic. The advertisement finishes by leaving the viewer with a question: “if we have another four years of this, will there even be an America?” [i]. This advertisement, while slightly different than the others analyzed, proved to be one that is historic and important to acknowledge, considering Trump himself took to Twitter to express his anguish with it (Galen, 2020).

These are three examples of COVID-19 Anti-Trump advertisements that paint President Trump as an incompetent leader. Out of the 20 Anti-Trump advertisements watched, the quote of Trump in a press conference saying, “this is their new hoax” was used seven times. A clip of Trump saying that COVID-19 is “like a miracle, it will disappear” was used four times in varying advertisements. A clip of Trump claiming that the virus will go away in April with the heat was used five times in varying advertisements.

Repeating text and images also occurred and often across various sponsors (in 15 times out of the 20 advertisements – See Table 1). This occurred in several ways. Some advertisements, like the one mentioned earlier by the American Bridge 21st Century as well as Exponential Threat by Priorities USA (Exponential, 2020) used graphs to show the death toll and relate it to Trump’s leadership. Other advertisements, like Trump Lies, People Die by MoveOn inserted phrases like “Trump Lies”, “False”, and “Blames Hospitals” (to name a few) over footage of Trump (Trump Lies, 2020).

Pro-Trump COVID-19 Political Advertisements

The COVID-19 political advertisements in favor of President Trump were mostly created by The White House communication unit and Donald J Trump for President campaign. Two of the 12 advertisements viewed in this category, however, are sponsored by The Republican National Committee, and one of these advertisements is sponsored by United We Stand, a Republican Super PAC. There are two major themes apparent in this Pro-Trump selection. The first theme is patriotism, and the second theme is proof of competent leadership (a stark contrast in comparison to the Anti-Trump COVID-19 political advertisements).

Table 1: Frequency of Direct Quotes in COVID-19 Pre-convention Ads

There were two advertisements that especially exemplify the idea of patriotism and nationalism, both positive. The first is President Trump Welcomes America’s Truckers created by The White House (President Trump welcomes, 2020). Firstly, it is important to note that the videos created by The White House are not actually advertisements, but their propagandist nature creates a similar feeling of a political advertisement, with the goal to convince the viewer of a message or value (See Chapter 22). This video is narrated by a voiceover of President Trump giving a speech, explaining how important truckers are during this pandemic and to our economy in general. In many White House videos common tropes included the use the American flag, slow motion clips of Trump, and a voiceover. This advertisement seems to be created to prove Trump’s love for the United States and anyone who inhabits it, especially the working class. The second video that exemplifies the idea of patriotism is titled President Trump Visits USNS Comfort, also produced by The White House (2020). This advertisement has more American flag use than the previous one, but still follows the same format of a voice-over coupled with slow motion saluting, walking, and helping others. A use of tacit messaging is seen in this advertisement, with Trump’s speech being heard while the only thing in the shot is a flying American flag. This advertisement presents Trump the patriot, putting America first, and waving in the USNS to the New York city harbor on its Presidential ordered mission; implying Trump responds to the crisis and helps stop the spread.

Some of the Trump ads use repeated clips, primarily governor’s testimonials to validate his competence. For example, the advertisements HOPE (2020) and My Coronavirus Response is a Promise Made, Promise Kept! (2020) produced by Donald J Trump for President and President Trump’s Bipartisan Leadership is Making a Difference produced by the GOP include repetitive sound bites of various governors throughout the country commenting on positive aspects of the President’s leadership (President Trump’s Bipartisan, 2020). All three of these advertisements include sound bites from California Governor Gavin Newsom explaining that Trump has done “everything we could have hoped for.” Additionally, varying sound bites from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, and New Mexico Governor Michelle Grisham were provided, all praising Trump’s responsiveness and aid in a sentence or two. All three of these advertisements additionally prove Trump’s competency as a leader by showing imagery of the President working hard and appearing as a leader.

Perhaps the most interesting advertisement is titled President Trump Never Called the Coronavirus ‘A Hoax’, created by the GOP (President Trump Never Called, 2020,). This advertisement warns viewers to not believe everything the media produces, because a lot of sound bites in advertisements can be taken out of context. A full clip from the Trump; speech is provided, and it is clear that, while there was still a negative connotation associated with what he was saying, Trump did not claim COVID-19 itself to be “a hoax.” It appears that he was claiming that democrat accusations are a hoax, the same way he has previously titled his impeachment trial and the election scandal a hoax. That is, Trump’s “failures” are the conspiratorial fabrication of his political enemies. This advertisement is interesting, in part, because it does what other advertisement do not – directly calls out misrepresentations in the opponents advertising.

Anti-Biden COVID-19 Political Advertisements

Out of the seven Anti-Biden COVID-19 political advertisements viewed, six were sponsored by American First Action, a Pro-Trump PAC. The seventh advertisement was sponsored by Donald J. Trump for President. All seven of these advertisements have the same angle against Biden: proving that he is a traitor who favors China and would therefore be an incompetent leader (See Chapters 29 & 30). It was found that the recurring sound bite was used in every single one of these advertisements. A clip of Joe Biden referencing the Chinese “They’re not bad folks, folks!” was used in three varying advertisements. A clip of Biden stating “It’s in our best interest that China continues to prosper” was used in four varying advertisements. A shot of Chinese President Xi and Biden cheering champagne flutes at a press conference was used in four advertisements as well. Additionally, all seven videos shared the same editing and production technique, taking advantage of aggressive graphics, the color red, intense music, and sound bites that may have been taken slightly out of chronological context. These advertisements are all negative and seem to coincide with Brader’s theory of instilling fear in viewers as mentioned earlier. While there were not as many Anti-Biden COVID-19 advertisements in this pre-convention period, the ones that were present provided insight on the initial attack on Joe Biden. While Anti-Trump advertisements benefit from using Trump’s inconsistencies and mistakes while in office as they pertain to COVID-19, Anti-Biden advertisements acknowledge the virus’ origin in China and try to paint Biden as someone who supports them and their journey with the virus.

Pro-Biden COVID-19 Political Advertisements

Of the fifteen Pro-Biden COVID-19 political advertisements viewed, thirteen were sponsored by Biden for President, one by Priorities USA, a Democratic Super PAC, and the other was sponsored by the Service Employees International Union. The main theme found throughout these advertisements is that Joe Biden would be a better President than Trump based on Trump’s actions (or lack thereof) with COVID-19, shown in positive and negative forms of advertising.

Some uses of negative advertising as seen in the Pro-Biden advertisements are in the ones that bring Trump down. The advertisement Better Prepared by Priorities USA uses imagery to accompany a voice-over that explains how a crisis like COVID-19 causes Americans to lead (Better Prepared, 2020). This advertisement uses an out of context sound bite from Trump that says “No, I don’t take responsibility at all” about the virus. Better Prepared also utilizes the technique of implied messaging by having this sound bite laid over an image of Trump with text that says “America needs a leader we can trust” over his face. Another advertisement Buck Stops Here also utilize this same soundbite of Trump saying that he takes no responsibility (Buck, 2020). Another Pro-Biden negative advertisement is titled Hoarding – Joe Biden for President (Hoarding, 2020) This advertisement compares Trump sound bites with Biden sound bites, allowing the viewer to draw conclusions that Biden is much more competent a lead in than Trump based on the audio. Two other negative advertisements that support Biden are The Uncomfortable Truth is that Trump Left America Exposed and Vulnerable (Uncomfortable, 2020) and Trump’s Rewriting History (2020), both of which explain how Trump got rid of the pandemic response team in 2016 and Biden’s plans for the future. Through these advertisements, Biden’s goal and strategy are to prove himself as a more organized, consistent, and competent leader than Trump.

Biden also has produced a plethora of positive advertisements that focus on his experience with COVID-19 as opposed to bringing down Trump. Using a message of unity in many of these positive advertisements, Biden takes advantage of many of the techniques mentioned previously. The advertisement titled Joe and Jill Biden Thank Frontline SEIU Workers (2020) is a perfect example of the “cinema verité” or “man-in-the-street” advertisement types (Lahi, 2015). Here, the Bidens are seen doing a normal quarantine activity (Facetime) while thanking a nurse who could represent a whole population of healthcare workers and union workers. Additionally, some of Biden’s advertisements are simply clippings from speeches, like the one titled “Joe Biden Discusses the Coronavirus Outbreak During the Democratic Debate”, where Biden provides the viewers with a comprehensive three-part plan about how he would help COVID-19 crisis as president (Biden, 2020, Joe Biden discusses). Although these types of advertisements do not mention Trump and do not utilize the same tropes that have been already analyzed, they send a message that he is a better fit than Trump based on the clarity and comprehensibility of his speeches. These advertisements are positive and serve as an example for the “neutral reporter” advertisement style, where the viewer is provided information with little visual and aural guidance.

Testimonial COVID-19 Political Advertisements

Also important were the relatively large number of testimonial advertisements that surfaced. While the political slant in testimonial advertisements could be sometimes obvious and sometimes hidden, they differ providing evidence as opposed to more advertising tricks (e.g., repetitive sound bite usage and implied messages). Testimonial advertisements allow viewers to associate a face with an issue that a candidate did or did cause or solve. For example, the advertisement Lynn WI by Priorities USA shares a personal story from a retired nurse who also has a chronic illness (Lynn, 2020). She explains how she feels the government was unprepared, especially in the firing of the Pandemic Response Team, and now fears for her health and the safety of her former colleagues at the hospital. This is a perfect example of how testimonial advertising is fully political. This is a tangible story from someone facing direct consequences of Trump’s actions and under preparedness. In a similar advertisement, Sandy #Protect Nurses by National Nurses United shares the same theme as Lynn WI, as nurse Sandy Redding explains her troublesome experience and why she feels the government is not prepared Be a Hero (2020). In a different but also effective advertisement by The Lincoln Project, Heroes is a collection of emotional stories from nurses, teachers, and other frontline essential workers explaining

their hardships with the virus (Heroes, 2020). While this advertisement has less of a direct political slant to it, it is very clear to the viewer that the government’s action can be to blame for the hardship these essential workers are facing.

Conclusion

Each of the five categories analyzed utilized similar tropes of sound bite repetition, subtle messages, and overall themes of proving (in)competency. In one sense the findings are to be expected, Donald Trump and his sponsors put him in the best light possible, and Joe Biden and his sponsors did the same. The advertisements were often skewed or fabricated, even for testimonial spots with no mention of a political candidate. The offenses were largely self-indicting video clips, cherry picked and reiterated across most of the COVID-19 primary ads. This analysis shows how ads are not necessarily trustworthy even in the arena of public health and national crisis. The onset of COVID-19 in the United States is a unique issue, especially when coupled with the 2020 Presidential Election. COVID-19 was, and still is, very much a mystery at the time of these advertisements, and these advertisements had a strong role (perhaps a larger role than they realized) in shaping the public’s perception of the virus. These advertisements proved themselves to be repetitive and take advantage of such a small group of imagery, quotes, and text. Perhaps, if COVID-19 did not enter the United States during such a tense political period, the virus itself would not still be politicized to this day.

References

Allen, D. (2008). Politics, propaganda, and the use and abuse of sound-bites. Institute for Advanced Study. https://www.ias.edu/ideas/politics-propaganda-and-use-and-abuse-sound-bites

Better prepared (2020, March 23). Priorities USA, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0-7EFmHArc

Buck stops here – Joe Biden for President. (2020, April 20). Joe Biden for President, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozzwMBvvUiA

Biden, J. (2020, March 15). Joe Biden discusses the coronavirus outbreak during the democratic debate – Joe Biden for President. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWDvWNyqQ74

Brader, T. (2005). Striking a responsive chord: How political ads motivate and persuade voters by appealing to emotions. American Journal of Political Science, 49(2). 388-405.

Crisis comes. (2020, March 25). Unite the Country, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw2W82HE99Q

Exponential threat (2020, March 23). Priorities USA, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkMwvmJLnc0.

Galen, R. (2020 May 6). Trump’s Twitter rant against Lincoln Project’s ‘Mourning in America’ ad proved our point. Think: NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-twitter-rant-against-lincoln-project-s-mourning-america-ncna1200881

Heroes (2020, April 1). The Lincoln Project YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4uj7t3rvJ0

HOPE (2020, March 27). Trump, Donald J. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSSrimkmxzI

Hoarding- Joe Biden for President (2020, March 30). Joe Biden for President, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OexuGsd7rEw

Joe and Jill Biden Thank SEIU Workers (2020, April 17). SEIU, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Yb4gB0NPC8

Kaid, L. (2002). Trends in political advertising. Journal of Political Marketing, 1(1). 209-212.

Lahi, R. (2015). Political advertising: How new and old democracies make use of it. European Journal of Research in Social Sciences, 3(6). 13-33. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d368/527bd88ebcff8b2445b361f9597b9b7a9dad.pdf

Lynn WI. USA (2020, April 14). Priorities, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTyjGv3acr8

Maarek, P. (1995). Political marketing. The International Encyclopedia of Communication. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405186407.wbiecp062.

Morning in America (2020, June 8) Reagan, R. (1984). New York Historical Society, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUMqic2IcWA

Mourning in America (2020, May 4). The Lincoln Project. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_yG_-K2MDo

My Coronavirus Response is a Promise Made, Promise Kept (2020, April 29). Trump, Donald J., YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hQqg7fIQGs

President Trump’s bipartisan leadership is making a difference! GOP (2020, April 9). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HByLIRy2BPg

President Trump never called the coronavirus ‘A Hoax’ (2020, April 16). GOP, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkMwvmJLnc0.

Sandy #ProtectNurses (2020, April 21). Be a Hero, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssgQbXYMES0

Schumaker, E. (2020, April 26). Timeline: How coronavirus got started. Retrieved from https://abcnews.go.com/Health/timeline-coronavirus-started/story?id=69435165.

The uncomfortable truth is that Trump left America exposed and vulnerable (2020, April 17). Joe Biden for President, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2-5GXQASLE

Trump lies, people die (2020, April 8). MoveOn, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIfM8GeSk6Y.

Trump played golf. (2020, April 24). American Bridge 21st Century, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoJv-48iFcc

Trump’s rewriting history (2020, April 18). Joe Biden for President, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVgQ0pYGYtk

President Trump visits the USNS Comfort. (2020, March 30). White House.gov, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YkB-I58N-o

President Trump welcomes America’s truckers (2020, April 16). White House.gov., YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miImQAY8PiU

Weinberger, J., & Westen, D. (2008). RATS, we should have used Clinton: Subliminal priming in political campaigns. Political Psychology, 29(5). 631-651.