Facts First: Trump, “fake news”, and apples on CNN’s latest ad
Originally published at linkedin.com on October 24, 2017.
Since June 16, 2015, the term “fake news” has been thrown around a lot in Twitter and the media. The user that popularized it is a regular at Twitter, and his name is Donald Trump. The phrase has been used by Trump to brush aside criticism, used mostly to dilute credibility from the criticizing sources.
Nic Newman, author of the sixth annual Digital News Report, told Reuters in an interview: “…in the United States, trust in the media has increased a bit in the past year partly because a lot of the mistrust came from people on the right, Trump supporters.”
The phrase has definitely put some stress on the media; many news outlets have had to report on the facts of the phrase. But in 2017, with harsher criticism, comes harder responses.
CNN’s “Facts First” against Fake News
On October 23rd, the Cable News Network (CNN) released a commercial featuring only an apple, with a narrator addressing the apple’s existence. The ad reads as follows:
This is an apple. Some people might try to tell you it’s a banana. They might scream banana over and over and over again. They might put banana in all caps. You might start to believe that this is a banana… but it’s not. This is an apple.
You can see it for yourself below:
The apple serves as an analogy for “fake news.” In the ad, the narrator tells of people that might try to make you think that the apple is, in fact, a banana. No matter the times or how they say it, the apple is not truly a banana. As it ends, the narrator talks to us on a personal level: “You might start to believe that this is a banana… but it’s not. This is an apple,” a direct message to people doubting news outlets’ credibility.
The commercial has been met by both praise and criticism. Having comments disabled on YouTube, people have taken to Twitter to express their opinion.
The message was also delivered a day after Trump’s latest criticism on news outlets.
However, CNN has not been the first one to advertise. Far from it.
The New York Times’ “The Truth is Hard”
Earlier this year, The New York Times also joined the discussion of “fake news.” The American daily newspaper worked with Droga5 to air a 30 second spot during the Academy Awards.
The spot features a variety of talking points as text on the screen, accompanied by many chants and counter-opinions talking over the main piece of audio, showing how diverse everyone’s stance on specific points are.
The newspaper also released a print ad to accompany its TV spot.
The message did reach its intended recipient, with Trump tweeting about The New York Times before the show, and another one after learning NYT had taken a slot for a TV spot.
The political climax has been more present in everyone’s daily routine since POTUS 45. Expanding to the advertising industry, Droga5 agenency weighs in on its collaboration with The New York Times:
In the wake of a new presidential era and an unprecedented time when people are forced to question where they get their news from, The New York Times tapped Droga5 to help ensure that the Gray Lady would stand out as the leader in quality journalism, as well as drive a spike in subscriptions. “The Truth Is Hard” launched during the 2017 Academy Awards, garnered over 15 million views online and across social media and was even parodied by Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert.
For more information, you can read it on Droga5’s website here.
To read more on how many reacted to Trump’s inauguration, you can read my article “President Trump: The media’s response, the tweets, and the brands on inauguration day.”
What are your thoughts on news outlets advertising, at times, to direct criticism? Is it ethical for such outlets to protect their brand, or should they stay focused on pushing out top-quality journalism to preserve their brand? Comment what you think below!
Got any thoughts to add? Tweet me @juliangumbo or comment below!
Julian Gamboa is a UC Berkeley graduate with a focus on marketing. Julian was selected as a LinkedIn Top Voice for Marketing and #Social Media (2017) and a Course Instructor of the marketing and digital publishing course Digital Marketing Today at the Haas School of Business. He is also the founder of Digiviewpoint, a millennial publishing account.
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