Bern Down for What
The next presidential election is coming in hot and anxious candidates race to gain as many supporters as possible. For Bernie Sanders, the current senator of Vermont, this task seems effortless. In a recent political campaign advertisement for Sanders, a specific theme is prevalent: togetherness. This common theme can be viewed as the USP for Sanders’ political campaign. The one minute long video flashes faces of people who seem to be of diverse gender, age, race, and culture. Sanders’ voice plays over the video, arguing that America needs to be united and “come together.” At the end of the video, a crowd of Sanders supporters fill an auditorium and burst into applause from the message of his speech.
To start, this ad campaign of togetherness can be applied to several of the 15 emotional appeals of advertisements. To start off, the major and obvious appeal that is shown in this political advertisement is the need for affiliation. This common appeal takes a fear of rejection stance and says that people desire love and friendship. This can be related to Sanders’ ad because the strongly-worded commercial makes viewers want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Some viewers may even feel a pressure to support Sanders, for fear that they might be left out or rejected if they do not. The use of this appeal is beneficial to the senator because in the long run, he will most likely gain supporters and thus voters for the presidential election.
The second emotional appeal that this advertisement embodies is the need for guidance. This appeal states that people have a want to be taken care of, while being able to trust a certain company/brand/advertiser. In this case, Americans are putting their trust into Sanders beliefs and actions and in return, Sanders is “taking care of” the American citizens. Once again, this technique will gain supporters for Sanders and benefit his campaign.
Overall, Bernie Sanders’ campaign is effective due to the use of these appeals, along with his USP of togetherness. It is clear through his message that Sanders wishes to break social barriers and rid America of ignorance by bringing Americans together, while gaining potential voters for himself for the upcoming presidential election.