Vote Gay Candidate Slogan Ad Funny
HALL OF SHAME
The 11 Worst Political Slogans of All Time
From murder to wet dreams, these are appallingly bad
As it comes down to the final few months of the US presidential election, it is worth taking a look at campaign slogans. A great slogan can be a rallying call to action for supporters, and the political campaign teams do a lot of research into devising a slogan they believe will help deliver them votes.
The campaign slogan should be closely related to the overall campaign message and be something that supporters will get behind. Used not only in advertising but on a range of merchandise for supporters to wear as walking billboards, from the ubiquitous button to the now-iconic red cap, the slogan needs to be short and positive.
However, for every "Yes We Can" there are plenty of duds. Even though I don't like the candidate, I'll admit "Make America Great Again" is not a bad slogan. It was first used in 1984 by Ronald Reagan and then recycled in 2016 by Donald Trump. Shame, it was false advertising.
And with that political barb out of the way, let's look at some awful political slogans.
1. Make Your Wet Dreams Come True
Alfred E Smith was a New York governor who ran for the Democratic nomination in 1928. He was anti-prohibition, so he was known as a "wet" candidate. He was the governor when alcohol was outlawed and introduced an act in 1920 to allow for legalized low alcohol beers.
When he lost his role as governor, the act was repealed, but when he became governor again, he introduced a new act that prohibited New York police from policing liquor. All this to say, he was pro alcohol and was determined to make it available for sale. Pushing his anti "dry" agenda, he went with this slogan about wet dreams. Not sure this sends the right message for someone campaigning for President.
As a side note, an old campaign button was sold on Heritage Auction in 2013 for $8,962.50 by someone who clearly appreciated the saucy slogan.
2. I'm Not a Witch, I'm You
Republican Christine O'Donnell released this advertisement in 2010. She was running for the Delaware seat vacated by Joe Biden when he became Vice President. The advertisement wanted to refute claims that she was a witch — after a 1999 admission that she had tried witchcraft surfaced and soon went viral.
The advertisement was heavily mocked and even parodied on Saturday Night Live with Kristen Wiig recreating the ad.
This slogan fails on a few levels. If your only promise it that you aren't a witch, is that a good thing? And it does make me wonder, did she use her witchcraft to become me. Is that why she is me? Now I'm scared. This seems like Harry Potter stuff.
3. In Your Heart You Know He's Right
Republican Barry Goldwater ran against Lyndon Johnson in the 1964 presidential race with the slogan "In your heart you know he's right." The key to a good slogan is to ensure the opposition can't twist it, make fun of it, or use it against you. Sadly this slogan failed on all accounts.
Johnson's team ran advertisements with the slogan "in your guts, you know he's nuts." People also tagged at the end of Goldwater's slogans, "Yes. Extreme Right." Goldwater lost the election in a landslide.
4. I'll Do My Best, but I Can't Promise Anything
I stumbled across this fantastic campaign for a candidate in a local Filipino election. You really have to admire the honesty of the candidate, at least if he wins, he has set a very low bar for himself.
5. One More Heave
In 1974, Jeremy Thorpe ran for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom with the slogan "One more heave." Heave is slang for "to vomit." Do we really want a PM who wants one more vomit?
Unsurprisingly Thorpe lost the election, and his career went downhill quickly soon after. He was allegedly involved in the shooting and attempted murder of his former lover, in a bid to hide his homosexuality, and forced to resign his position.
6. Jeb!
In one of the lazier efforts, Jeb Bush ran with this for his 2016 Presidential campaign. The slogan was widely mocked due to its use of the exclamation point and cartoon-like font. Social media had a lot of fun with this, with many likening it to the name of a bad TV show or musical. Jeb! The Musical. Not something I would see.
Late-night host, Stephen Colbert teased him about this slogan and the use of the exclamation point to which Bush replied, "It connotes excitement." The younger sibling of former President of George W. Bush has a history of bad slogans, his previous one was "Jeb Can Fix It."
As we know Jeb didn't win the Republican nomination!
7. We Polked You In '44, We Shall Pierce You In '52
Democrat Franklin Pierce, helped James Polk win the presidential race in 1844 and wanted to build on that momentum for his own campaign in 1852.
This slogan seems to play a little too much on sexual innuendo. So, does the public enjoy being pierced and polked? The answer is yes, the American voters favored Pierce, and he became President.
8. Ma Ma, Where's My Pa?
Rhymes were very popular in the 1884 Presidental Election. The Republicans nominated James G. Blaine for president in 1884. His opponent was Grover Cleveland. There were rumors that Cleveland had fathered an illegitimate child. Hence the Republicans went with the "Ma Ma, Where's My Pa?" line. Aside from sounding like a childish nursery rhyme it gave Cleveland plenty to fire back with.
First of all, there was the reply, "Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine, The Continental Liar from the State of Maine." Seems like a preschool rap battle. When he won, Cleveland and his team used the line "Gone to the White House, ha ha ha." In itself childish, but at least they won.
9. Let's Make It a Landon-Slide
Ah, now this is a pun. In 1936, the Governor of Kansas, Alf Landon, was the Republican candidate in the presidential elections. Landon seemed pretty confidant of his chances and couldn't resist using his surname to form a pun. He did get his wish: it was the biggest Landon-slide in history. Unfortunately for him, it was for his opponent, Franklin Roosevelt.
10. Vai dar Aécio Neves
Let's turn to Brazil and this campaign slogan for Aecio Neves, running for president in 2014. The slogan translated from Portuguese means "Aecio Neves will win." However, when a comma is added to the phrase, it changes the meaning.
Vai dar, Aecio Neves loosely translates to "Go fuck you, Aecio Neves." And so people started photoshopping the comma into the slogan (as shown above). Not wise to choose a slogan that can have its meaning drastically changed with a simple comma.
11. He Killed My Ma, He Killed My Pa, I'll Vote for Him
This one is frightening. Charles Taylor's campaign used this line in the 1997 Liberian presidential elections. Taylor has a lengthy criminal history. He grew up in Liberia and went to college in the USA. He was imprisoned in Massachusetts for embezzlement but escaped from prison and fled the country. In 1989, he launched an uprising against the Liberian government resulting in a protracted civil war. During this period more than 150,000 people were killed, and over half the population became refugees.
A peace treaty was called in 1996, and presidential elections were held in 1997. Taylor ran for President, the slogan used was "he killed my pa, he killed my ma, I'll vote for him."
With a scared population worried he would resume the war if he lost, he ended up receiving 75% of the vote. He resigned in 2003 and was eventually charged and convicted of war crimes. Charges included murder, enslavement, and the recruitment of child soldiers.
I guess the one thing that can be said for Taylor is that his slogan was honest. It certainly makes the other slogans listed here pale into insignificance.
Slogans are often the centerpiece of any political campaign. Strong slogans often live on past the election, like the Obama and Trump ones mentioned earlier. I do want to finish by mentioning one slogan which helped win an election.
In 1916, Woodrow Wilson was seeking reelection and went with the slogan "he kept us out of war." The election was very close, and Wilson won narrowly. Many believed the slogan and his policy of avoiding war was the crucial factor in the victory.
So it was somewhat ironic, that within a few months of winning the election on the back of that slogan that the USA entered World War I. It just goes to show the slogan is a marketing tool to win an election, but not necessarily a promise or vision that needs to be kept.
Source: https://bettermarketing.pub/the-11-worst-political-slogans-of-all-time-4d448253d13
0 Response to "Vote Gay Candidate Slogan Ad Funny"
Post a Comment