Outline for a mass communication written task Essay

In 2008 an attack ad, titled Vote Different appeared on YouTube, persuading voters to vote for Barack Obama instead of Hillary Clinton in the elemental elections. Without a doubt this ad influenced the way many voters voted. By making use of allusion and by borrowing from other texts, it successfully made voters vote differently. As a result Hillary Clinton lost in the essential elections to Barack Obama. The attack ad vote different depicts a large group of prisoners, sitting in neat rows, watching a large screen.On the screen one sees Hillary Clinton talking roughly how she would analogous to listen to her listening and engage in a dialogue with them. Her words are very ironic, since the audience is non able to participate in the discussion. This is the first indication that we are meant to be critical of her words. Secondly, the tv camera switches to another woman, an athlete who has broken past the prison guards to enter the theatre where the prisoners sit.She is running wi th a sledgehammer. objet dart all of the images are dark and grey, she seems to bear the only sign of color with her red shorts. On her fit out is the campaign logo of Barack Obama. She hurls the hammer towards the screen, resulting in a burst of light that seems to awaken the prisoners. Then a text reads, On January 14th the Democratic primary will begin. And youll see why 2008 wont be like 1984.Then the letter O appears in the colors of orchard apple tree Macintoshs old logo, along with the web address, BarackObama.com. What does this text mean, and how does it rely onother texts to construct meaning? in that location are three layers to this text. The first layer can be understood in the context of 2008 and the primary elections. The text traveled as a viral, meaning it was a commercial that spread like a virus through social networks on the Internet.People who posted this video to their Facebook wall or direct it as a link in an e-mail to friends, all k spick-and-span who Hi llary Clinton and Barack Obama were. Her formula and his logo needed no introduction. The irony of her words, the dark images of the prisoners and the symbol of the sledgehammer all indicated a sharp criticism of Clinton. One did not have to understand the final text to palpate that this was a strong attack ad.It accused Clinton of not listening to her audience, and it praised Obama for helping them see the light. The second layer of this text can best be understood in the context of the Apple Macintosh ad that ran only once during the Super paradiddle in 1984. The attack ad is in fact a chat up-up of the Macintosh ad, meaning that it is almost homogeneous to the original ad, frame for frame, with a the exception of several manipulated images. Where the Apple logo once appeared on the fit out of the athletic woman, there is the logo of Organizing for America, Obamas grassroots campaign team.Where a mans face once appeared on the large screen, there is Hilarys face. The text at the end of the Macintosh ad originally read, On January 24th Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And youll see why 1984 wont seem like 1984. Even if viewers of the Obama ad do not know about the significance of 1984, they might know these references to the Macintosh ad. Since the ad only ran once, it created a great hype and sense of mystery. It promised to change the face of personal computing by literally and figuratively enlightening the masses. Comparing Obamas campaign to the Apple brand, has an interesting effect on the reader in 2008. It is almost as if Obama is the new iPod slick, stylish, personal and unique.He breaks with the establishment, Hillary Clinton, who could be compared to Microsoft or IBM, in the context of 1984. The third layer of context is by chance the most important one to understanding the ads. Both ads allude to a scene from Nineteen Eighty-four, a novel by George Orwell. His novel is commonly understood as a criticism of magisterial government. Th e autocratic government in Orwells novel, Oceana, is ruled by a man whose face appears regularly on a large telescreen. His name is Big Brother.The Obama ad replaces Big Brothers image from the Apple ad with HillaryClintons face, making a comparison and strong suggestion that she stands for autocratic rule, establishment and war. The cause of this on the audience in 2008 are quite persuasive and bold, influencing the way they vote in the primary election.At the time the attack ad ran in January of 2008, Hillary Clinton was ahead in the polls. Almost a hebdomad later, thanks to this ad and other influences, she began to lose points to Barack Obama (Pollster.com, 2008). While it is impossible to measure the exact effects of this ad in weakening her position, the ads implications are strong and persuasive. This viral video shows the power of mash ups and how the persuasive power of borrowing from other texts.Works citedApple Computers. YouTube 1984 Apples Macintosh Commercial. YouTub e mete out Yourself. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. ParkRidge47. YouTube Vote Different. YouTube Broadcast Yourself. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. . Pollster.com Political Surveys and Election Polls, Trends, Charts and Analysis. Pollster. Web. 22 Feb. 2011.