Critical analysis of political ad – Mark Kennedy.
I chose to analyze one of Mark Kennedy’s political campaign television ads. In this particular ad, Mark is sitting on a park bench reading the paper. An elderly lady sits next to him, eyes him, then taps his shoulder and asks if he’s Mark Kennedy. He replies with a, “yes, ma’am.” The elderly lady then smacks his shoulder with the back of her hand and asks why he’s picking on Amy Klobuchar. Mark looks surprised and asks, “What?”. The elderly lady then begins to list the things Mark has accused Amy of such as giving too many plea bargains, rationing prescriptions, raising social security tax, and giving social security to illegal immigrants. She asks why he said all those things. Mark simply replies, “Because they’re true.” The elderly lady says, “They are?” and Mark replies, “They are.” The elderly lady then replies, “Oh, well, never mind then.”

I believe this ad is targeted to senior citizens. It specifically makes claims regarding social security and prescription rationing, two things that greatly affect the senior citizen population. It is additionally linked to senior citizens by portraying the voter as a concerned elderly lady questioning Mark Kennedy. Mark calls himself the “common sense” candidate and I believe he is trying to emphasize his rational approach in several ways. First, he acknowledges who he is then calmly listens to the somewhat agitated elderly lady. After she is finished with her rant and asks him why he said those things, he simply and again calmly answers, “Because they’re true.” The elderly lady doesn’t need much more convincing. She merely replies, “They are?” When he assures her, “They are,” she is satisfied and says, “Well, never mind then.”

I think Mark tried to find a clever way to air a negative campaign ad without viewers recognizing it. How can a sweet, concerned, elderly voter be associated with a negative campaign ad? He additionally has ho-hum, jolly music playing to further hide his negative ad. I also believe Mark is trying to promote himself to the elderly population with the closing remark from the lady. It is as though “never mind then” closes the door to further discussion and the accusations he has made against Amy Klobuchar are true. I think that type of clear-cut conclusion appeals to the elderly population. The elderly lady is supposed to represent all seniors and if she is satisfied with Mark’s retort, then all senior citizens should also be satisfied. I think this ad is successful in its appeal to the elderly, as long as they do no additional research on their own.