Author
|
Topic: Bumper sticker slogans
|
Adam T
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4631
|
posted 22 September 2004 04:01 AM
On his website, Dailykos is promoting a book by George Lakoff called Don't Think of an Elephant. The book is essentially about how the Republican Party has mastered writing bumper sticker slogans, while the Democrats haven'tAn excerpt which Kos posted: "But (Republican pollster) Frank Luntz is about much more than language. He recognizes that the right use of language starts with ideas -- with the right framing of the issues, a framing that reflects a consistent conservative moral perspective, what we have called strict father morality. Luntz's book is not just about language. For each issue, he explains what the conservative reasoning is, what the progressive reasoning is, and how the progressive arguments can be best attacked from a conservative perspective. He is clear: Ideas come first. One of the major mistakes liberals make is that they think they have all the ideas they need. They think that all they lack is media access. Or maybe some magic bullet phrases, like partial-birth abortion. When you think you just lack words, what you really lack are ideas. Ideas come in the form of frames. When the frames are there, the words come readily. There's a way you can tell when you lack the right frames. There's a phenomenon you have probably noticed. A conservative on TV uses two words, like tax relief. And the progressive has to go into a paragraph-long discussion of his own view. The conservative can appeal to an established frame, that taxation is an affliction or burden, which allows for the two-word phrase tax relief. But there is no established frame on the other side. You can talk about it, but it takes some doing because there is no established frame, no fixed idea already out there. In cognitive science there is a name for this phenomenon, It's called hypocognition -- the lack of the ideas you need, the lack of a relatively simple fixed frame that can be evoked by a word or two [...] " The Conservative Party here uses all the same slogans that the Republicans use in the U.S, while the Liberals, like the Democrats rarely use any. But, the electoral results are rather different. So, are Canadians too sophisticated for bumper sticker slogans? or do Canadians resist them because they like to think they are too sophisticated? Or do you think the differering electoral results stems from something completely different?
From: Richmond B.C | Registered: Nov 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
Jacob Two-Two
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2092
|
posted 22 September 2004 06:21 AM
No, it's just that the slogans are all wrong. Conservatives in Canada are silly to ape their southern counterparts, because the cultural frame is not the same, and they end up talking gibberish.The reason "tax relief" works is because, as you say, there is a frame that already exists that it fits into. This same frame exists in Canada, but unlike in the US, it has never been widely popular. Canada has a history of social investment, whereas the US does not, and we rely on our government services. It would take more than many years of indoctrination to dismantle this frame. It would take the actual dismantling of our social services, because they are a constant repudiation of the "tax relief" frame. People hear that taxes are a burden, but they have a hard time believing it because they use the services those taxes pay for daily. The frames of "government waste", and "slaying the deficit", on the other hand, have been very successful, as they fit into the canadian psyche.
From: There is but one Gord and Moolah is his profit | Registered: Jan 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
Tommy_Paine
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 214
|
posted 22 September 2004 08:37 AM
I'm not sure how long it will last, but I think the Canadian cultural tradition is one where you don't wear your politics on your sleeve. Or Bumper. People get turned off by it. People are apt to think you are a bit of a looney. Which is why my "Death to the Family Compact" slogan never really took off the way I thought it would or should. Slogans are not just a capsulation of an idea, they are banners for people to wave. Maybe Canadians are low key about slogans and identifying with them and therefore political parties is because once upon a time, a person might be unemployed or disadvantaged if one advertised affiliation to the wrong political party.
From: The Alley, Behind Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Secret Agent Style
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2077
|
posted 22 September 2004 10:21 AM
There are exceptions on both sides, but in general, reactionary conservatives are great at slogans based on prejudices, half-truths and outright lies. They reduce complex issues into simple phrases for simple minds.Progressives tend to use more detailed and complex arguments because, golly gee, the world is a complex place with complex problems and complex solutions. Of course, like the book says, this is a weakness when trying to appeal to the average voter, so there's lot's of room for improvement. [ 22 September 2004: Message edited by: Andy Social ]
From: classified | Registered: Jan 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
al-Qa'bong
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3807
|
posted 22 September 2004 11:14 PM
The Republicans are smarter propagandists than the Democrats. So what if the Dems have complex, nuanced answers to difficult questions? The herd doesn't have the attention span to take in such answers.Simple, oft-repeated slogans or catch phrases (Clinton's "It's the economy, stupid" was a rare Democrat exception) work. This topic is related to this item. quote: Stahl's piece was so hard-hitting in its criticism of Reagan, she recalled, that she "worried that my sources at the White House would be angry enough to freeze me out." Much to her shock, however, she received a phone call immediately after the broadcast from White House aide Richard Darman. He was calling from the office of Treasury Secretary Jim Baker, who had just watched the piece along with White House press secretary Mike Deaver and Baker's assistant, Margaret Tutwiler. Rather than complaining, they were calling to thank her. "Way to go, kiddo," Darman said. "What a great story! We loved it." "Excuse me?" Stahl replied, thinking he must be joking. "No, no, we really loved it," Darman insisted. "Five minutes of free media. We owe you big time." "Why are you so happy?" Stahl said. "Didn't you hear what I said?" "Nobody heard what you said," Darman replied. "Come again?" "You guys in Televisionland haven't figured it out, have you? When the pictures are powerful and emotional, they override if not completely drown out the sound. Lesley, I mean it, nobody heard you."
From: Saskatchistan | Registered: Feb 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
Hephaestion
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4795
|
posted 24 September 2004 09:39 AM
I'm going to take the thread title literally. Two good ones I saw.Recently: "Compost happens." In university: (with musical notes at each end) "HELP! I've fallen and I can't get dowwwwn!" [ 24 September 2004: Message edited by: Hephaestion ]
From: goodbye... :-( | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
praenomen3
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4758
|
posted 24 September 2004 12:24 PM
A scary one from south of the Mason/Dixon line:"You've got your 'X' (Malcom X logo), I've got mine" (Confederate flag) Back to the thread, distilling a concept down to a few words isn't necessarily a "dumbing it down" endeavour. It's a discipline that actually takes considerable effort. I believe Benjamin Franklin once started some correspondence thus: "Please forgive the length of this letter; if I had had more time, it would have been shorter." I know a (public-sector) journalist who complains that academics and progressives tend to be "bad" interviews for this reason: "You ask them what time it is, and they start off by telling you how watches are made." The argument by Chomskyites that the "soundbite" phenomenon acts to suppress new or complex ideas is often just laziness - "My principles are too radical, advanced and sophisticated to be communicated succinctly to a mass audience, and the mouth-breathers probably wouldn't understand anyway, so why bother?" And then they complain how difficult it is to get on mainstream media. Think of a billboard: It's a 7 word essay.
From: x | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DownTheRoad
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4523
|
posted 30 September 2004 01:08 PM
quote: The Republicans are smarter propagandists than the Democrats.
But we're catching on. My favorite Kerry stickers so far: "He'll do" (cartoon pic of Kerry at the side) "They're strong nuances"
From: land of cotton | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
|