Patricia Crespo |
Madrid (EFE).- Always with the same objective of getting every last possible vote, electoral videos in Spain have evolved in recent years and have done so by incorporating all kinds of resources to offer positive and negative spots, but also personal, erotic or even homemade-looking, designed only for networks.
In an interview with EFE, the professor at the Complutense University, José Luis Dader, reviews ten spots that, in one way or another, have marked campaigns.
1.- The Doberman that attacked the adversary
It was 1996 and at that time, recalls Dader, the polls gave the PP an advantage of between 7 and 10 points. Finally this margin remained at 100,000 votes. It may not have changed the end result, but it probably did, he points out.
The controversial PSOE video linked the PP to fascism and intolerance and contrasted it with the figure of a “positive” Felipe González.
“It caused a shock for Spanish society, where we were not used to negative campaigns or attacks on the enemy,” recalls the professor, for whom the video was a very intelligent way, emotionally speaking, of highlighting the opposition.
2.- The video of the eyebrow as a precursor to viralization
Musicians and actors such as Joan Manuel Serrat or Miguel Bosé showed their support for José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for the 2008 elections in a video that established his characteristic eyebrow with the gesture of the index finger over his eye as a symbol.
In a way, the professor underlines, the video can be seen as a precursor to viralization, a resource that has been used in other campaigns and countries with “spectacular” results.
3/4.- The blue summer of the PP and the direct “Ganas” by Ayuso
The latest controversial campaign, in this case due to a trademark rights issue, is the work of the Popular Party which, under the slogan “Spain deserves a blue summer”, affirms that the “task” of having elections in the middle of July It could be “an opportunity”.
In a return to the idea of negative publicity, the “blue summer” of the PP combines “a social feeling that is widespread in a part of the population, which is to throw out a candidate, along with the idea of a reminder of the mobilization to that campaign.”
White and with catchy music was the video of the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, for 28M. It was completed with a direct slogan “You win”, which complies with the principles of political advertising: very simple, polysemic slogans, along the lines of “Make it happen” used by Pedro Sánchez in 2019.
5.- The job interview with Pablo Iglesias
“A great announcement”, is how the professor defines the electoral video with which Pablo Iglesias, then leader of Unidos Podemos, was running for the 2015 elections.
More important than the ad itself, where Iglesias appears facing a job interview to get to La Moncloa, is his idea that “what the politician has to do is get a job and do it in front of some personnel directors who are the citizens”.
6.- The poetry and voice of José Sacristán
A year later, Podemos bet on “Volver a sonrile” for two other resources: ‘storytelling’ -which he also used in “damn caste, blessed people”- and poetic language. In his campaign video and about scenes of daily life on election night in which “the usual ones” do not win, the voice of actor José Sacristán predicted that “one day happens” what nobody predicted and “the door does not open.” land”.
“I don’t remember other formations that resort to expressions that are practically poetic, that try to evoke great feelings and beautiful images. The strength of the ad is in the magnificent voice of Sacristán”, adds Dader.
7.- The attraction of Rivera’s nude
In 2006, a young Albert Rivera broke ground with his famous nude poster, wrapped under the motto “We only care about people”.
This was an advertisement with great media impact, recalls the political marketing expert, who points out that the use of the nude becomes a very attractive element that does not guarantee victory but that it did achieve, in the case of Rivera, its objective.
In contrast, in 2016, his “Letter to Daniela”, the spot in which he wrote to his daughter and used the resource of the message to someone from the future – the same idea behind “Rajoy’s girl” – showed that Rivera, who He was also a very bad actor, he had failed with a “nondescript” content.
8/9.- Vox: the influence of Trump and the new formats
“If you don’t despair in defeat or get drunk in victory…”, begins the personalist spot where the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, crowned the top of a mountain in 2016 and proclaimed his “make Spain great again”, emulating the popular “Make America Great Again” (“Let’s make the USA great again”) by Donald Trump.
But other influences are also seen in the video, such as that of the president of the National Front (FN), Marine Le Pen and her 2017 spot, where she was also the protagonist of the images.
Facing the 23J elections, Vox has broadcast a video where what stands out the most is the format: to be seen on the mobile, online with the new political advertising, easy to go viral on networks, especially on TikTok, and with a handmade appearance , “as if he had made a man in his house”.
10.- Rajoy’s whales
Together with all of them, José Luis Dader stands out as interesting, innovative and what is behind it, the video of the “Rajoy whales”.
It was done, in 2016, based on data analysis carried out for PP Jim Messina, who was an adviser to Barack Obama, and focused on micro-segmentation to target a very specific audience and encourage them to vote.