Question for readers:
Is this a good, effective ad, vividly making the point that the U.S. needs to do something about gun violence?
Or does it backfire because it embeds an insult to a broad array of Americans?
I think it backfires.
First, take sixty seconds and watch:
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| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M876_FfJ3MQ |
I picked this ad because it demonstrates a point that I make frequently in this blog. Political speech has a text and a subtext. There is the denoted meaning, and then are other meanings that reflect the premises and worldview embedded in the message. Sometimes those other meanings undermine the denoted meaning.
In fact, it happens often. People read a respectful tone as weakness. People interpret a candidate who refuses to dignify an insult to be admitting there is truth to the insult. People suspect a person who is endorsed by a powerful person or group is a puppet of the endorser.
There is no question that this ad is powerful. As a parent and an owner of a swimming pool I found myself mentally counting out seconds as I watched the mother pray at poolside. Get in, pull the child out, NOW!!! The group that produced the ad is proud of it. Mothers for Democracy is a progressive grassroots group that describes itself as an opposition group to Texas Gov. "Greg Abbott's extreme agenda" which "blossomed into a nationwide organization." Their website proudly showcases ads that have gone viral, including this one.
The denoted message of the ad is stated in these words at the end of the ad.
But there is a second, non-denoted message: An insult to religion and people of faith. The ad turns the mother and bystanders into monsters ignoring a drowning child. The analogy of ignoring gun violence may seem fair-minded to Mothers for Democracy, but it will seem offensive and unfair to gun owners and gun-rights supporters. It will seem offensive to people who pray. The ad mocks religion: Look at that kook mother, kneeling and praying while her daughter dies. A Pew Research Center poll reported that 55% of Americans pray daily and another 21% pray from time to time. Pew reported that 63% of American Christians say that "praying regularly is an essential part of their Christian identity." That is a big group to offend. People who pray don't think they are kooks or blind in the face of an unfolding tragedy.
The subtext message here is the Hillary Clinton "deplorable" sneer. Democrats wonder why evangelical Christians would attach themselves to a flagrantly immoral sociopathic narcissist like Donald Trump. What are they thinking? They are thinking about ads like these, where they are made to look silly by Democrats. Trump may be a charlatan, but he pretends to care about the Bible. Meanwhile those snobby Democrats mock us.
Democrats forget Martin Luther King, Jr. America made progress on civil rights when religion was linked to social justice. Rev. King urged Americans to do the right thing, the just thing, the thing that reflected Christian values. There is no need for Democrats to be the anti-religion party.
I consider the ad an unforced error. I show it here so Democrats can learn from it and do better.
[Note: For daily delivery of this blog to your email go to: https://petersage.substack.com. The blog is free and always will be.]
13 comments:
Guns don't kill. People do.
I'm not a killer, but if I were, then I could kill you with my hands, a knife, a car, poison, a bomb, a lead pipe, or a baseball bat. It doesn't have to be a gun. People kill others throughout the world, and they all don't use guns.
I bought a new gun last month to add to my collection. They are just there for protection, and they collect dust in the meantime.
Gun owners are among the most law-abiding citizens in America. Concealed carry permit holders have a very low crime rate.
If you want to eliminate crimes, then you need to enforce the laws swiftly and with certainty. Right now, judges give criminals slaps on the wrist, and then they re-commit crimes again. Guns aren't the problem. A weak judicial system is.
I think the ad makes the point very well that Thoughts and Prayers are well and good, but not adequate in themselves. They won't get in the water and pull the kid out. People have to do it.
There's nothing religious about muttering thoughts and prayers when we could be requiring universal background checks. Those who are serious about their faith will not only pray for the victims but do what they can to help prevent others from becoming victims.
On the other hand, if you think the ad went too far, ask the many parents whose children have been slaughtered if they find the thoughts and prayers of Congress an adequate substitute for legislation.
It is well to wonder how evangelicals can--still--support Trump. Why they have supported him to date, however, is in the evangelical response to what they'd name as the actual number one killer of children in America: abortion.
On this ad? It cleverly appeals to the snarky, gotcha set, the John Oliver fans on the left. But Biden types also offer thoughts and prayers, and the actions proposed by gun control advocates are arguably makeweight or mis-targeted.
Peter,
Your analysis is exactly correct. Set aside the issue being addressed. What you're talking about is the quality of the creative, and it is truly terrible. Theoretically, the ad is not addressing advocates for gun safety but rather those who support gun ownership; it does not become more effective by mocking those people. Any fair-minded marketer would understand that "thoughts and prayers" can be a deeply and truly felt emotion, and, in the vast majority of instances, an appropriate response to some distant singular event such as a shooting two thousand miles away. In sum, a very poorly conceived and executed ad, likely to have an opposite than desired response.
Tony Farrell, career marketer
I found it telling that the first response was from a gun owner whose collection is gathering dust. What, exactly, is that person afraid of ? Things that go "bump" in the night ? How many Jihadi Dhows have sailed up the Rogue River loaded with bombs ? How many Home Invasion murders have occurred in Southern Oregon in the last 50 years ?
What are these people allegedly protecting themselves from ? I've yet to have seen an answer which made any logical sense, especially when I've managed to survive near 77 years including two Tours in Vietnam without getting shot .
The Second Amendment is an anachronism. A vestigial piece of Southern politics left over during our founding allowing the States to form militias to round up runaway slaves and protect themselves from slave rebellions. SCOTUS has completely distorted the intent and function. In truth, the Amendment is no longer needed. Rather the discussions around the Second Amendment has nurtured neocolonial fear of "the other". Furthermore, a handheld weapon like a knifes, an axe, a bat have little long-range killing power. They are simply a straw man argument.
The ad doesn’t ridicule people for praying, but for not doing more.
Rapid-firing semi-automatics with large-capacity magazines are the weapon of choice for mass murderers because that’s what they're designed for. Nothing that can legally be done with a gun requires such a weapon. Those who refuse to do anything to limit their availability, especially to criminals and the mentally ill, are deserving of ridicule.
Guns don’t kill people, people kill people – with guns. 81% of murders in the U.S. in 2021 involved a firearm.
Gun violence is a mental health issue: we’re a sick society for not doing something about it.
I’m reminded of the classic headline about mass shootings in the U.S.:
“No Way to Prevent This,” Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens
This commercial will not convince anyone who wasn’t already convinced.
If you want to do reduce criminal violence committed with guns, go after the criminals. not law-abiding gun owners who are no threat to anyone who isn’t attacking them. Fixing our broken mental health system would also help.
Lest there be any question how seriously insane the far-right has become, Steve Bannon recently recommended guns for children. This, from Newsweek:
On Tuesday, Bannon broadcast an episode of his podcast from Turning Point USA's America Fest, during which he advocated for American children to receive firearms training in school, arguing that possessing guns would also help them combat bullying, a suggestion that drew cheers from the conservative crowd at the event.
Training is a good idea. it could avoid accidental injuries caused by stupid behavior.
To start with, a rule of never pointing a gun at anyone.
Everyone knows you're supposed to pull a drowning person out of the water and so on, to save their life. In contrast, thoughts and prayers are supposed to come after, not before, a person has been shot to death. This ad is tone deaf, you might say.
Q.E.D.
RE: Bannon
He went too far by suggesting that "possessing guns would also help them combat bullying". That's the last thing anyone should suggest.
This however is worthwhile: "he advocated for American children to receive firearms training in school". This was the norm decades ago when high schoolers did have competitive shooting teams, and dads took their sons and daughters hunting with them.
Perhaps since we don't really do much more other than condemning gun ownership that we've had the opposite reaction.
Finally, I agree with the comment by MT - "Training is a good idea". We also need to be tougher on the idiots who are careless with their guns, and the penalties should be stiff, especially for guns used for any crimes.
Remember, if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.
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