The first ad I watched, Convention (Nixon, 1968), used two appeals: appeal to Pride/Patriotism and fear appeals. There was not any spoken language in this ad. It used music and photographs to appeal to it's audience. The music would shift from an upbeat patriotism sound of music showing photos of Nixon and how he ruled as President to a eerie type of music showing photos of war, sad children and families, and injured soldiers. Safety needs of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs can be seen in this ad. Puritan and pioneer morality from Steele and Redding's American Value System is also apparent in the ad. The ad demonstrates how voting for Nixon and his decisions as president affected us as a nation.
The second ad I watched, Peace Little Girl (Johnson, 1964), used a bit of warmth and fear appeal as well as appeals to patriotism. As a little girl is counting the petals of a flower, she's counting out of order so that we understand how young she is (warmth appeal). When the petals are all gone, we hear a count down (fear appeal). Followed by the countdown from ten there is an explosion shown. It probably destroyed the little girl's home! Then we are encouraged by the narrator to vote for Johnson based on wanting to love or wanting to die (appeal to patriotism). I would say that from Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, the need for safety and physiological needs are obviously expressed in this particular ad. Do we really want explosions (probably representing war) killing our youth? We want our nation to be a safe place for families! From Steele and Redding's American Value System I would think that "change and progress" is relevant for this ad, along with "ethical equality" and "efficiency, practicality, and pragmatism". The ad persuades the audience to want a change, to want our young to live to see another day, and to want our world to be in the right hands.
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