Bryan
10-31-2007, 10:46 PM
RON PAUL: “STOP DREAMING”
Submitted by Sherman Bradshaw on Mon, 2007-10-15 02:41.
“Stop Dreaming” is a political appeal produced by “aravoth” (a.k.a. “Ken”), a diehard Paul supporter. Ken, a 27 year-old from Troutdale, Oregon is a member of ronpaulforums.com. This organization whose slogan is, “Hope For America-Be A Part Of It”, pushes the Ron Paul gospel over the internet in a grassroots attempt to raise money and support for their candidate. Ken or “aravoth”, has himself produced at least 5 other Internet offerings as part of his “aravoth Channel” which allows others to subscribe and be kept up to date on his most recent videos. To date, “aravoth” reports 1,253 subscribers. 563, 648 viewers have reportedly viewed the video, “Stop Dreaming”.
Having chosen video as the medium for this appeal, “aravoth” deftly grabs the attention of his audience with a fade in quote from Benjamin Franklin using a background of black with no sound, creating an air of gravity. The very next scene is one of Representative Paul answering a reporter’s question on the issue of abolishing the IRS. Decisively, but with a relaxed humor that seems to say, “Of course this is the right thing to do”, Paul doesn’t back down a bit. Cue in the music, an early 70’s anthem of change, “Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie” by Don McLean and this is one smooth political statement. Sound bites of Representative Paul addressing any and all queries are interrupted only by some of his more thought-provoking and provocative quotes fading in from a darkened background. For effect, the music plays on, the volume rising and falling with each scene change. The song itself, “Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie” was written as a symbol of changes taking place in both the life of the songwriter and in America at the time it was written. Associating it with a candidate that espouses himself as champion of change is no accident. Ron Paul’s proposed platform is unlike anything anyone else, Republican or Democrat is proposing. This is precisely what the Paul camp stresses.
Who is the target audience for this slickly devised message? Consider that to even access an Internet campaign ad one would need to be somewhat techno-literate. Since this is a medium most accessed by the young, one might assume that they are the target here. Consider however that the song used in the ad is from the early 1970’s and that Paul, a Republican candidate, must bridge the age divide to effectively unite his party. This ad would need to efficiently reach a broad audience to gather support. An anti-establishment candidate would also need to gather the support of voters disenchanted with the “status quo”. Though still a Republican on paper, Paul’s platform is anything but conventional Republican rhetoric. His campaign looks to bring together those frustrated with years of empty promises from both parties who might see the need for drastic change.
Continued:
http://instructors.cwrl.utexas.edu/tbrown/node/89
Here's what others in the class did:
http://instructors.cwrl.utexas.edu/tbrown/taxonomy/term/5
Submitted by Sherman Bradshaw on Mon, 2007-10-15 02:41.
“Stop Dreaming” is a political appeal produced by “aravoth” (a.k.a. “Ken”), a diehard Paul supporter. Ken, a 27 year-old from Troutdale, Oregon is a member of ronpaulforums.com. This organization whose slogan is, “Hope For America-Be A Part Of It”, pushes the Ron Paul gospel over the internet in a grassroots attempt to raise money and support for their candidate. Ken or “aravoth”, has himself produced at least 5 other Internet offerings as part of his “aravoth Channel” which allows others to subscribe and be kept up to date on his most recent videos. To date, “aravoth” reports 1,253 subscribers. 563, 648 viewers have reportedly viewed the video, “Stop Dreaming”.
Having chosen video as the medium for this appeal, “aravoth” deftly grabs the attention of his audience with a fade in quote from Benjamin Franklin using a background of black with no sound, creating an air of gravity. The very next scene is one of Representative Paul answering a reporter’s question on the issue of abolishing the IRS. Decisively, but with a relaxed humor that seems to say, “Of course this is the right thing to do”, Paul doesn’t back down a bit. Cue in the music, an early 70’s anthem of change, “Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie” by Don McLean and this is one smooth political statement. Sound bites of Representative Paul addressing any and all queries are interrupted only by some of his more thought-provoking and provocative quotes fading in from a darkened background. For effect, the music plays on, the volume rising and falling with each scene change. The song itself, “Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie” was written as a symbol of changes taking place in both the life of the songwriter and in America at the time it was written. Associating it with a candidate that espouses himself as champion of change is no accident. Ron Paul’s proposed platform is unlike anything anyone else, Republican or Democrat is proposing. This is precisely what the Paul camp stresses.
Who is the target audience for this slickly devised message? Consider that to even access an Internet campaign ad one would need to be somewhat techno-literate. Since this is a medium most accessed by the young, one might assume that they are the target here. Consider however that the song used in the ad is from the early 1970’s and that Paul, a Republican candidate, must bridge the age divide to effectively unite his party. This ad would need to efficiently reach a broad audience to gather support. An anti-establishment candidate would also need to gather the support of voters disenchanted with the “status quo”. Though still a Republican on paper, Paul’s platform is anything but conventional Republican rhetoric. His campaign looks to bring together those frustrated with years of empty promises from both parties who might see the need for drastic change.
Continued:
http://instructors.cwrl.utexas.edu/tbrown/node/89
Here's what others in the class did:
http://instructors.cwrl.utexas.edu/tbrown/taxonomy/term/5