What Does It Take to Change a Voter's Mind?
On Monday November 3, the night before the coming election, your team will present a campaign television commercial on a specific California proposition to the registered voters of the Metro community. The purpose of your ad is to persuade your audience on how to vote in the California election on the following day.
Your Task
Each team of four students will create the following products:
- a research brief on the issue of your proposal
- focus group research, based on interviews you conduct with the target voters of your campaign
- a campaign commercial (30 seconds or less) on one of the ballot initiatives in the upcoming election
Your Success
Your success depends on:
- the quality of the research on your team’s proposition
- your understanding of the art and science of voter persuasion
- your skill in video production and editing
- your ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, deadline-demanding election schedule
- the critical thinking and communication skills you develop in forming a sustained political argument
Campaign Ads 2008
The Upper Division students of Metro are proud to present their political ads for the California propositions of November 2008. These videos are the product of months of researching the ballot, interviewing voters, studying the media, thinking critically about the issues, and spending hours in video production.
We are thrilled that ABC-7 News came to Metro to film a story about our project. See the ABC-7 News story.
All of the ads are posted here.
Congratulations to the students of Metro for their wildly successful exhibition night.
Reference Documents
- The Propositions
- Project Schedule
- Campaign Ad Production Teams
- Useful Links
- Downloads
- Invitation to Voter Information Night
- Examples from Campaign Ad Project 2006
- Campaign Ads 2008
Benchmarks
- Ballot Review : due 9/19
- Team Platform : due 9/26
- Focus Group Research : due 9/29
- Commercial Treatment Proposal : due 10/3
- Commerical Storyboard and Script : due 10/8
- First Draft of Campaign Commercial : due 10/22
- Program Notes : due 10/22
- Final Draft of Campaign Commercial : due 10/29
- White Paper : due 12/12
Example of Student Work from 2008
Yes on Prop 7: Renewable Energy Generation
Produced by Iranesha Hilman, Gregory Intermaggio, Ren Plesa, Immer Rivera, Nathaniel Smith-Banks
Proposition 7 directly affects the lives of the general public as it will likely change the cost of utilities. Prop 7 creates a requirement that by 2025, 50% of California’s power comes from renewable energy sources, which will create new competition in the field of alternative energy.
Unfortunately, the fiscal impact of the proposition is somewhat unknown, and so we chose to target our ad on those who will be most impacted by utility cost changes if the proposition passes. The reasoning behind our decision is that utility bill payers are concerned about whether their bills will go up or down based on the effects of Prop 7. Our ad attempts to stir the logos and ethos in the narrative by talking about how it will positively impact the economy. We also work our viewers’ pathos through imagery, by showing vivid images connected to strong emotions, such as coal factories, open fields, and family.