Och nu blir det reklamfilm : En kvalitativ innehållsanalys av de sju svenska politiska reklamfilmerna inför EU-valet 2009

Sammanfattning: Och nu blir det reklamfilm - En kvalitativ innehållsanalys av de sju svenska politiska reklamfilmerna inför EU-valet 2009 Seminar date: 2010-01-14 Department: Media- and Communication science Report category: Degree project undergraduate level Authors: Johan Heikensten and Elin Larsson Advisor: Kristoffer Holt Purpose: When TV4 for the first time offered advertising time to the Swedish political parties for the upcoming election of the European Parliament in 2009, a huge debate broke loose in the media. Regardless of opinions on the matter, we find it safe to say that political television commercials will have a great influence on future election campaigns in Sweden. Hence, we find it of great interest and importance to examine these seven commercials in order to look for tendencies, strategies and trends within the material. Theories: The theory chapter includes Communication, Political communication, Videostyle, Commercial strategies, Rhetoric and Semiotics. Methodology: The survey is based upon two qualitative analyses, a rhetorical analysis and a semiotic analysis. The rhetorical analysis emphasizes ethos, logos and pathos, while the semiotic analysis focuses on connotations, settings and symbols. In addition we have considered certain elements of the Videostyle-concept while examining the commercials. Conclusions: The seven commercials vary in style. The majority of the spots bring up some kind of political issue, although the issues tend to be vague. Three of the commercials present more specific stands on certain issue matters. Overall the spots have a positive focus, concentrating on their own candidate/party. The only negative spot is the Junilistan spot, which fulfills the expectations of the party as a typical challenger. Moderaterna, on the other hand, fulfill the incumbent strategy. Common trends among the spots are the use of political celebrities within the party in order to strengthen the candidacy. The settings are mainly informal and outdoors. Ethnical symbols of are frequently used, especially in the Folkpartiet spots. Key words: political advertisement, commercials, advertising strategies, negative advertising, issue, image, rhetorical analysis, semiotics, rhetoric, videostyle, communication, EU-election