Conservative Ad Attacks Canada (In A Subliminal Sort Of Way)

***SPECULATIVE ANALYSIS ALERT***

In recent years, the Conservatives have borrowed a number of strategies, tactics, and techniques from the Republican Party. But as far as I could tell, placing subliminal messages in their political advertising wasn't one of them. That is, perhaps, until now.

You may remember that during the 2000 presidential campaign, there was a bit of controversy over a Bush campaign ad concerning prescription drugs. This is how CNN reported on the commercial, which became known as the "RATS" ad:

Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore's campaign contacted news organizations about an RNC ad in which the word "RATS" appears briefly on screen in a spot that criticizes Gore's prescription drug plan. A spokesman for the Texas governor on Tuesday brushed aside suggestions of subliminal advertising as "bizarre and weird," while the RNC had no immediate comment.

CNN slowed down a copy of the ad, and the word "RATS" clearly appeared on the screen in large, white letters superimposed over the words "The Gore Prescription Plan." In a fraction of a second, the word disappeared, and the words "BUREAUCRATS DECIDE" showed up in smaller letters. To viewers aware of the presence of the word, it is noticeable when the ad is played at normal speed.

Click here to watch the "RATS" ad.

Similarly, it seems as though the use of a word fragment to send a negative subliminal message to voters in Quebec about the Liberal Party and Canada, may have been employed in one of the Conservative Party's French attack ads, titled "Domino".

(Now you have a choice: You can continue reading my analysis of the ad, or you can scroll down, watch it and then come back.)

The ad begins on a red domino with the word "Liberal" on it. As the dominoes start to fall, the announcer lists off all the negative consequences for Quebec society that flow from not addressing the so-called "fiscal imbalance". Dominoes fall throughout. As the ad reaches its climax we get a foreboding close-up of a domino with the word "SCANDALES" written on it. The voice over says, 'centralization', 'scandal'. But the shot on the "SCANDALES" domino is not a static one, it's dynamic. The camera moves toward the domino, heightening the tension. As it does so, the "S" and the "L-E-S" begin to move out of the frame. Then, as the domino falls, and comes toward the camera, the "S" and the "L-E-S" are completely out of frame, and the screen is filled with the word fragment, "CANDA" -- just one "A" shy of Canada. The ad closes on a blue domino with "Conservative" on it, that doesn't fall and symbolically puts a stop to those centralizing, scandal ridden Candians .... I mean, Liberals.

Now, can I say for certain that this was intended by those who created the commercial? No. It could just be what filmmakers call "a happy accident". In this ad, the visuals are designed to evoke tension. And using a dynamic shot in the climax of a suspenseful sequence -- particularly one where the camera moves toward the object in the frame -- is a pretty standard film technique. It elevates tension in the viewer and thereby predicates the desire and need for calm, provided by a static shot and stopping the rapid edits, which is exactly how this commercial ends. So the form is true to the content.

But then again, who knows with these guys. Perhaps they are following the lead of their Republican friends. And subliminally drawing a connection between "Liberal scandals" and Canada, in order to garner the support of staunch Quebec nationalists, may have been exactly what they set out to do.

The bottom line is: Either they're malevolent geniuses, or I probably shouldn't have read William Bryan Key's "Subliminal Seduction" as an impressionable teenager.