American History

Most Americans process information VISUALLY. Glued to TV. Viscerally reached and captivated through flashy graphics and bursts underscored by sound "stingers." Stirring music behind them, or menacing music underneath, to reinforce the subconscious messaging.

Watch for campaign commercials that show the opponent not terribly well-lit, even shadowy, or surrounded by dark atmospherics. The preferred candidate is shown in brighter (not glaring) light, pleasant backgrounds, pretty colors, and so forth. music underneath can switch from major ("our guy&quot to minor key ("their guy&quot .

LOTS of little tricks that gear the mind of the viewer (and secondarily the EAR of the viewer). Unfortunately, Roger Ailes knew all the tricks. To make it all WOW! DYNAMIC!! PIZAZZ!!! BRIGHT WHITE AND YELLO BURSTS!!! BOOMING Excited-Announcer vocals (just this side of Roller Derby) emphasizing the words "FAIR And BALANCED!!! And it was always FAAAAAAAAA-aaair and BALANCED!!!! with a dramatic change in pitch from high to low, by at least two octaves (almost cutting the word "Fair" in half). Your eyes are almost sucked into the screen.

There are all these little tricks and audio and visual devices that add extra layers of subliminal messaging or reinforcement or condemnation or sarcasm or endorsement, from music adding color and mood, and tone-of-voice of whoever's doing the voice track.

It's basically, and in the baldest sense, theatrics. But it's also COMMUNICATION. And what you can say both with well-chosen or memorable or slogan-y words, AND splashy visuals that hit your eye and bore straight down into your memory. It stirs excitement and excitement stirs emotion, and BOOM!!! You've got their attention. THAT'S the impact. If you've stirred their emotion, they're more likely to be open to whatever it is you're selling. If they're receptive to your message, then it's gonna do a few things:
1) reinforce what you already were thinking or believing. You don't need any convincing.
2) reassure some recent wobblers who may just be waking up and realizing they've been fooled, distracted, or flat-out lied to.
3) change a few minds? Using what kind of persuasion technique? (Have you been working on 'em for awhile and they're starting to realize they're being conned, or are they having some sort of political epiphany all of a sudden? *
*Epiphany is an “Aha!” moment. As a literary device, epiphany (pronounced ih-pif--uh-nee) is the moment when a character is suddenly struck with a life-changing realization which changes the rest of the story. Often, an epiphany begins with a small, everyday occurrence or experience.