Embellished with soft, pastel colors and sentimental, orchestral music, the ad uses lush images to build an upbeat and nostalgic tone. “Morning in America” opens with sunrise in a busy city, and then it proceeds to show optimistic scenes that would fit into 1950s sitcoms like “Father Knows Best” and “Leave It to Beaver.” Scenes from the commercial include Americans purchasing houses, raising the flag, washing their cars, going to work, getting married, and playing in their backyards. The underlying message is that Reagan brought the tranquility of the 1950s back to the nation. He reversed the malaise and chaos of the last 20 years, which were filled with assassinations, social ruckus, political scandals, a detested war, and long gas lines.
“Morning in America” helped to obscure Reagan’s unresolved political issues with unemployment and the deficit. The ad presents that “today, more men and women will go to work than ever before in our country’s history.” This distracts from the fact that the unemployment rate increased during Reagan’s first term (the increase in workers was just due to America’s population growth). Further, the ad boasts that inflation and interest rates decreased significantly, but it fails to mention that the deficit had more than doubled. Despite these few lingering problems, the ad reinforced America’s confidence in Reagan, and he maintained his status as “The Great Communicator.” He even earned the new title of “The Teflon President” because no scandals or criticisms could really stick to him.
Reagan ended up winning the 1984 election in a landslide. Walter Mondale, his Democratic opponent, only won the District of Columbia and his home state of Minnesota. Although it is unlikely that “Morning in America” saved Reagan from defeat, the ad was successful in captivating voters and convincing them that good times were returning to the nation because of Reagan’s leadership. Because of the fractured nature of today’s media, it’s doubtful that another single paid TV spot will be as influential as Reagan’s.
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This was a really interesting post to read, and I love the style you wrote it in! I liked the analysis you did on the ad’s different components like the color tones and music, and I think they add a lot of support to the feel that Reagan was going for: sunny optimism. I would like to add onto your blog post by writing about the legacy of “Morning in America.” The emphasis on indomitable American spirit and a can-do work ethic in the ad have carried through to modern day. In fact, during the 2016 elections, Republican Party candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz referenced “Morning in America,” using phrases like “morning is coming” and "we can bring back morning in America" in order to try and reflect the politics and spirit of Reagan. I even remember Hillary Clinton dissing Trump by saying that he took the Republican party from “Morning in America” to “Midnight in America!” It’s undeniable that Reagan’s mentality that was epitomized by this ad has still carried through to our elections and those held in the future.
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https://newrepublic.com/article/130139/ad-wars-2016-morning-america-20
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/dnc-2016-hillary-clinton-speech-exerpts-226394
I really enjoyed your post because it goes into depth about the historical situation surrounding the "Morning in America" ad. Once I started reading your post, I immediately connected it back to the "Daisy" ad Lyndon B. Johnson ran in 1964. Both ads were extremely influential by inflicting emotion on the public. While "Morning in America" was very optimistic about America and its future, as you said, "Daisy" played on the fear of Americans to convince them to vote for a certain candidate. Even though these two ads had opposite tones, they demonstrate how influential political campaigning can be if the right angles are played.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was cool to read about such an influential commercial and how it influenced society to such a great extent. It was interesting to hear how Reagan attempted to comfort America and provide an image of tranquility to the viewers as contrast to the last 20 years, even though he was a Cold Warrior himself. During his presidency, the Strategic Defense Initiative was a huge project for the federal government to build defenses around the country to protect from a Soviet nuclear attack. Policies such as this might have built up Reagan's reputation as a man who wanted to continue the Cold War, but the Morning in America ad shows otherwise. It goes to show how political images/propaganda can convey whatever a candidate wants to convey.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Strategic-Defense-Initiative
I thought this blog post is very good at describing the commercial and its effects. One thing this blog post reminds me of is Eisenhower's "Ike for President" commercial. Similar to the "Morning in America" commercial, Eisenhower's commercial featured an idyllic setting. Eisenhower's commercial showed the widespread appeal of Eisenhower with a catchy song. However, these two examples show how political commercials can be very important and can be approached in different ways while still doing a good job at influencing the audience.
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http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1842516_1842514_1842527,00.html