A Little Psychology and a Lot of “Subliminal” in Politics Today?
Everyone seems to be talking about the new Herman Cain ad that closes with his Chief of Staff, Mark Block, taking a half-hearted drag on his cigarette and exhaling the smoke directly at the camera. So what’s the problem?
Context means everything. There are many examples of how important the framing and the context are but my favorite is the spit in your mouth. Think about the saliva in your mouth. It’s good. Now imagine spitting it into a glass and then drinking it. For most, the spit in the glass is not the same as the saliva in your mouth. One is healthy and the other vile. The context is everything, like location in real estate, it’s context, context, context!
So what is the context intended to communicate in the Cain ad? Is there a subliminal message intended in this ad? Let me ask you this, when was the last time this country elected a smoker? Oh—that’s right, President Obama was a smoker. Well what is the perception of smokers? Are they thought of as risk takers? Are they thought of as rugged individualist—the Marlboro Man?
Since the decline in cigarette smoking in this country, tobacco companies have targeted Hispanics and African Americans with intense advertising. Here are some demographics that could be revealing of the real motive. Those with 16 or more years of education have the lowest rate of smoking (11.8%) while adults with 9 to 11 years of education have a much higher rate (36.8%). So we can’t say this ad attracts the brightest among us. (Foundation 2011)
Smoking is also much higher among adults living below the poverty level (32.3%) as compared to the 23.5% who smoke and are in the group living above the poverty level. So the ad is not intended to capture the middle class or higher. (Foundation 2011)
What then are we left with? Is the ad a statement? Cain said as much on Fox News when he pointed out that everyone who knows Mark Block, knows he smokes so he was just being himself in the ad. Just the honest forthright smoking Mark Block? No subliminal message at all? Perhaps so, but did you know that both Block and Cain have strong ties to tobacco companies? According to Ian Murphy of The Buffalo Beast, “"Guys like Block & Cain don’t just make a campaign video that features a guy smoking without considering those connections. It’s not a flippant decision." He goes on to point out both Block and Cain’s tobacco connection including the fact that Cain has personally lobbied on behalf of the tobacco industry.
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