Party ads branded a waste of money
JAKARTA (JP): Observers said on Wednesday political parties' advertisements on television were "a waste of money" and not effective in influencing voter behavior.
Senior political observer Soedjati Djiwandono of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) told The Jakarta Post that the advertisements were ineffective because "they are very short and the content of what the leaders of the parties say is also very short".
"I do not think they really give the people a clear idea of what the parties are all about," Soedjati said.
"I do not think that people are really interested in the ads because after all there are many other interesting things on television... I think it is only a waste of money," he said.
Some of the 48 parties campaigning for the June 7 elections, which are expected to be the first free and fair elections since the 1955 polls, have placed their ads on private television stations to lure 130 million voters.
Among them are top contenders such as the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the ruling Golkar Party.
"Research has shown in other countries that voter behavior can not really be influenced by ads and they do not provide any substance anyway," Wimar Witoelar, noted talk show host and sociopolitical observer, told the Post.
Wimar, however, admitted that the ads were quite effective "in getting people acquainted with the parties".
"I think the main purpose of the television ads would be like brand awareness, getting people acquainted with the numbers and the logos of the parties since they are all new and there are so many of them," he said.
"But not in political education... not in helping people to understand the issues or to differentiate between the parties in terms of programs," Wimar added.
He said there was also an element of injustice.
"If you consider the cost of producing and purchasing airtime... it is considerable, so parties with deep pockets can of course overwhelm an audience with really superfluous ads like Golkar, the People's Sovereignty Party (PDR) and the Republican Party," Wimar said.
A 30-second ad on a private station costs Rp 5 million for each exposure.
A source close to the ruling Golkar Party told the Post recently that the party had "unlimited" funds to win the elections.
"It would do anything to win the June elections," he said.
Golkar and PDR have been accused of practicing "money politics" ahead of the elections in their efforts to reach a reasonable percentage of votes to win the elections. Both have denied the charges.
Wimar further criticized political ads on television, saying they were "more in the tradition of selling products".
"In promoting people, which is what political advertising is all about, you have to show things in terms of themes and feelings rather than the current ads which are more in the tradition of selling products... you should show the personality of Megawati or Amien Rais, for instance, in more illustrative ways," he said, referring to top presidential candidates from PDI Perjuangan and the National Mandate Party (PAN) respectively.
Wimar cited political ads in the United States which he said "had been showing (President) Bill Clinton as a man of the people or (former president) Ronald Reagan as somebody with a strong, single theme".
"But at a time when we seek new development in television ads, I think we should just see them as a new potential for political communication," he said. (byg)