Political Ad Watch - PNP nah change course

Published in the Jamaica Gleaner: Sunday | August 5, 2007

Maybe it's the celebratory mood around Eman-cipation and Independence holidays but both the governing People's National Party (PNP) and the opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) have been having heavy rotations on radio of new campaign songs that seem to capture the spirit of the period.

The use of popular songs to communicate political message has always been a feature of Jamaican electioneering

From the very first elections in the 1940s and 1950s, PNP founder Norman Manley and his JLP counterpart Alexander Bustamante had singers on the platforms and were generally introduced with their favourite hymns.

The use of music was taken to another level in the 1972 campaign when several popular singers of the time became part of the bandwagon of PNP leader Michael Manley. That trend continues today where pulsating rhythms from huge loudspeakers are an integral part of mass rallies.

Several of the original songs that are features of the rallies also double asradio commercials and several of these have been in campaign ads in the past week.

The PNP, for example, came out this past week with 'Nah Change Course', a counter-attack to the JLP theme that the country must change course and which has been in nearly all JLP advertising to date.

Sent by God?

Under a steady mento rhythm, the song features a male singer repeating the chorus line, 'Not changing course, no we nah change no course'. Then there are several voices of men, women and children listing the reasons why the party is not changing course: Support for family, education, stronger economy, lower inflation, stable dollar, foreign investments and lower interest rates.

The lyrics also focus on Party Leader and Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller whom the singer refers to as 'Mama Portia' who has been "sent to us by Father God". She is hailed as the 'people's leader' and the audience is urged to "give her the mandate".

The lyrics are consistent with the PNP campaign twin strategy of defending the record of the Government which has been in power for 18 years and, at the same time, drawing on the personal and popular appeal of Simpson Miller.

But it is the music that makes this one a winner because it is a memorable tune and a danceable rhythm.

It also seems to have the older, traditional PNP supporter as the target audience and hence has the capacity to energise party followers who must know that the JLP media profile has been much higher than the PNP's throughout the campaign.

Labour party marching

Meanwhile, the JLP continued to introduce new material regularly, one of the latest offerings on radio being 'Labour Party Marching' on to victory with Bruce Golding leading the way.

The song has a strong Revival beat, complete with a 'tracker', and targets older and religious voters who can connect with old-time Jamaican 'nine night' ceremonies.

The refrain, JLP marching and Bruce Golding leading the way, is repeated several times. In one of the more catchy lines, the singer says, "Me and mi neighbour, voting for Labour" and then asserts that "we shall have the victory".

Another JLP radio commercial song, Shame Pon Sista P, is in sharp contrast as the target is clearly the younger voter. It starts with traditional reggae and lyrics with the warning, "Don't mek dem flop you show' and tells voters they should "tell the Comrades all of dem have to go."

The beat switches to the more current dancehall sound and the style is DJ, the language street level: "Dem nyam fi dem share and now fi mi own dem waan fi tek." Then it ends with the appeal to prevent that from happening by voting Labour.

We are seeing a lot of creativity in these songs on both sides of the political divide and some may transition from political campaign to popular culture.

Campaign on the web

Both parties are using their websites to extend their advertising and public relations buy in traditional mass media by posting songs, ads and videos which can be accessed by anyone, anywhere, any time.

Web access may be of particular interest to younger voters as well as Jamaicans in the diaspora who follow local politics and sometimes influence outcomes with financial contributions and other links, especially to their home constituencies.

Here, the JLP had been outperforming the PNP as up to Friday their website, www.jlpteam.com, had at least 12 television commercials that have already appeared on TVJ and CVM. Web surfers can play the commercials, powered by the well-known social-network site, YouTube.

In the past week the PNP has been catching up and now has four current TV commercials at their site, www.pnpjamaica.com. The site also has some 25 campaign and party songs ranging from My Father Born Yah/The Message of the 1970s to the current Full Speed Ahead, Portia, which is also a radio commercial.