Lauren Chapman is a senior journalism and telecommunications major and writes ‘Miss Know-It-All’ for The Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper or The Daily. Write to Lauren at lechapman@bsu.edu.
The College Republicans National Committee put this video on their YouTube channel as advertisement for Rick Scott in the Florida governor's race.
I am a woman. I am also a huge fan of foreign and domestic politics and therefore don’t need to be tricked into caring about politics by a poorly executed “Say Yes to the Dress” parody for the governor’s race in Florida.
If it sounds ridiculous, that’s because it is.
In a video published on Oct. 1, the College Republican National Committee targeted young female voters to support Rick Scott as he faces off against Charlie Crist in the Florida governor’s race.
Scott is depicted as a modern dress that is cost efficient and shares his name. Crist is depicted as an outdated dress with additional costs that also shares his name in the heavy-handed metaphor in the ad.
In theory, you could make this metaphor work. But with the clear play on TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress” and the dramatic targeting at women, this becomes downright insulting. While attempting to target women, they managed to alienate anyone with a brain.
It sends the message that women can’t understand politics unless it relates to shopping, and this ad furthers illustrates how out of touch politics is with everyday life.
A political candidate is not a dress. You don’t need to put things in the context of shopping for a woman to understand it.
I understand a lot of things that don’t relate to shopping. I enjoy watching TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress” with one of my roommates. I also enjoy watching baseball, rebuilding computers and being the handy-man of my house.
This is more insulting to women who take pride in their femininity. A woman who likes expressing her femininity isn’t stupid. She’s a woman. Fun fact: she’s allowed to be a woman.
Your political leanings aren’t a fashion statement. Barack Obama purses from 2008 aside, people and their politics are significantly different from their demographics. All this video shows female voters is their lack of connection with them.
Former state representative Ana Rivas Logan told the Tampa Bay Times this advertisement was a showcase of the Republican Party’s “reliance on sexism to communicate with voters.”
The best part is this ad is a carbon copy of six others. They changed the match-ups, but every other element is the same.
But this video continues to be insulting for the rest of the college-aged demographic. The video starts off with the bride saying that she has just graduated college and is focused on saving money.
If you’re arguing fiscal conservatism, that’s great. As adults welcoming life full of filing taxes and real jobs, targeting a college-age demographic on the cost of fiscal liberalism is a great way to communicate your goals.
But because you’re under the age of 30, the CRNC thinks you’re two-dimensional.
This ad is part of a $1 million campaign the CRNC launched for the 2014 election cycle. The Republican Party lost the presidential election, despite having a 2 million vote lead over President Barack Obama in voters over the age of 30. The CRNC says on their website, “Making in-roads with young voters is both possible and essential, and must begin today.”
It’s not possible if you treat young female voters as sitcom tropes.
Young voters did not represent as highly as expected in the 2012 presidential election. Pew Research explained the voter turnout from 2008 to 2012 dropped seven percent.
That problem is double-sided. It’s the fault of politicians for treating the 18-29 year old demographic as moody teens who are uninterested in the politics of their country. The only thing the 55-60 year old politicians in our national government can connect with younger voters on is TLC shows. The next awful advertisement should be Honey Boo Boo telling people “it’s okay to be gay.”
But this disconnect is also the fault of 18-29 year-olds who aren’t interested in the politics of their country.
It’s okay for you to have your own political opinions. You don’t have to follow your demographic. But no politician is going to take you or our generation seriously if we continue to be politically ignorant.
Pay attention to the news. Care about what is going on in the world.
And, of course, don’t wear a wedding dress with tiered ruffles.
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