Ad War Update: one week to go

/ April 7, 2013

The shortest presidential campaign in Venezuelan history is now underway in the streets, on the airwaves and also on the inter-tubes. Let’s have a look:

With footage of his rallies as background, Henrique Capriles attacks the results of the de facto Maduro presidency during its brief tenure. In this spot, he focuses on violence:

But he doesn’t forget the recent currency devaluations and its effect on the cost of living:

The Maduro camp continues to appeal to the late comandante presidente’s final request. Joao Santana is now involved as an “indirect assistant” but his trademarks are all over the recent TV commercials. Here, hugs are used as a symbol for keeping the course.

And here’s a heartbeat produced by ordinary citizens ends with Chavez’s last pledge:

Finally, this simple spot of the evangelical party NUVIPA is not much about its candidate Eusebio Mendez (seen at 0:22), but about the principles this party stands for:

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40 thoughts on “Ad War Update: one week to go”

    • This is the first election platform I’ve seen that includes witchcraft. I can’t believe the majority of Venezuelans will buy this nonsense from this idiot.

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      • erm, if a large number of Venezuelans buy Maduro’s claim that the USA injected Chávez with the cancer virus that killed him, and Park Slope resident, Eva Golinger, says that this has to be investigated, well, any nonsense is possible.

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          • Not kidding. She now forms part of the Stroller Nazis. Google her + Park Slope, or “Parents, Nannies Reel After Children’s Deaths” for info,

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              • It must be crappy moving back to the states after being the media darling of a petro dictator. She’s just some random mommy in yuppie land now.

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              • My guess is its BS. She’d love to have a nanny but the Correo del Orinoco salary won’t cover it. But why didn’t Chavez fix her up with a friendly nanny?

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              • Why did the WSJ interview Golinger of all people? Because unfortunately journos — and those of the WSJ are no exception — are not the most pro-active folks, when it comes to scrounging for interviewees. We’ve seen that time and again in the case of reported public perception in and about Vzla. Over the years, as Golinger has twirled around in various hats, seeking the limelight, she has managed to build some newsworthy-ness. As a result, whenever the media needs an American’s view on Vzlan politics, and now, those of Park Slope, it simply mines the same old database for those people in public that might give journos a few soundbytes.

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  2. I am actually surprised for the low pace of the blog during these days, in the midst of a Presidential campaign, and taking into account a newly recruit for the blog. Posts about the last year’s campaign were at the rate of three per day!
    Is it just cold pessimism?

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    • Speaking for myself, I have been busy with other personal occupations. So, there’s that.

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  3. I was taken aback in the hug commercial how the final hug contrasted in euforia with respect to the other hugs. I think that ad could backfire.

    —

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  4. The heartbeat ad is really good. Very powerful.

    The Hug one starts good, but that hug at the end doesn’t look anything like the other hugs.

    It almost loks like Chavez is keeping Zamuro, I mean Maduro, away from him.

    The Capriles ads are decent but do not have the same emotional level as the Chavez ads.

    Much as I hate to say it, the Chavez ads will probably reach more undecideds than the Capriles ones.

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    • I personally think this campaign (just like Chavez’s last campaign) was targeted mostly to his base. I don’t see any hints in the ads of them actively trying to persuade undecided voters. IMHO, they believe this is a base election and therefore, that’s enough for them to win.

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  6. The heartbeat ad is tops.
    Nuvipa sounds like a pharmaceutical drug. “Aquí, tómate 2 tabletas de Nuvipa.”
    Santana as indirect assistant? Sounds like the government is applying some fiscal restraint. What a novelty. (Things must be really bad… or Maduro/Cubans overconfident of their win.)

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  9. Help! How do you respond when non-venezuelans say “But Chavez’s government decreased poverty. Here are the World Bank statistics”. I always lose it there. Numbers create reality. People believe the numbers and not me when I say poverty has not been reduced.

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    • It has marginally reduced poverty and exploded national debt at credit card rates – l literately get less interest that Venezuela – amidst the greatest oil boom in history. This alone is enough to severely doubt that the drop is anywhere near sustainable. Also, other Latin American countries did not have anywhere near comparable boons in money and actually did better during the same period.

      Oh, and improving the poverty statistics can be improved by cutting the average income, rather than actually lifting out of poverty. Chavez was good at reducing the income of the rich, so some of the “improvement” represents not an improvement if living standards but reducing the income of the rich with nothing to show for it.

      Thirdly, there is no doubt that another price of the marginal, temporary improvements in poverty statistic was the fledgling democracy.

      Too little improvement for too high a price. If there was any improvement at all, that is.

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    • It’s true that the rrrevolución has reduced poverty levels in Vzla. But according to The Economist, this reduction is no greater than the Latin American average during the same period, in spite of the oil income.

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  10. Margarita: World Bank statistics are simply regurgitations of Venezulan Government lies, which the WB accepts at face value, since most (non-Venezuelan type) governments tend to be truthful. As I’ve said here before, the WB does not send investigative teams to Venezuela to verify statistics. Venezuelan Government statistics use lying underestimated consumer price inflation, and, worse yet, a vastly under-estmated Bs./$ exchange rate. Just tell your friends that the current Venezuelan take-home minimum wage, earned by a majority of workers (and by 80% of public employees), if they’re lucky, is about $100/month at the recent SICAD rate–so much for reducing poverty!

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