Ad War Update, cont.


HCR’s latest one-minute spot offer some highlights of his “First 100 days’ plan”, focusing on the adjustment of the minimum wage and stopping the regaladera to other countries:

Meanwhile, the latest from the comandante presidente present a bunch of folks that say why they will vote for Chavez. In short: “I vote for Chavez because I love him so much”.

Rip-off alert: At 0:45 appears a flag which suspiciously looks like the “Hay un camino” flag used in HCR’s commercials. Here’s the earlier use of such flag in a spot from May.

Are you kidding me, Comando Carabobo? You call your adversary “the nothingness” and then you copy aspects of his campaign. Can’t tell if you’re really worried or just plain lazy…



    • That fellow looks like he has the” mark of the beast”in his forehead…
      Seriously, most of the “characters” in this video are exhibiting some
      sort of “gang expressiveness”-maybe that is just the way many young people are..
      And, the young lady with the white bra seems “a bit too fresh”.
      Why so many people with teeth problems, I’m no dentist.
      Oh, yeah- represents “el pueblo” I suppose.
      Why do these people believe Chavez is such a big winner?

      • Not sure where you have been hanging around, but they do look like average working class folks. Pretty shallow criticism, if you ask me. And one that creates resentment.

        • I agree with Guido, and why mention the teeth for gosh sakes?These are just working class kids like Guido says, and they look just fine in my opinion.I just don’t agree with them

          • Ok, I looked again. Sorry about the teeth,.Most were very good.-As for the message- “so happy and they love Chavez”- I suppose they are illiterate…
            And, I don’t understand the hand waving expressions, chest thumping-tell me that is not gang behavior?

          • How many of these “ever so happy chavistas” have a big picture
            of Fidel Castro in their house?
            Chavez ad is pure propaganda.Brainwashed propaganda.

          • Foul! My words and thoughts are clear to myself and I have not taken the time to consider
            what is on your mind-since a. I really don’t know you, and b. most of the time you make sense..except on occasions like this one. Get some sleep!

          • VIP Noche, Sounds like you are the one that did not get enough sleep last night? Is there a reason why you are so crabby? In any case,Ii will say it again, the arrogance of people like you is what is going to make the opposition lose the election. Also, before you criticize others for their illiteracy, why don’t you look at your own literacy skills as your posts are filled with syntactic errors. Go back to sleep – you need it!

          • Arrogant comments such as “I suppose they are illiterate…” are precisely why the opposition is going to lose the election. Your assumption, VIP Noche, that Chavez’s followers are gangsters reeks of classism and shows your lack of understanding of Venezuela. I have to ask, are you by any chance Venezuelan?

          • Not really ElPipo, I would guess many older Chavez supporters would have the same reaction. It’s a generation gap, not a class gap. Any young upper class kid would identify these things as normal parts of youth culture. At the same time, many older members of the poor classes would make exactly the same complaint VIP Noche did.

            I mean honestly, have you never heard about old people complaining about “kids these days” regardless of their political orientation? Such complaints have existed as long as there was culture.

          • I agree with ElPipo. ANd I really don’t see my grandma complaining about the kids being ugly or having disgusting teeth. Just classism. In my neighborhood in Valera plenty of people look like that. This kind of comment is not only insensitive, but self defeating.

          • You are right that the are exhibiting something that might be considered “gang expressive” by someone older, I’m guessing you are not of Generation Y (born after 1990). The kind of gestures and dress they use got taken up by the music industry from gang culture, and then transmitted back to youth culture. As a member of Generation Y and can say that many cultural elements someone older might associate with gangs are simply normal youth culture for many people. I understand where your criticism is coming from, but it’s a generational thing not a opposition vs. Chavez thing.

          • Yes Iwas born over 35 years BEFORE 1990. I find these kids “rude and crude” and loud
            and disrespectful with a head full of wrong ideas..and nobody loves children more than I do. Smallones. They are innocent. These teenage creatures are anything but “innocent”…
            When I was young- one would not talk and behave that way or punishment would be swiftly delivered. And, I know some SOME young Venezuelan boys/men and girls/women who have very nice manners too as nice as can possibly be- but they are a small minority it seems.

  1. The key copy points from the Capriles ad are straightforward: crime (seguridad), minimum wage, and an end to foreign handouts. It continues to target the “Chavez-light” vote, with a unabashedly populist message. Boring, but effective.

    The Chavez spot is an overdose of emotion. Just looking at it, I got a sickly sugar rush. The target audience is clearly his base, and is therefore designed to appeal to the same Chavez-light subset, too. It has only one copy point: “we all love him so much that we have to vote for him en masse” (French seems to be hip these days at CC.) By that measure, and thanks to what I believe is actually very good casting, the ad probably works well.

    I think the first ad works better for the swing vote, inasmuch as Capriles seems credible. As the old rhyme goes: “el amor y el interes fueron al campo un dia, y mas pudo el interes que el amor que le tenia.”

    • You are right! and the what looks like a pregnant lady withwriting on her belly
      “Yo soy chavista”..I agree with Zuliaman- over-the top happiness-c’mon man-
      it is intended for people that do not think nor read…

  2. May I add- I am perfectly happy with Capriles ad- it is clear, mature,transmits lots of beneficial information. Night and day difference from Chavez’s cheap garbage.

  3. What about all the “patria libre” and “Chavez libertador” expressions (3 in one minute)?
    Do you think people buy this message? That Chávez liberated Venezuela? from whom or what?
    Chavez ‘champion of the people’ I could understand, but liberator?
    Don’t people see through this not-so-veiled attempt to compare Chávez with Bolívar?
    Do any of his most fervent followers even believe that Chávez belongs in the same league?
    Wouldn’t that put people off a little bit?
    It sounds a bit over the top and simply deranged, IMO.

    The Chavez add is as vacuous as it can be. Doesn’t even promise anything at all. It’s based on apparently already existent achievements. For that reason, its target can only be hardcore Chavistas, if you believe in all those alleged achievements then of course you would vote for him.

    • Amieres,

      I know it is ridiculous but I see comments and ads on my Facebook from Chavistas, some of whom are well educated, and who believe that Chavez eliminated the National debt, started a cell phone company so Venezuelans do not have to depend on foreign ones, and just generally made Venezuela a more sovereign country ,less dependent on( I suppose) the US.
      This idea that Chavez has always promoted appeals to the crowd who wants a more “authentic”, indigenous,and free of outside influence Venezuela.I must add that many Venezuelans don’t seems to mind the Iranians, the Chinese, the Hezbollah or whatever , but look at any Yankee presence with a magnifying glass.These ads are quite good really.

  4. Chavez does not need to make any campaign promises in his adds, because they are using Ley Resorte for that, as you pointed out in a previous post. In that way, they can use their limited time on tv to strengthen Chavez’s role as the Leader,
    The guys/gals in Chavez’s ad are obviously in chavista la la land, but the production values are top-notch.

  5. I watched many of them and find that Chavez ads are consistently better. They target emotions. Capriles ads are a lot more about rational reasoning. Well, news flash: voters are not rational.


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