Whoever decided to make the last two Tory PEBs identical in style, 75% similar in content, have the same music and the same look in every way has, in my view, made a silly mistake.
As soon as the PEB started, my first thought was "I've seen this before". My wife lost interest (and she's not political in any way) and said she'd seen it too. I wonder how many other people felt that too ?
The problem is, as soon as someone thinks they've seen it before, they switch off, put the kettle on, lose interest in the finer details, and in some cases will think the Tories stupid for showing an identical PEB twice.
Now the more it went on I noticed a few subtle differences. There was some reference to a contract (they did something in Norwich North last year and I don't think it did anything to persuade people or change minds), and one new but at the end. But in essence, it seemed like the same PEB as before.
I was told on a Lib Dem campaign training day once to make sure every leaflet looks different from the previous one or else people will think they are the same leaflet they have already seen. The rule should also apply to election broadcasts.
In my opinion it was a schoolboy error, a silly mistake and a wasted opportunity by the Tories.
2 comments:
I live in a Labour-Tory marginal, and there's been five or six Tory leaflets (presumably Ashcroft funded), all very much the same.
They all use the same colour scheme and design, and all say the same. Essentially it's "we're going to cut taxes, cut the deficit and not make cuts in the NHS". To which the OBVIOUS reply is "OK, so what are you going to cut then?". I hope I'm not overestimating people in supposing that now we're had them say the same thing so many times, that's what they're going to be thinking.
The Tory leaflets here (Broadland) have looked very similar so I think that will have an effect.
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