DEMOCRACY
 1 3 - 1 5 JULY 1994
 UNfVERSlTY OF THE WITWATERSRAND
 HISTORY WORKSHOP
 SELLING CHANGE: ADVERTISEMENTS FOR THE
 1994 SOUTH AFRICAN ELECTION
 Eve Bertelson
 English Department
 University of Cape Town
(DRAFT OHLY: SOT TO BE QUOTED)
 SELLING CHAWS: ADVERTISEMENTS FOR THE 1994 SOUTH AFRICAN ELECTION
 EVE BEKTELSEN
 Dep t . o f E n g l i s h , UCT
 PREAMBLE
 We have just lived through a remarkable period during which our country has
 changed status from being the world's favourite whipping boy to becoming the
 West's wet dream. This transformation finds brilliant expression in the
 business community's TV ad "You are the People". One must hasten to point out
 that the imagery of this type of ad (as of its famous prototype, the Coca Cola
 sd which has all human life sipping Cokes "in perfect harmony"), is not about
 giving voice to the world's dispossessed. Far from it. It's more about
 shopping going global. This paper is an attempt to address just such an
 articulation in a particular season of South African political advertisements.
 I don't offer a comprehensive survey of all advertisements generated during
 the election campaign, although the ads under discussion are a representative
 selection. Nor do I address-to any extent the question of effectiveness:
 whether the ads were more or less successful in convincing undecided voters to
 make their mark. Conmonsense opinion seems to be that, as in most "Uhuru"
 elections, loyalties were pretty well established before the campaigns proper
 began. This seems to be borne out by the high correlation between the opinion
 polls and the final results. As early as February the Sunday ri/nes/Markinor
 poll gave the ANC 64% and the NP 16%, while the Star/MMR gave them 62% and 19%
 respectively. The final tally at the end of April was: ANC 62,6%; NP 20,4%
 {Sunday Times, 8 May 1994). But even here inferences are bound to be
 unreliable. Due to the complete lack of transparency on the part of the IEC
 (Independent Electoral Commission), it is difficult to know whether the poll
 figures may be taken as an independent coordinate. It seems quite likely that
 poll figures were used in the mediation process around election irregularities
 to finalise the results. And the IEC seems to have no intention of releasing
 any further breakdown of figures, e.g. on a sub-regional or polling district
 basis. [Q: How many IEC commissioners does it take to change a lightbulb? A:
 We have the figures, but we're not releasing them yet.] A further problem is
 posed by the high illiteracy rate in South Africa, coupled with
 correspondingly high numbers of non-users of mass media. So many
 imponderables, together with the lack of detailed data, make it impossible to
 plot with any accuracy the effectiveness of the advertising campaigns. (For
 recent work on the effectiveness of political advertising, see Diamond and
Bates: 1988; Kem: 1989; Just, Crigler and Wallach: 1990; Johnson-Cartee and
 Copeland: 1981; Philo: 1993.)
 What I.offer here is a discursive and seaiotic reading of the run of ads
 produced by the main political parties from mid-February to April 28 1994.
 First, I invoke the current debate around advertising and attempt to
 characterise advertisements, and the political advertisement in particular, as
 a specific discourse type. Next, I read the ads diachronically and
 synchronically as indices of the iaage-definition and political programmes of
 the parties. This involves a discussion of the South African interdiscursive,
 the core of local and situated imagery, narrative and myth deployed in these
 texts. I look closely at a few synpOtomatie ads from each campaign, commenting
 on their encoding, their target audiences, and likely deccdings. And in
 conclusion, I comment on the dual affects of this particular mode of
 representing politics (i.e. the political advertisement as such). It seems to
 communicate both function and pleasure: it provides a persuasive template of
 reference to the "real", and simultaneously offers the more diffuse benefits
 of "polyphonic" text, positioning users for change and innovation.
 Most useful for my immediate purposes here is recently published British work
 operating in the Cultural:Studies mode, which focuses on textual issues and
 concerns itself with the process of the encoding and decoding of ads per se,
 reading these texts as a rich and complicated locus of social, cultural and
 political sign systems. Goldman, in Reading Ads Socially (1992) observes that
 ads are a prime instance of the logic of the commodity form which impact both
 materially and ideologically, reifying and mystifying social logic, framing
 meanings and organising the ways we see the world. Philo's Media, Politics and
 Public Belief (1993) maps Labour's failure to capture the public imagination
 in the 1992 British elections, stressing the crucial role played by popular
 political phrases, gnomic formulations or aphorisms. These catchphrases can
 encapsulate coherent political ideas and work with voters as "templates",
 through which people may interpret their own experiences and desires as well
 as make sense of a plethora of incoming information, especially from media
 sources. He asserts that the presence or absence of such successful popular
 idiom may be a reliable index of the success or failure of parties in
 capturing the public imagination by representing (both reflecting and
 constructing) public concerns and consciousness. Cook's (1992) The Discourse
 of Advertising sets ads in complex interaction with the texts around them.
 Using contemporary theories of linguistics and poetics and working at the
 interface of play, power and display, he offers some fascinating hypotheses on
 the areas that most concern me here, namely: ads as a specific discourse type,
 and their role as both reference and play, contributing to social cohesion and
 the construction of identity. Davidson's 77ie Consumerist Manifesto (1992), on
the other hand, reads ads as the symptomatic texts of the postmodern age,
 which have rendered obsolete earlier approaches to cultural and political
 value. In many ways (though in a more celebratory mood) his findings are close
 to those of Goldman, Philo and Cook: the "second-level", "hyper-real" (Barthes
 and Baudrillard) signification of ads is here to stay, as is the "aspirational
 consumer", and we had best apply ourselves now to understanding their
 strategies and dynamics as a ubiquitous contemporary genre of rhetoric and
 "excessive" meanings. Ads are symptomatic (act as rich indices) of the
 cultures which produce them. They are "relevance mythopoeically expanded'!.
 POLITICAL ADVBKnSEKQrrS AS DISCOURSB TYPE
 Much has been written on commodity advertising, but very little on
 specifically political ads as a sub-type. I derive my framework for this study
 from a free adaptation of Philo, Cook and Davidson. While they work on the
 whole with consumer-commodity ads, it seems feasible to treat political ads as
 operating with similar imperatives, fusing the rhetoric of the standard
 political speech with the tactics of the commodity ad. As acts of ostensive
 communication (Sperber and Wilson: 1984) political ads seek to alter behaviour
 either physically or cognitively. They occur on the periphery of attention,
 embedded in other discourses, and thus need to be attention-grabbing. They are
 usually intrusive (unsolicited by receivers). And they generate meaning in
 excess of the demands of reference - "an aura of extra-factual sigificance"
 (Davidson, 148). These are their more obvious features, almost understood by
 default.
 Less obvious, perhaps, are their complexity as discourse, their particular
 strategies of cohesion, and their affects: their simultaneous production of
 information and pleasure. Like the commodity ad, the political ad is multi-
 modal. It manifests a dense use of verbal and iconic signs, as well-as
 paralanguage (the non-verbal signs of photographs such as body language,
 gesture and facial expression; and the codes of clothing and setting et al.,
 which in turn compose the larger sub-codes of gender, race and class), Within
 the codes of the media itself, they are distinguished from flanking copy by
 their varied use of layout and letter type. They are further distinguished by
 their intense dependence on other discourse types, a feature both Cook and
 Davidson (214; 197) discern as "postmodern": i.e. ads do not originate their
 own materials (pastiche); they seldom "mean" what they overtly appear to be
 saying (irony), and they are intensely intertextual (parody). In short, ads
 are almost entirely parasitic - they have no unique discourse of their own.
 Rather, they appropriate and exist through their use of other discourses. (The
 political ad would, of course, be a variant here, since it does work with
 political discourse, but precisely because of this its status as advertisement
is usually obscured.) The heteroglossic images and narratives of ads merge
 features of public and private discourse, effecting a transition between the
 normally opposed spheres of authority and intimacy. Through all these features
 ads appear to answer a need for code-play ^metaphors, riddles, puns and
 jokes), for display and repetitive ("poetic") language (Cook, 226-8), and for
 ritual boasting (Goffman: 1979). In their formal organisation ads are highly
 cohesive, making excessive use of intra-modal parallelisms which operate by
 repeating almost any feature - words, sounds, line, colour or rhythm -
 employing the traditional strategies of poetry, music and art. In their
 persistent foregrounding of connotational, indeterminate and metaphorical
 meanings (Barthes: 1973) they assume the character of "myth" or "second-level
 signification". They effect a fusion between disparate discourses and spheres
 of experience; offering a conteaporary interdiscursive, a shared popular
 encyclopaedia of ritual, aphorisms, stories and frames of understanding. Ads
 are a postmodern ritual whose sheer ubiquity and repetition in our culture
 induces a sense of security and community, and is a means of confirming one's
 identity within the society to which the text belongs, because everyone within
 the society knows the same text. In many contemporary societies such widely
 shared texts are hard to find. Ads, by constantly repeating themselves, seem
 to bid for this need (Cook, 228).
 SELLING CHANGE: SOOTH AFRICA'S ELBCTIGK ADS
 In applying the above description to this particular body of ads, we oust
 begin by posing some basic questions. Wwhat, in the case of each party, is the
 "commodity" on offer? How is it represented (imaged, narrated and "branded")?
 And to whom does it seem to be addressed? It will be clear from my title that
 I consider the commodity to be "change". But what rapidly becomes obvious on
 even the most cursory reading Of these sds, is that this "change" is of two
 distinct orders. On one level the task is persuasively to package and market
 rapid and widespread political, social, cultural and economic change. But at
 the same time it appears that each of the major parties feels an urgent need
 to communicate a radical change of image. In each case there is a concerted
 attempt to purge the party's image of associations which were once
 deliberately sought, but now prove to be inconvenient. The ANC must effect a
 transition from "struggle movement" (with its imagery of protest, defiance and
 rolling mass action) to thoughtful and responsible goverrunent-in-waiting. The
 NP must shed its considerable historical baggage of apartheid crimes (racial
 divisiveness, secrecy, violent coercion) and bid for a new multi-racial
 conservative vote. The DP, having yielded most of its historical "civil
 rights" project to the ANC, seems to have no option but to reconstitute its
 "watchdog" role, this time as a sort of upmarket, moral armed-response to what
 it sets up as a sinister NP-ANC conspiracy.
What remains to be seen is how, within this general field, each of the parties
 makes its play for "product differentiation" and consumer loyalty. At this
 point we must turn to the texts themselves.
 First, I will run through the campaigns diachronically, looking at the overall
 trajectory of each, and identifying the gestalt and immediately accessible
 message of each set of ads. This will involve such aspects as the overall
 layout and design that makes members of each set instantly recognisable: the
 distinctive use of typeface, copy, logo's, straplines, slogans and repetitive
 imagery. A crucial early recognition is, of course, the brand name. On a
 first, cursory scanning (the way readers tend to use a newspaper before
 settling down to read selected items) what are the most obvious attention-
 grabbing features? What do they tell us instantly about the product on offer?
 After this overview, I will focus more formally on a few symptomatic
 examples.
 AFRICAN NATIGHAL CONGRESS (ANC)
 The ANC account was handled by Hunt Lascaris, advised by Frank Greer and Stan
 Greenberg, organisers of Clinton's successful 1992 presidential campaign. They
 suggested the ANC should avoid slurs and negativity and stick to issues and
 principles. Their advice seems to have set the tone of the campaign: people
 will be looking for a clear set of policies; "even if you don't read or can't
 read the details, you get the message: the ANC has a plan; it's serious"
 {Weekly Mail, 25 February 1394). As we flip through the ANC's national
 advertisements, certain distinguishing features are available at a glance.
 First, the overall trajectory of the national campaign. Like all campaigns, it
 seems to be composed around the distinct "moments" identified by Diamond and
 Bates (1984): naming and identification; statement of policies and'arguments;
 attacks on opponents, and the "visionary" conclusion. These may be understood
 as both a diachronic pattern and as organisational tropes within the
 individual ads.
 The ANC begins with some preliminary positioning from mid to late February.
 The early ads (no visuals, long copy) starkly list the achievements of
 negotiations (ANC: 1). Embedded in this group, as light relief, is the
 frustrating dot matrix insert in Argus Group papers which urged readers to
 "LOOK mBQU?fci THE CHAOS TO FIND HOPE" (ANC: 2). ,
 This is closely followed by the next phase (endrFebruary to mid-March) which
 comprises the "Our Plan" ads, offering policies and arguments. These kick off
 with a "reconstruction" image depicting Mandela, peering through a gap in a
 wall (ANC: 3), and a proposal for reducing crime and violence (ANC: 4). Third
comes,education, with a visual of a nailed-dotm pencil wrenching free (ANC:
 5). In each of these a strong iaage is tied to text which a) sets out concrete
 proposals and b) deals holistically with a specific problem. For example, the
 fourth "Our Plan" ari (ANC: 6) lists plans for building homes, electrification,
 improvement of hostels, and ties these to a big close-up photograph of bricks
 and mortar with the caption "Our plan will lay a foundation of peace and hope
 ...". Women come in at number five with equal pay, representation, health care
 and land. In the visual a pail and mop metamorphose into microphones, with the
 caption: "Our plan will give women a much stronger voice" (ANC: 7). The
 summary ad which closes this section, shows us the multi-ethnic class of 94 and
 takes up the keynote: "2,5 MILLION JOBS AND FREE EDUCATION" (ANC: 8). Thus the
 policies.
 From mid-March to mid-April there is a series of attacks on the NP, with more
 overtly negative images. A SANCO ad lists NP atrocities on a scroll:
 Boipatong, Bisho, death squads, the assassination of Hani (ANC: 9). Figures on
 education expenditure with the strapline "WE CANNOT AFFORD MORE OF THIS"
 depicts schoolkids working on the floor (ANC: 10), and a column of icons of
 joblessness and grief signifying "WHAT THE NP IS DOING" are set against a
 column of "WHAT THE ANC WILL DO" (ANC: 11). A Hani memorial ad with a large
 photo intervenes: "IT TAKES A BRAVE PERSON TO FIGHT. BUT A TRUE HERO TO MAKE
 PEACE" (ANC: 12).
 The final wrap-up (mid-April to election day) offers an upbeat finale.
 Mandela's face (which has been sparingly used) reappears, and he summarises
 the thrust of the campaign: "After 27 April there will be something more
 important than an ANC government. You." The copy stresses unity and peace
 ("The time for casting blame is over"), and recapitulates the basic points of
 the plan (ANC: 13). The final run picks up directly on the voting theme, with
 a COSATU ad punning on the crucial mark with the crosses of Biko, Aggett,
 Goniwe et al. asking "WHERE ARK YOU GOING TO PUT YOUR CROSS?1; a voting paper
 with the ANC strip in full colour (ANC: 15); an assertion of dignity (ANC:
 16), and a quick recap which sets the Nats' "NO PLAN" against "OUR PLAN" (ANC:
 17). Then on 27 April, a final close-up of Mandela with the visionary appeal:
 "SEKUNJALO! ... Let us vote in overwhelming numbers ... Today is a day like no
 other before it. It marks the dawn of our freedom" (ANC: 18).
 The standard features of the conoercial ad are in evidence in all of these
 texts. Name identification and the overall binding slogan are the most
 repeated motifs: the combined ANC name and logo (shield, spear, flag, wheel
 and fist) at the righthand bottom corner of each item, combined with the
 slogan strapline "A better life for all. Working together for jobs, peace and
 freedom". In terms of typeface and layout, we have a rather understated play
on black, white and grey, with prominent statements standing out in white on
 black. The ads are very long on copy (words) and short on iconic motifs
 (pictures). The general gestalt is that of the serious business ad (insurance,
 company report). This is clearly part of the project (see Greenberg above) of
 altering the image of the organisation from one of mobilisation to one of
 painstaking thought and planning. Before we read the long copy, this projects
 the campaign's "strong sustainable idea". The ads' few bold images and
 detailed verbal proposals suggest painstaking thoughtfulness. in the face of a
 history of prejudice, neglect and violence. The final summary wraps this up:
 "We have a plan. ... The NP has no plan. But it does have a record of failure.
 ... Just look around you. ..."
 AHC: WESTERN CAPE
 A scan of one ANC regional campaign, that in the Western Cape, supports this
 profile. The broad contours and phases are the same, but the whole business
 becomes much more personalised. The specifically regional ads are woven into
 the national set (they often appear on consecutive pages in the same
 newpaper), and serve to add immediacy and local detail to the more general
 promises or attacks of the national ads. Mandela's face is not used here; Alan
 Boesak is the kingpin. Boesak warms up at the end of February with the freshly
 minted regional lists and his photo inset, with "THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO WILL
 BRING JOBS, PEACE AND HOUSING TO THE WESTERN CAPE" (WCP: 1). The key to the
 sequence that follows is contained in the huge banner "JUST HOW FAIR IS THE
 CAPE?" (WCP: 2), as Thabo Mbeki arrives in the Cape to deal with the (for the
 ANC at least) unfortunate Delft crisis, where ANC-supporting black squatters
 have occupied houses built for "coloureds". Early on in the campaign the
 influential Muslim community is addressed in another long copy ad headlined:
 "HOW WILL THE ANC PRESERVE THE PROUD TRADITIONS OF THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY?"
 (WCP: 3). Then the national "Our Plan" issues of housing, jobs and education
 are given a local fix. Housing at this time is hard news in the region, so the
 ads are on the defensive. The first one turns on a pun: "THE ANC STANDS FOR
 THE PROTECTION OF ALL PEOPLE'S PROPERTY. WHICH IS WHY WE'RE STANDING IN DELFT"
 (i.e. "Right now, ANC marshalls are standing guard to prevent the illegal
 occupation of houses in Delft, Cape Town" (WCP: 4). The next ad supports this,
 promising "Over the next five years the ANC will build one million homes"
 under the banner: "WE CAN'T LIVE IN PEACE ... IF WE'RE ALL LIVING IN THE SAME
 HOUSE" (WCP: 5). Then comes jobs, with a photo of an unemployment queue, and a
 pun: "THE ANC WILL CHANGE THIS PICTURE' (WCP: 6); and education - a photo of
 schoolkids peering through the glass of broken windows invites a further pun:
 "THE ANC WON'T FAIL OUR CHILDREN" (WCP: 7). This completes the "policies"
 phase of the campaign, which complements the national ads.
The middle phase (usually the phase of "attack") consists of a run of
 personalised endorsements, explicitly anti-NP in content, and shot through
 with some sniping from OOSATU. In the first OOSATU squib, mugshots of Hernus
 Kriel and FW de Klerk associate the NP with hitsquads, the Third Force and
 taxi wars. Here too, puns are the order of the day: "THEY RUN GUNS AND
 HITSQUADS - DON'T LET THEM RUN THE WESTERN CAPE" (WCP: 8). In the Western Cape
 campaign "Don't betray your history" and "Don't let them ..." are used as
 running motifs, and these negative injunctions organise the endorsements as
 well. A funeral photo reminds voters of the infamous "Trojan Horse" killings
 of 1985: "DON'T LET THEM STAIN YOUR HANDS WITH THE BLOOD OF OUR CHILDREN"
 (WCP: 9). (Unfortunately the main woman in this photo turned out to be an NP
 supporter (Argus, 20 April 1994, p.10). Then more mugshots and lists of
 apartheid crimes: "APARTHEID'S MEN STILL WANT TO RUN THE CAPE. NOW IS THE TIME
 FOR YOU TO STOP THEM" (WCP: 11). Next come the glamorous studio portraits in
 big close-up of the endorsement run, each with an ethnic-type border. In
 sequence, the signed messages come from Vergotine: who promises "Ten years of
 quality education for all" (WCP: 12); Sonn, who appeals to "all Godfearing,
 decent, principled people" (WCP: 13); Balfour, who offers the Olympics plus
 half a million jobs (WCP: 14), and Davids, who undertakes to preserve Muslim
 dignity and traditions (WCP: 15).
 The run is concluded during election week by a full page of endorsements (copy
 only) by individuals from various sectors (WCP: 16), followed by a huge banner
 on the next page: "UNITE THE PEOPLE OF THE CAPE. VOTE ANC" (WCP: 17). And
 Boesak wraps up with his own version of the Mandela message and letter, both
 with a strong anti-NP thrust (WCP: 18; 19).
 While the general design is similar to the national ads, there is less long
 copy. The ads are localised, more personal, and stronger on visuals. The
 Western Cape is highly marginal for the ANC, and consequently the moment of
 "attack" is more pronounced.
 A few general remarks about the ANC's press ads. If one can infer a target
 reader from their general design and content, this person is clearly not one
 of the solidly loyal African community. S/he is literate (most are long on
 copy); an undecided voter; self-interested and inclined to be soft on NP
 crimes (and feel guilty about this), and probably suspicious about "hard sell"
 politics. Most important of all, s/he has a prejudiced image of the ANC as a
 rather rash, impulsive outfit, associated in the main with guilt-inducing
 accusations, crowds, protests, rolling mass action and potential violence. Any
 imagery of this ilk is noticably absent from the ads. If the chief task of the
 ANC ads is to "sell change", then this task is dual: the ads sell both a set
 of policies for social, political and economic change and a changed image for
the party itself. The ANC is imaged as a thoughtful party strong on
 organisation, careful planning and peaceful coexistence.
 The ANC ads operate with higher levels of straight political rhetoric than
 those of the other parties. This is clearly intentional (see Greenberg,
 above). Although unusually heavy on copy, they are still, multi-modal. Their
 visual images (iconic signs) are drawn from a shared local lexicon, instantly
 recognisable to South African readers. To be brief, I'll deal with these in
 three categories. First we have the portraits of "media knowns", for example,
 Sonn (WCP: 13); Boesak (WCP: 19); Hani (ANC: 12), and Mandela (ANC: 18). While
 in a sense a photographic portrait has a simple 1:1 inductive power of
 reference (he was there, in front of the lens, and his features have been
 chemically impressed on photographic paper for us to see), a lot more sign-
 making is obviously at work here. Each set of "known" features carries a
 freight of narrative (the South African media user knows their history of
 suffering and struggle as well as a wealth of detail about their
 personalities, beliefs and lives). The paralanguage of a photo (signs of skin
 colour, gender and age; the clothing worn with its suggestions of status;
 gesture and facial expression which select a prevailing mood) - all of these
 codes are made to work here, and within the sub-rules of the genre are firmly
 fixed by inter-modal repetitions. To cite just one example: the photo of
 Mandela chosen to conclude the campaign is not the most glamorous or youthful
 one available, but all its signs have been carefully chosen. It is side-lit;
 it exposes facial flaws; it stresses age (the grey hair), determination (the
 set of the mouth and jaw) and vision (the piercing off-camera gaze). These
 selections are "anchored" by the words: "Sekuajalo" and "the dawn of freedom".
 Portraits of media "knowns" always operate both as reference and as complex
 symbols (Barthes' "second-level signifiers" or items of myth). (The power of
 anchoring is even more apparent in the "attack" ads (WCP: 8; WCP: 11) where
 the fairly neutral images of NP leaders are re-coded by captions as mugshots
 of semi-criminals.)
 The next mode of sign used is the documentary photo. Those used in the ANC ads
 are drawn from the same "struggle" lexicon as the photos of "media knowns":
 rundown schools (WCP: 7); funerals (WCP 9); unemployment (WCP: 6), and
 aspirant.all-race groups (ANC: 8). This type, of photo can be guilt-inducing
 (for the floating voter at least).and so, although it is a dominant trope in
 ANC discourse, it is used, sparingly here. In the ANC ads it is the aspirant
 "rainbow" image that takes pride of place, and together with the long copy
 policy proposals, their visual signs and paralanguage are inter-modally fixed
 to the running slogan "A better life for all".
10
 Finally, there is the category of symbols or metonymies, in which a sign is
 used not as realistic reference, but to "stand in for" a whole area of
 experience or an abstract idea. The pencil and nails (ANC: 5) signify "freeing
 oppressed education"; the bricks and mortar (ANC: 6) whole homes and the
 housing plan; the mop and mikes (ANC: 7) the loosening of gender oppression,
 and the ballot paper (ANC: 15) the entire election process and democracy
 itself.
 Throughout this run of ads readily recognisable political rhetoric articulates
 with.the sub-rules of the advertising genre to bind the message. Highly
 cohesive and redundant texts are generated by repeating the same sentiment at
 every level of signification: visual image and paralanguage (the pictures);
 verbal text (detailed proposals, puns, stock phrases and aphorisms), and the
 ubiquitous ANC logo with its catchphrase or slogan which effects closure by
 conclusively "anchoring" this plethora of signs. So, although the ANC ads have
 chosen to be pretty austere, they do make ample use of the characteristic
 intertextuality and code-play of this specific discourse type in their prime
 task of "branding" their product and imbuing it with "excessive" connotational
 significance.
 RATIOHAL PARTY (HP)
 The NP advertising account was handled by Saatchi and Saatchi's South African
 subsidiary, Optimun Marketing Communications. The brandname and commodity on
 offer from the NP is also in drastic need of redefinition and repackaging.
 Here we meet "the new (improved) National Party" in heady amnesiac mode.
 "Forgive and forget" is the organising kernel. But it is a selective amnesia.
 First, an overview.
 The NP chooses to block its campaign in three phases, which lag slightly
 behind the ANC's. In the warm-up (nid-Harch to mid-April) the main elements
 are introduced. We are promised a series of endorsements by people from all
 ethnic groups. But more than this, we are to see a campaign which cunningly
 "steals" the rhetorical and aesthetic capital of the ANC and puts this to work
 for its main opposition. Two early ads offers a full page big close-ups of
 black candidates, one a woman, asserting the demand for women's rights,
 .affirmative action and equal education in a strong economy (NP: 1; NP: 2).
 ?These ads enunciate from the start the principle of the parasitic double-take
 that will organise the NP campaign. Take the Nana Masango text. This is the
 expected profile on an ANC ad, and the effect on the average South African
 newspaper reader is guaranteed to be fairly dramatic. On scanning the &d,
 one's eye moves through the elements in the predictable order: visual (upbeat
 black female image), down-page to brandname and slogan (can this be right -
 "NP" and "BE .SUES.OF A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL"?). Then one scans the copy:
11
 freedom from exploitation and abuse; laws to protect us; equal opportunity -
 each and every phrase lifted straight from the struggle lexicon, and now, in
 the time-honoured manner of advertising discourse, all to be cohesively allied
 to the "new" NP. Even the NP's election slogan is parodic pastiche. That is,
 the party does not originate its own slogan, but borrows this intertextually
 from the ANC's "A better life for all", here ironically modified as "Be sirs
 of a better life" (always underlined). The implication being: as you read the
 ANC's promises and proposals, be wary. The NP is persistently characterised as
 the party with "experience and skills", offering a very similar package to the
 ANC, but with the ability to deliver. Other tactics are also clear early on in
 the NP campaign. There will be a sustained attack on communists in the ANC (a
 graphic of the communist wolf in sheep's clothing: "What lies beneath the ANC?
 Communist lies!") (NP: 3). The ANC will be blamed for the current violence
 (another instance, of parasitism, a newsphoto of the Shell House massacre
 coupled with copy from the Sowetan) (NP: 6). The target readers will be
 undecided new voters, for example concerned black parents (NP: 4) ; and
 reluctant rightwingers ("I'm fed up with a Volkstaat") (NP: 5). And the
 "changed", "new" NP will be lauded as the party of experience, stability,
 economic growth and concern for the individual. The NP is obviously canvassing
 as the chief party of opposition, so a comprehensive "plan" is less important
 here.
 The second phase is signalled by a long copy ad in mid-April (NP: 7). Stealing
 the ANC's famous "Sekunjalo" slogan, it announces: "Now is the time to make
 the change". This announcement introduces a long run of endorsement narratives
 (mid-April to election week) (NP: 8ff.). These narratives make fascinating
 reading, and we'll return to them in due course. The point to be made at this
 stage is that they cunningly contrive to conflate poignant tales of suffering
 at the hands of the ANC with ardent testimonials of conversion to the NP point
 of view. The narratives come from individuals of all colours and a wide range
 of occupations (NP: 9; 10; 11; 12; 13). Also from all age-groups and previous
 political persuasions (NP: 14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19; 20; 21). They run right up
 to the beginning of election week and find a dual climax. First in the
 conversion of the photographer himself who photographed these ads ("I felt
 shamed by their courage. I had never bothered to vote or stand up for what I
 believed in. ... Support these brave people. Vote National party") (NP: 22).
 And finally a double-spread reprise of all of the witnesses (NP: 23).
 One would assume from the saturation use of black and coloured faces that the
 NP (apart from its leader who looks a bit pale) is a traditionally multi-
 racial party. The summary ad of the endorsement run which forms the staple of
 the campaign (NP: 23> shows 33 faces of which 18 are black, 6 are coloured and
 only 9 are white. Apart from a couple of workers, most are professionals or
12
 upwardly-mobile entrepreneurs. The signs of the portraits (e.g. NP: 10) are
 all upbeat in both text and paralanguage: thoughtful and optimistic
 expressions; assertive posture and gesture; neat clothing, set against the
 paraphernalia of their trades. The accompanying text has an "authentic"
 colloquial feel to it. All of the personal narratives have a similar
 structure. First the occupation in the strapline: "I'm a teacher; unionist;
 pensioner; car mechanic etc."; then the proper name. Each narrates a personal
 history, which involves brushes of one kind or another with the ANC, at
 school, at home or at work. The ANC comes out of all of these as bullying,
 devious, and corrupt, a source of diurnal fear and insecurity. Communist
 influence in the ANC is frequently criticised by the narrators, as is their
 lack of experience and poor organisation. Then the stories become
 inspirational, It takes thought and courage to "make the change" and vote NP.
 All of these "new" NP voters are characterised as individuals with dreams,
 plans and aspirations. The stories are replete with plausible personal detail
 and idiom, and impressively effect a transition between public and personal
 discourse. They give solid credence to the slogan which anchors them,
 extending yet further the coinage: "BE SUBE.OF A BETTER LIFE. WE'VE MADE THE
 CHANGE".
 As was the case with the ANC campaign, the final week first repeats the
 attacks: the communist wolf puts in an encore (NP: 24) and we learn (by means
 of a rather crude graphic which has a coloured man being pickpocketed by the
 tatooed strong arm of the ANC) that the ANC's "Plan" will double tax and the
 cost of everything (NP: 25 ). Then comes the visionary finale with its return
 to the (also borrowed) "Now is the time" (Sekunjalo) slogan (NP: 26; 27; 28),
 and the statutory signed letter and portraits of de Klerk. In an interesting
 coda on the second day of polling, tardy voters are chastised with a checklist
 which acts as an aide memoire of the whole campaign (NP: 29).
 [While I'm concentrating on press ads here, I can't resist some reference to
 the infamous "comic-book", a stroke of genius by the NP, and described by
 Franklin Sonn as "the dirtiest piece of election trickery I have seen anywhere
 in the world" (South, 8 April). About 70,000 copies of this photocomic (NP:
 30) were distributed to Western Cape schools during the latter half of March,
 but it was soon withdrawn after complaints to the IEC. The Abrahamse family
 and their dog Uitsmyt agonise over their vote (NP: 31). Pa supports the new
 NP; son Cedric is a student with a soft spot for the ANC. Uitsmyt is a cynic
 with a good line in canine puns. We are led through burning schools and
 necklacing (NP: 32); slogans of "kill a coloured ... kill a farmer" (Uitsmyt's
 coinage) (NP: 33); 14 year-old communists attacking churchgoers (NP: 34), and
 radical coloured youth discarded as "useful idiots" by blacks (NF: 35). But
13
 finally all is well <NP: 36): family and dog opt for de Klerk and find peace
 and prosperity with the new caring National Party (NP: 37).]
 It is clear from the whole trajectory of the NP campaign that its main target
 is the conservative and aspirant black and coloured vote. The target reader
 one infers from the NP ads has a history of suffering at the hands of the ANC
 and its affiliates. S/he has been suspicious of the Nats, but is thoughtful
 and forgiving. And above all, s/he is hardworking, individualistic and
 upwardly mobile. The witnesses with whom the reader is asked to identify have
 a total recall of ANC excesses, but, curiously, no memory whatsoever of any of
 the impositions of apartheid. Nor does any of them feel a moment's resentment
 towards the white ruling class. In their task of "selling change" the "new NP"
 ads package a remarkable mix of 47 years of solid experience as an apartheid
 government with total amnesia as to its historical effects. This powerful
 "forgive and forget" project appears to have been widely effective, and
 whatever one's political views, one has to concede that Saatchi and Saatchi
 have again done their clients proud.
 As to form, we have already noted the high levels of parasitism and
 interdiscursivity of the NP campaign. In terms of basic layout, name
 identification and binding slogan are clear throughout. The NP logo (a simple
 stylised sun) is centred at the bottom of each page in a representation of the
 voting strip, always with the composite straplines: "BE ?UEE-OF A BETTER
 LIFE"; "Vote for FW de Klerk and the new National Party", and "We've made the
 change". The typical layout combines fairly long copy with strongly
 individualised portraits. Apart from a couple of ads using graphics (the
 communist wolf and the pickpocket ANC) and a couple of newsphotos (e.g. the
 Shell House massacre), it is the strongly personalised, aspirant individual
 who steals the show. As opposed to the ANC's gestalt of thoughtful and
 detailed planning, the NP's strong idea is: "making the change". Again, this
 is presented as a dual change: the change that has been brought about in the
 country single-handedly by the "new" NP (the end of apartheid) and the
 existential change, the change of heart, experienced by the NP itself (vide de
 Klerk in the famous debate: "He have also cleansed ourselves from within"). It
 is this second, existential, version of change that structures the testimonies
 which make up the main body of the campaign, and with its redemptive Christian
 overtones of repentence and forgiveness this discourse has considerable
 purchase with a churchgoing electorate. It is worth remarking that in the case
 of both inflections of "change", the ads depend heavily on codeplay of a
 particular sort. The central binding pun on "change" is borrowed from the
 history and rhetoric of the anti-apartheid struggle, as are a variety of
 additional popular slogans ("Now is the Time"; "A Better life for all", and
 the affinity between the rebranded "New NP" and the widely touted "New South
14
 Africa"). The ads play on a popular South African encyclopaedia of shared
 aphorisms, stories and frames, and, in a cunning double whanmy, exploit the
 aspirational power of this rhetorical set, while simultaneously refusing its
 context and history. That these strategies are classically those of the
 commodity ad is a matter that will be taken up further with reference to the
 DP campaign.
 DENOCRATIC PARTY (DP)
 The Jupiter Drawing Room handled the DP's advertising campaign. The DP's task
 was clearcut. They correctly assumed that in this election their small
 traditional core of white liberal support would evaporate, mostly in the
 direction of the "new" NP. So their campaign is two-pronged. From the start
 the enemy is strongly characterised. That the ANC are a party of "bullies" is
 the basic axiom. But the DP is campaigning for opposition, so their main
 opponent is the "new" NP, who must be presented as even worse. Not only do
 they have a rich record of apartheid crimes, but they have recently proved
 themselves to be a bunch of deceitful, self-serving cowards into the bargain,
 "in bed" with the ANC. By contrast, the DP is small, strong and principled,
 the only completely blameless party ("no blood on our hands"). They will
 "Protect you from the abuse of power". Of all the campaigns the DP's is the
 most overtly negative and suspicious. Of its whole run of glossy, commodity-
 type full-colour ads, most oay be classified as "attacks".
 The DP warms up from end-February to mid-March by introducing its key themes
 and establishing the format of its ads for rapid recognition. The prototype
 here is the standard commodity ad, with a glossy visual (usually in full
 colour) taking up the top two-thirds of the page, the lower one-third filled
 by copy. Punning banners are in most cases overlaid on the visuals and their
 critical points developed in the words below. As with the ANC and NP
 campaigns, the DP must begin by adopting a stance on negotiations. The keynote
 is struck from the start. A olose-up photograph of an open prison door is
 overlaid with the banner "IT'S TRUE, DOORS HAVE BEEN OPENED THROUGH
 NEGOTIATION". The Nats and the ANC have "struck a secret deal", and in the
 process let loose on the unsuspecting public 10,000 criminals (DP: 1). This is
 the first in a series of punning captions that co-opt various well-known
 catchphrases and put them to work for the DP. If the NP ads borrow freely from
 the ANC lexicon, the DP turns the tables on the "new" NP, relentlessly
 debunking their plausible amnesia which links strength and experience to the
 key claim that they have "changed". From the start the Nats are set up as weak
 and cowardly, especially vis-a-vis the insurgent ANC. "WHEN IT COMES TO
 EFFECTIVE OPPOSITION, THE NATS HAVE SHOWN THEIR TRUE COLOURS" captions a
 visual of a hand waving a white flag from behind a barricade of barbed wire
 (DP: 1A). The "Police File" ad (DP: 2) leads with a big close-up of a TV set,
15
 and the copy scrutinises the ANC and NP candidates' lists, exposing hordes of
 miscreants. But never fear, a relief map of South Africa festooned with flags
 and an inset photo of de Beer shows us that the DP has members eveywhere (DP:
 3). Then a striking BCU of a newborn babe promises a sound enterprise economy
 (DP: 4).
 At this point we move into the protracted "attacks" phase of the DP campaign
 (end March to election week). This kicks off with the rather confusing
 exchange between DP and NP ads, both of which use the "Station Strangler"
 identikit photo to insist that everyone else but themselves has connived to
 give convicted murderers the vote (DP: 5a; 5b). The six DP negotiators
 (standing in circular formation, top-lit and photographed at a very high angle
 from above) claim to have won on more constitutional issues than the all of
 rest put together (DP: 6). On the issues of security we have a pink pig in a
 police cap. This iB what the Left call the police, and how the Nats treat
 them: "NO WONDER THERE'S NO RESPECT FOR LAW AND ORDER" (DP: 7). Nat duplicity
 and untrustworthiness is taken up again in an amusing shot of de Klerk in
 Sotho hat and blanket holding a mike captioned "LET'S TWIST AGAIN, LIKE WE DID
 LAST ELECTION", with copy again alleging Nat duplicity "striking numerous
 deals" with and "caving in.time and time again" to the ANC. (DP: 8). In the
 next ad in the sequence, the "dangerous liaisons" theme reaches something of
 an interim climax in a splendid and erotically-lit large double bed (DP: 9).
 The Nats "get into bed" with the ANC and we all, by implication, get screwed.
 Evidence is offered: the government has capitulated to the ANC on detention
 without trial and federalism, and was "too scared" to search ANC headquarters
 after the Shell House shootings. This last charge is taken up again in a full-
 colour newsphoto of the Shell house event with copy claiming "indisputable
 evidence" of the ANC's guilt and alleging a Nat "cover-up" (DP: 10). All the
 catchphrases of the DP campaign are in use: the NP are "scared of the ANC";
 are "timid"; have again "caved in". Strategically-placed "plugs" keep the real
 defenders of truth and freedom in the public eye (DP: 11). Here we are told
 that women feature more prominently on the DP lists than any other, even
 though they are chosen entirely "on merit". Security issues are served by yet
 another pun with a visual of commuters cramming into a crowded train: "If
 you're frightened every time you change trains ... change your party" (DP:
 12).
 To summarise: the DP's "attacking" ads, while they do, by inference, cover a
 range of issues - education, the economy, law and order, women's rights - are
 all angled as an assault on the two main parties, and most especially, they
 strive to discredit the Nats. [If we look across campaigns for a moment, this
 is the point (21 April) at which the Nats respond with their "The DP is a
16
 little,confused" ad, tabulating answers to DP attacks with a graphic
 identifying the slavering communist wolf as the real threat (NP: 24).]
 The DP's wrap-up during election week retains the anti-Nat thrust. Two linked
 ads use showbiz rhetoric. A set of photo-album pics of de Klerk, Coetsee,
 Meyer et al. begins: "From the men who brought you detention without trial,
 crime, corruption and hitsquads in 1989" (DP: 13) leading on, plus ca
 change, to the same old mobsters (1884) on the next page (DP: 13a). Then a
 double-page spread similar to that used by the NP offers a proud summary of
 all the ads produced for the campaign (DP: 14). In the copy here the logic is
 clearly spelt out: the ANC abuses power and needs a strong opposition; the NP
 can't provide this (we've proved they're dishonest, make secret deals and cave
 in); QED: trust the DP. But the true finale comes with the ad used the day
 before polling, which pictures the banners of most of South Africa's English
 press. The "experts" all support the DP. "The Nats claim we're too small ...
 how come then, all the major newspapers support us?" (DP: 15). What one night
 call the 60,000 dollar question. Only one obvious answer suggests itself.
 [A quick scan of the DP's Western Cape ads. Hennie Bester meets the people
 (DP: 16). Education policy? Whosaid the "P"-word?! The best WP candidates are
 Democrats (DP: 17). A play on Adam Small's work Kanna Hy Ko' Huistoe: "It's
 Time to Come Home" with Three Wise Men of appropriate pigmentation (DP: 18).
 Everyone is tired of being pushed around by the Nats and by the ANC (not by
 the DP, because "They've never pushed people around, or hurt anybody") (DP:
 19). And you don't have to vote Nat to stand up to the ANC; "Every 1% puts
 another 4 Democrats in Parliament" (DP: 20).]
 The target reader one infers from the DP ads is a classical liberal strong on
 principle, individualism and free enterprise. S/he is sceptical of the track
 record of both of the major parties and flatly refuses their claims to have
 "changed". Civil rights and the abuse of political power are definitely high
 on his/her agenda, while the abuse of economic power figures not at all. S/he
 is also a sophisticated reader, deeply engaged in consumer culture, and with a
 high level of competence (both linguistic and visual) in playing the ads game.
 The party's name and logo (a gold coin being swallowed by a large mouth?) is
 centred at the bottom of each ad with the slogan strapline: "DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
 PROTECTING TOU FROM THE ABUSE OF POKER". Apart from a couple of shots of de
 Beer and the small-but-principled DP "team", the visual images are all
 metonymies which combine with witty punning captions to drive home the
 attacking message: power bullies and corrupts, and principles are rare; the DP
 has them; only the DP can protect you fon the abuse of power. In terms of this
 paper's title, the DP's ads also circle around the idea of "change". "Plus ca
17
 change?" is their strong idea. What's all this talk about change? The ANC and
 the Nats are still up to their coercive dirty tricks. The OP has no need to
 change. It has a clean record and a reputation for absolute integrity. [Final
 results: DP National 1,7%, 7 seats. QED: There are only seven just men in
 Israel?]
 In form, as has been noted, the DP ads are closer to the standard commodity ad
 than those of the major parties. The close-up full colour images all have very
 high production values, which is to say that they are glossy, well set up,
 they use beautiful models, and are perfectly lit, framed and finished. Like
 commodity ads they are also highly redundant texts, heavy in codeplay. If one
 ignores the captioning and copy, several examples could serve equally well as
 an ad for a building society, a medical plan or life insurance (e.g. the
 glamorous models in DP: 4; 19; 20). We "know" this class of image only too
 well; we see them on hoardings and in glossy magazines every day. Even the.
 more "documentary" images are beautifully lit and finished. The Shell House
 photo (DP: 10), shot from a high angle with a "tunnel" perspective is
 aesthetically compelling in the manner of composition that John Berger has
 labelled "first world obscenity" in famine photography.
 The texts are strong on code-play, irony, parody and pastiche, full of
 metaphors, symbols, puns and jokes. A few examples must serve to illustrate
 these dominant tropes. In the first ad (DP: 1) an artistically-lit icon of a
 prison-cell door is typically combined with an intertextual joke and a pun,
 both aimed at the specifically South African reader. First one has to recall
 de Klerk's "My door is open" catohphrase and read the iconic signs, rich in
 suggestion. Then one must make, the requisite set of transferences which hinge
 on the pun of the caption, to arrive at the attack-via-irony on negotiations.
 The whole run of DP ads qualify as "postmodern" in this heavy dependence on
 codeplay. They are parasitic pastiche (don't originate their own materials);
 ironic (don't mean what they overtly appear to say), and parodic (depend for
 their decoding on rich intertextual references). While these features make the
 ads highly attractive and entertaining, they also speak volumes about the
 organising codes of DP thinking, drawn as they are from commodity/consumer
 culture. This is worthy of a whole separate study, but we might briefly flip
 through a few more examples which should serve to clinch this point. In the
 law and order ad (DP: 7) one must be able to make inferences around the slang-
 word and concept "pig". The collusion ad (DP: 9) plays on the idiom "getting
 into bed together" and, by negative inference, "getting screwed". Rather
 patronisingly, the security ad (DP: 12) plays on "changing" - changing trains
 and changing parties. And, my personal favourite, the "Let's twist again" ad,
 (DP: 8), uses every element, visual and verbal, in a parodic, punning "total"
 joke: the unlikely garb; the paralanguage of gesture; the mike; the "known"
18
 features of de Klerk, and the intertextual reference to a well-known song. All
 of these are put to work by the pun on "twisting" and transformed into
 irrefutable evidence of the duplicity of t;he National Party. Since this text
 is symptomatic of the DP campaign and foregrounds some of the points this
 paper is concerned to make concerning cognate features of commodity and
 political advertising, it is worth comnenting on more fully. As advertising
 discourse it employs the full gamut of available tactics. First, the eye is
 caught by the incongruous clash of codes: white, westernised, erstwhile racist
 leader (a media "known" with neat cuffs, watch and wedding ring) rigged up in
 this unlikely attire. Even the spots on the blanket figure: can the leopard
 change his spots? Then the eye is drawn down to the caption, and one is asked
 to remember the Chubby Checker standard, with the mike recoded from speech
 prop to pop ptop and back again as one's reading proceeds. The pun on "twist"
 both reflects back on the visual (which now serves as a metonymy for
 deceitfulness), and encourages one discover just how the HP has twisted
 (distorted) things this time around by scanning the copy. The inferences
 invited by "twisting" are, of course, political convenience and a cowardly and
 hypocritical adaptation to prevailing circumstances. The copy picks up on
 musical jargon: "making all the right noises", "playing second fiddle to the
 ANC", "one more time", and "we'll never change our tune". Like the standard
 commodity ad, these strategies generate a strongly cohesive and redundant
 text, repeating a single simple message at every available level of the
 discourse. The combination of a "known" set of features and the citation of a
 popular song sets off a ripple of codeplay through all the visual and verbal
 signs of the text, with the key metaphor functioning to unify and "close" the
 message ideologically.
 But all this good clean postmodern fun seems only to have lost the DP votes.
 What to conclude? One hypothesis might run as follows. In most of the DP ads
 the dominant focus is still white power politics (in this sense it is true
 that they have not "changed their tune"). While this is probably an
 unavoidable function of their peculiar positioning in the electoral battle, it
 is worth noting that the underlying issues being played out in the ads are
 still (in 1994) the "white" values of honesty, reliability and consistency
 (the "fair-play" myth). The DP sets itself up to protect the South African
 public from "the abuse of power". While it is abundantly clear from a close
 scrutiny of the copy of the ads that the chief source of this anticipated
 "abuse of power" is the ANC, the expedient target for the purposes of the
 campaign is the National Party. The ads are thus severely restricted in their
 scope, merely sideswiping, in the DP's traditional fashion, the discourse and
 record of the old NP. While the glossiness and punning fun that ensues might
 have been all very well for the old South Africa (or indeed for the commercial
19
 marketplace anywhere), their suspicious and debunking tenor and their dated
 narrowness failed to speak into a new, more expansive national mood.
 DJKATHA FREEDOM PARTY (OP)
 Mass Market Co-ordination set up the IFP ads. Nationwide they were few in
 number, and concentrated, due to Inkatha's late entry, in the last week of the
 campaign.
 Early in March Buthelezi (portrait provided) throws down the cultural weapon
 (IFP: 1). He is holding out for a better federal deal: "We will not rest until
 we deliver a constitution that will ensure lasting peace for all". A week
 later a huge IFP logo exhorts readers to -VOTE ... WHEH THE TTbfE; CftMf,S" (IFP:
 2). Mid-April brings us a defence of the IFP's strategy in a series of quotes
 from the London Sunday Times: South Africa is on the brink of civil war; the
 National Party is in a "supine rush" (a rather intriguing posture!) to give up
 power, and the ANC "is riding roughshod over those who stand in its way
 (exemplified by the Shell House slaughter)". The straplines sum it up: "The
 Mandela/de Klerk Fraud" and "Postpone the poll to avert civil war" (IFP: 3).
 The day after settlement is reached with the IFP, nationwide ads proclaim
 "SOUTH AFRICA We did it for YOU" (IFP: 4). The slogans "TOUR ONLY
 ALTERNATIVE", "YOUR ONLY GUARANTEE" AND "YOUR ONLY CHOICE" are taken up in the
 linked ads (on consecutive pages) published nationwide at the start of
 election week. These begin with: "FREEDOM FEDERALISM FREE ENTERPRISE" (IFP:
 5), closely followed by a list of the IFP's battles on South Africa's behalf
 (IFP: 6); and the first appearance of a graphic with a shady photo of de Klerk
 who, it is asserted, has indeed "made the change", running down the old flag
 and hoisting the banner of the Communist Party (IFP: 7). And finally, the
 reconstructed ballot slip with the IFP displacing the Nats on the bottom line,
 replete with Biblical text: "So the last shall be first... Put yoitfcross in
 the last block and come first" (IFP: 8). The IFP campaign has three clear, if
 highly compressed, phases, organised around the message: a fraud is being
 perpetrated and we're fighting for you; we've won our case; now get out and
 vote for us. Its logic is close to that of the DP, but its presentation is
 much more stark and concentrated.
 The target reader of the IFP ads is disenchanted with the compromises struck
 during negotiations. Entrepreneurial, conservative and federalist, s/he looks
 to Buthelezi as the strongminded, doughty "outsider" for an independent line
 against the two bully-boys.
 Layout is simple and direct. The upbeat IFP logo with its family greeting the
 rising sun is large and prominently placed in all the ads, underscored by the
 slogan "A?QHgr for GOOD". The party's full name never appears, only the
20
 initials IFP. Extensive use is made of bold capitalisation. Barring the
 striking "flags" ad, no visuals are used apart from Buthelezi's photo, the IFP
 logo, and the centred voting paper in the final ad.
 VBXHEIDSFBDNT (VF) (FREEDOM FRONT)
 The Vryheidsfront's advertising campaign appears to be have been handled
 internally by communications academic Professor Pieter Mulder. It begins in
 Old Testament style with a portrait of General Constand Viljoen and the text
 used by Verwoerd in 1958: "Coneth the hour ... Cometh the man!" (VF: 1). The
 priorities are simple and clear: the rejection of flawed negotiations and the
 demand for self-determination in a Vblkstaat. After a couple of amateurish
 graphics involving scales (VF: 2), the ads pick up well, and offer a run of
 bold visuals in the form of artistically-lit close-up photographs. Each of
 these is a carefully selected negative inage, a metonomy for the threats posed
 by the policies of the major parties (ASC; NP). The binding phrase is "HOW YOU
 CAN PREVENT ... " a range of calamities. The Afrikaans Sunday Rapport takes
 the first run, three ads on consecutive pages featuring: a wave ("... being
 swamped by oppressive ideologies" (VF: 3); blood being drawn ("... being
 financially bled to death") (VF: 4), and an ornate door - "the door being
 slammed shut on self-determination") (VF: 5). Placing is of interest here. The
 Afrikaans readers of Rapport are confronted with threatening ideologies, a
 rising cost of living, and the need for autonomy. On the sane day the English
 Sunday Times also runs three linked ads, depicting title deeds being ripped
 apart ("your property and wealth being redistributed") (VF: 6); a boot in the
 face ("having your culture and lifestyle squashed") (VF: 7), and a descending
 gavel ("being hammered by injustice") (VF: 8). These are the same topics
 offered Rapportreaders, but here rendered more "upmarket". Threatening
 ideologies transmute to a concern for civil rights, and concern with the cost
 of living becomes anxiety about wealth, property and maintaining one's
 lifestyle, then the whole series is re-run in the English press generally,
 including self-determination (VF: 9) and oppressive ideologies (VF: 10).
 Election week sees the original selection being used again, and the mass-
 circulation Sunday Times runs the threats to property and wealth (VF: 11) and
 civil rights (VF: 12), together with a rather weak summary ad using graphics
 (VF: 13).
 The target reader of the VF ads is clearly a supporter of the Volkstaat idea.
 But the ads seem to offer more than this: conservatism and "independence" in
 their broader sense of defending exisiting rights and privileges against the
 flood of change.
 The rather attractive VF logo derives the party's initials from the sectors of
 a circle with the "V" doubling as a brazier emitting flames, and this is tied
21
 throughout to a variant of the ballot strip. There is no party slogan. Design
 and imagery are striking, with bold motifs and minimal copy making their
 points starkly and dramatically. The only puzzle is why the two bracketing ads
 (at the beginning and end of the campaign) are so feeble. A summary collage of
 some of the leading images would have offered a stronger conclusion.
 IN LIEU OF A CONCLUSION
 In this paper I have attempted to read the ads generated in the recent South
 African election by highlighting some of the features shared by political and
 consumer ads as discourse type. He have noted the high levels of redundancy
 and cohesion in each run of party ads, which derives from repetition at every
 level of the text (visual and verbal, layout and design) of key phrases in
 which policies and arguments are compressed into slogan and imagery. We have
 also noted the mode of combative dialogue between the various sets of ads
 which involves compulsive intertextual borrowing, appropriation and refusal of
 mutual lexicons, narratives and rhetorical stock. We have considered their
 multi-modal nature as discourse, their disposition as "ritual boasting", and
 their tendency to codeplay of various kinds. What emerges from this study is a
 rich and heteroglossic compendium of distinctly South African voices, a shared
 popular stock of fears, desires, rituals, stories and frames. Do we proceed to
 dismiss these as mere cliches, gross oversimplifications, a once-every-five-
 years necessary evil of electioneering? Or do we go along with Philo's (1993)
 larger claim that such political phrases and images can be used to establish
 key elements of popular understanding:
 [They] act as key elements in political consciousness. They can form a
 sort of template through which people interpret their own experience and
 desires. They can also affect how people interpret new information ...
 understanding what is going wrong and what should be done.
 When Davidson says that ads are "relevance mythopoeically expanded" he is
 referring to two aspects of ads. First, in their primary task of influencing
 behaviour, ads have a strong vested interest in "getting it right". It is
 because they so painstakingly research and then so forcefully represent
 people's attitudes and desires, and manage to dramatise in the public domain
 so many of the conflicting voices of a society, that they can be taken as an
 accurate and suggestive index of the cultures that produce them. Second, we
 misread ads if we judge them by normal standards of factual or accurate
 representation. Ads don't sell things, but values; not products, but brands.
 In their drive to impress they are the most voracious of texts, seizing upon
 imagery and rhetoric from anywhere and everywhere. Above all, they sell
 transient products in terms of tangible durables, and in this process they
 create meaning far in excess of their proclaimed purpose. By being ritually
22
 repeated over and over again they offer the closest thing modernity will ever
 get to a snared public discourse. For these reasons alone they are worth
 paying attention to.
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 Baudrillaird, J., Simulations (New York: Semiotext(e), 1983)
 Barthes, R., Mythologies (London: Jonathan Cape, 1972)
 Cook, G., The Discourse of Advertising (London: Routledge, (1992)
 Davidson, M., The Consumerist Manifesto: Advertising in Post-
 modern Tines (London: Routledge, 1992)
 Diamond, E. and Bates, S., The Spot: The Rise of Political Adver-
 tising on Television (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT, 1988)
 Goffman, I., Gender Advertisements (London: Macmillan, 1979)
 Goldmann, R., Reading Ads Socially (London: Routledge, 1892)
 Johnson Cartee, K and Copeland, G., Negative Political
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 1991)
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 Philo, G., "Political Advertising, Popular Belief and the 1992
 British General Election", Media, Culture and
 Society (15), London, 1993.
 Sperber, D. and Wilson, D., Relevance (Oxford: Blackwell, 1984)
 ADVERTISEMENTS
 (This is not a comprehensive listing; sources are for the advertisements cited
 in this paper.)
 Cape Town: Cape Times; Argus; Weekend Argus; South; Sunday Times {Cape Metro);
 Rapport-Metro.
 Johannesburg: Sunday Times; Star; Weekly Mail and Guardian; Sowetan; Sunday
 Nation; City Press; Beeld; Rapport.
23
 AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (NATIONAL)
 1 Argus, 19 February 1994, p.8.
 2 Argus, 1 March 1994 (insert).
 3 Argus, 24 February 1994, p.21.
 4 South, 18 February 1994, p.7.
 5 Weekly Mail, 25 February 1994, p.13.
 6 Sunday Times, 27 February 1994, p.9.
 7 Sunday Times, 6 March 1994, p.9.
 8 Sunday Times, 13 March 1994, pp. 10-11.
 9 Sunday Nation, 20 March 1994, p.4.
 10 Sunday Nation, pp. 16-17; City Press, pp. 12-13; Sunday Times,
 pp.30-31, 20 March 1994.
 11 Sunday Nation, 3 April 1994, p.9.
 12 Sunday Nation, p.9; Sunday Times; Rapport, 10 April 1994.
 13 Sunday Nation, p. 16-17; Sunday Times; Rapport, 17 April 1994.
 14 Weekend Argus (Voter Education Supplement), p.7; Cape Times,
 23 April 1994.
 15 Sunday Nation, p .5 ; Sunday Times; Rapport, 24 April 1994.
 16 Sunday Times {Cape Metro), 24 April 1994, p. 17.
 17 Cape Times, 27 April 1994, p .8 .
 18 Cape Times,' 27 April 1994, p .8 .
 AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (WESTERN CAFE)
 1 Argus, 24 February 1994, p .14 .
 2 Argus, 25 February 1994, p . 7 .
 3 Weekend Argus, 26 February 1994, p . 7 .
 4 South, 4 March 1994, p . 8 .
 5 Weekend Argus, 4 March 1994, p . 1 1 .
 6 South, 25 March 1994, p . 5 .
 7 South, 25 March 1994, p . 8 .
 8 Cape Times, 23 March 1994, p . 7 .
 9 Sunday Times {Cape Metro), 17 April 1994, p. 11.
 10 Cape Times, 15 April 1994, p .4 .
 11 Cape Times, 15 April 1994, p .5 ; Sunday Times {Cape Metro),
 17 April 1994.
 12 Weekend Argus, 26 March 1994, p.19.
 13 Weekend Argus, 26 March 1994, p.17.
 14 Weekend Argus, 2 April 1994, p.13.
 15 Weekend Argus, 2 April 1994, p.11; South, 8 April 1994.
 16 Weekend Argus, 23 April 1994, p .21.
 17 Weekend Argus, 23 April 1994, p.19.
 18 Weekend Argus, 23 April 1994, p.23.
 19 Sunday Times.{Cape Metro), 24 April 1994, pp.6-7; Rapport,
 24 April 1994.
24
 NATIONAL PARTY
 1 Sunday Times, 13 March 1994, p.6.
  v
 2 Argus, 15 March 1994, p.8.
 3 Argus, 25 March 1994, p.8.
 4 South, 25 March 1994, p.4.
 5 Rapport, 10 April 1994, p. 11.
 6 Weekly Mail, 8 April 1994, p.5.
 7 Sunday Hation, 10 April 1894, p.15; Sunday Times,
 10 April 1994.
  :
 8 Argus, 13 April 1994, p.15.
 9 Souetan, 14 April 1994, p.13; Argus, 15 April 1994.
 10 Sowetan, 14. April 1994, p. 15.
 11 Star, 15 April 1994, p.8.
 12 Argus, 15 April 1994, p.6.
 13 Cape Times, 15 April 1994, p.7.
 14 Sunday Nation, 17 April 1994, p.25.
 15 Sunday Nation, 17 April 1994, p.27.
 16 Sunday Times, 17 April 1994, p.26.
 17 Rapport, 17 April 1994, p. 13.
 18 Rapport, 17 April 1994, p. 11.
 19 Sunday Times, 17 April 1994, p.28.
 20 Argus, 22 April 1994, p.7; Cape Times, 19 April 1994, p,9.
 21 Argus, 22 April 1994, p.7.
 22 Argus, 22 April 1994, p.5.
 23 Sunday Nation, 24 April 1994, pp. 18-19; Rapport,. 24 April
 1994; Argus, 25 April 1994; Sunday Times, 24 April 1994.
 24 Cape Times, 21 April 1994, p.4; Meekly Mail, 22 April 1994.
 25 Argus, 26 April 1994, p.15.
 26 Weekend Argus, 23 April 1994, p.8.
 27 Rapport-Metro, 24 April 1994, p. 11.
 28 Sunday Nation, 24 April 1994, p.34; Sunday Times, 24 April
 1994.
 29 Argus, 28 April 1994, p.13.
 30-37 NP Comic Book: Winde van Verandering f/aai Deur Suid-Afrika,
 Market Media Uitgewers, Cape Town (1994).
 DEMOCRATIC PARTY (NATIONAL)
 1 Argus, 23 March 1994, p.23; Sunday Times, 27 March 1994.
 2 Sunday Times, 6 March 1994, p. 14.
 3 Sunday Times, 13 March 1994, p.8.
 4 Sunday Times, 20 March 1994, p.8.
 5a Argus, 31 March 1994, p.6.
25
 5b South, 8 April 1994, p.7. (NP counter-ad)
 6 Sunday Times, 10 April 1994, p. 18; Rapport, 24 April 1994.
 7 Rapport, 10 April 1994, p. 14.
 8 Argus, 13 April 1994, p.6.
 9 Sunday Times, 17 April 1994, p.22.
 10 Cape Times, 20 April 1994, p.6; Rapport, 24 April 1994.
 11 Cape Times, 21 April 1994, p.6.
 12 South, 22 April 1994, p.8.
 13a Weekend Argus, 23 April 1994, p.9.
 13b Weekend Argus, 23 April 1994, p.11.
 (13a and 13b linked ads on consecutive pages)
 14 Sunday Times, 24 April 1994, pp.34-35.
 15 Argus, 26 April 1994, p.11.
 DEMOCRATIC PARTY (WESTERN CAPE)
 16 South, 12 April 1994, p.7.
 17 Argus, 20 April 1994, p.22.
 18 Sunday Times {Cape Metro), 24 April 1994, p.4.
 19 Argus, 25 April 1994, p.17.
 20 Cape Times, 25 April 1994, p.7.
 INKAIHA FREEDOM PARTY
 1 Sunday Times, 6 March 1994, p. 11.
 2 Sunday Times, 13 March 1994, p.15.
 3 Sunday Times, 10 April 1994, p. 10.
 4 Argus, 20 April 1994, p.19.
 5 Sunday Times, 24 April 1994, p.16; Argus, 22 April 1994;
 South, 24 April 1994; Rapport, 24 April 1994.
 (Ads 5-8 in all these papers on consecutive pages)
 6 Sunday Times, 24 April 1994, p.18.
 7 Sunday Times, 24 April 1994, p.20.
 8 Sunday Times, 24 April 1994, p.21.
 FREEDOM FRONT (VDLKSFRDWT)
 1 Sunday Times, 20 March 1994, p.23.
 2 Rapport, 10 April 1994, p.9.
 3 Rapport, 17 April 1994, p.9.
 4 Rapport, 17 April 1994, p.16.
 5 Rapport, 17 April 1994, p.33.
 (Ads 3-5 linked in identical page position)
 6 Sunday Times, 17 April 1994, p. 15; Cape Times, 21 April
 1994.
 7 Sunday Times, 17 April 1994, p.17; Cape Times, 19 April 1994.
 8 Sunday Times, 17 April 1994, p.19.
26
 (Ads 6-8 in Sunday Times linked on consecutive pages)
 9 Cape Times, 18 April 1994, p.5.
 10 Cape Times, 20 April 1994, p. 10.
 11 Sunday Times, 24 April 1994, p.27. v
 12 Sunday Times, 24 April 1994, p.29.
 13 Sunday Times, 24 April 1994, p.31.
 (Ads 11-13 linked on consecutive pages)
8 Southeaster March 25 to March 29 1994
 The NP government spends 3 times more
 on educating White pupils than Coloured,
 African or Indian pupils. &:?-.': : t m $ ^ ^ :
 THE AND WON'T FAIL OUR CHILDREN.
 Viere if a shortage ofteacliers in die Western Cape. Yet the
 NP recently retrenched 3 500 Coloured teachers. And this year
 they att the budget for Coloured schools by 50% and the situa'
 tiun is just as bad in African areas. "Die longer this problem
 continues, the longer we'll have to live with unemployment and
 poor education.
 The ANC has a plan for education. Wk'll provide ten yean of
 free, compulsory, quality education to every dtttd in South Africa.
 Vie country can afford to pay for this plan. By streamlining
 the 19 bureaucratic departments of education and ending NP.
 corruption, Otere'lt be enough money to give all our ctiildren a,
 proper education.
 Our children are our future. We can't afford to fail them.
 Vote ANC.
 The Western Cape plan for a better life
 for alt will be discussed at our conference
 on March 26th.
 togetherjfpr jja|is
NOW IS THE TIME! SEKUNJALO! KE NAKQ!
 A *
 r ?> "Let us vote in^such overwhelming numbers ??.
 that we show everyone how
 much we love our country, how much we
 love our people, how much we love peace,
 how much we, love fife itself."
 Today is a day like no other before it. It
 marks the dawn of our freedom..
 As we travelled around every part of the country we
 saw your misery. We shared your hopes and dreams.
 Now your day has come, because this election is about
 you. h is your election. It is your vote' that counts.
 Years oj imprisonment could nut stamp out our
 determination to be free. Years of intimidation mid violence
 could not stop us. And we will not be stopped now.
 You hold the future in your hands. And now is the
 lime to rise to the challenge.
 Standing together; let us send a message loud and dear:
 we will no! let a handful of killers steal our democracy.
 Our surest way to stop them, and to bring peace, is
 to cast our vole.
 We will siiow the world that we are determined to
 stand up against the violence, determined to vote for a
 better life for all.
 A better life for all.
 Every South African knows: ^ I p ' ~~ ?
 Now is the time! Sekunjalo! Ke Nako! Ill A N C
 Working together for jobs, peace and freedom!
/ /P- X
nr* SUNDAY NATION April 17 1994 Pugc 27
 AOV6RTISEMENI
 "I was with the unions,
 now I'm with the
 National Party."
 ??TV *"y name is iloticsi Srpmosc and 1. like
 ? I \ / I many other workers, will be voiing
 JLVXNaiional Party.
 From 1986, I was sirongly involved in COSATU's
 activities. My task as a shop steward at Pep Stores was to
 represent the workers when they had a problem with
 management. I used to negotiate with management to
 reinstate those members that were fired or whatsoever.
 My whcrlask was to organise for strikes, boycotts or
 whatever was needed. 1 was also in support committees
 which helped to organise strikes at other companies.
 After 2nd February 1990, after the State President
 announced that apartheid was nc longer, that each and
 every one was free in South Africa, I (bought ii wasn't
 necessary for us to keep on striking,, boycotting and so
 on. ! thought now was the time to sit and negotiate with
 al! parties involved .
  ; ?
 What 1 didn't like about COSATU was that they used
 to call boycotts and strikes, especially when the ANC
 and the Government were in dispute. So whenever the
 ANC was not satisfied with Government they used to
 ?jse the workers to protest agains'. them.
 But the ANC ncvci asked the workers if they wouid
 support that boycott or stay-away.
 And that action has cost millions of workers their jobs.
 They ended up in the street. So. 1 didn't like that action.
 And then in 1993, at a COSATU special congress in
 Sowcto, Mandela was addressing ihe workers, in fact,
 not addressing the workers but telling them to vote for
 the ANC. I didn't like that because not all the members
 of COSATU were ANC members, but we were being
 forced to vote ANC. The workers too should be free to
 vote for who they want.
 As soon as 1 walked out of that meeting 1 went straight
 to the National Parly and joined ihem. Since then, I've
 recruited many COSATU members to the NP and they
 were very willing to join because they also disliked the
 way she ANC was using them. It is the workers who suf-
 fer when their employers deduct from their salaries or
 fire Ihem for not coming to work. But all this lime Jay
 Naidoo is silling in his office, doing his work, gclfing
 his salary, you know.
 We can see thai foreign investors don't like commu-
 nists so we should not voie ANC. The NP is the only
 party that can create the economy :o provide jobs. Even
 after the election we will still need to work to support
 our families, to give our children cducaiion, to pay our
 bonds and so on. ?
 I have always looked after the workers and I can tcH
 them now that voiing NP is in (hcit interest."
 BE SURE OF A BETTER LIFE
 \tianal Party
?ADVERTISEMENT!
 Have you noticed thai around election time Ihe National Party
 suddenly starts making all [tie right noises?
 II you haven't, we'd like to give you an example.
 In the 1989 election, the Nats ridiculed the Democratic Party lor
 calling (or Ihe ANC's unbanning. In 1994, President de Klerk
 and his 'new' Nats are constantly playing second fiddle
 to the ANC. And this isn't the only example.
 For instance, in 1989 President de Klerk promised
 to lower personal taxes. Since then, personal taxes
 have more than doubled.
 It would seem the National Party define a promlsa as
 "something you say to get elected*.
 Just look at what's happening in this election already: Ihe 'new'
 Nats promise to protect you from the ANC, yet they've already
 struck numerous secret deals with them, and have caved in to
 them lime and again. Which all goes lo show one thing.
 You can believe the NP's promises one more time.
 Or you can vote for the Democratic Parly. Because
 when we promise to protect you, we mean it.
 And we'll never change our tune.
 DEMOCRATIC PARTY. PROTECTING YOU FROM THE ABUSE Of POWER,
 fcsu n * ? San. * RBUAD Swm. Cm TOM, BOW
ii/V ' ' I
 ADVERTISEMENT!
 II looks as though we've only Just got rid oi one bully, the NP
 government, when another one has taken its place.
 I can hardly go to work anymore without the ANC proclaiming
 another slayaway lor some reason or other, so my job is in clanger.
 These Sell-Delence Units are making life in the. township
 unbearable. I can't even say which party I support without
 feeling as though my lile is in danger.
 II the ANC are supposed to be bringing us our
 Ireedom, why do I leel even less Iree lhan I did 5 years
 ago? And as for the Nats: they've been pushing
 everybody around lor the last 46 years. Asking me to
 vole lor them is another expression cl the same old altitude: they
 think we're stupid, and we'll do what they tell us to.
 Well I'm not stupid, and I'm not going io do what they tell me to.
 I'm going !o vote lor the Democratic Party. They've never
 pushed people around, or hurt anybody. And they've always
 fought as hard as they could lot my rights, and yours.
 I know my vote is safe with them. Nobody will ever
 know who I choose. I wiii be completely safe. Thai's
 why! am going to vole for the Democratic Parly.
 Then in my heart I will know that, alter a lifetime cl
 being pushed around, I'm linally fighting back.
 DEMOCRATIC PARTY. PROTECTING YOU FROM THE ABUSE OF POWER.
 n. i tauue Soar, Cm. Tom, a
/FP-4-
 Aign. nVdwMar Apni ? UM y ! 9
 We did it for
 H you want la holp us build a b?tt?r Muro, you
 so by supporting us AnanciaOy. Our account (Mails ?
 ? Bra Motional Bank, Oreyvfll.
 A<count Mono IFF EUcMon Fund
 VOTE IFF
 ^ Power for Good
vr- T