With the positive parts of the commercial, imagery is used for more than simply evaluating and showing events.  The commercials use pictures of different types of people to appeal to as large a demographic as possible.  In Kerry’s “Fought for his Country,” the commercial shows Kerry interacting with a white and Hispanic police officer and white male factory workers, thus appealing to not only a certain economic class, but a multi-racial range as well.  At the end of the ad, the commercial shows a young African American girl, an elderly white woman with an elderly black man and a white woman with her child smiling.  The commercial puts not only Kerry on the screen, but instead several different types of people, thus helping the commercial appeal to as many different people as possible. 

Bush’s “Lead” ad uses the same technique of diversifying the background demographics.   After Bush speaks of the entrepreneurial spirit of America, the screen shows a white man on a cell phone and a black woman speaking at a business meeting.  Later, as Bush speaks of the economy growing, the screen shows a white male and black male laborers working outside on a clear day.  After Bush states that he knows where he wants to lead America, a picture of a white woman soldier with her child appears on the screen.  The appearance of this woman both ads to the appeal of the commercial to female Americans as well as America’s military personnel.  When Bush mentions schools, the commercial shows an Asian American instructing a class of both white and black students.  Finally, the commercial shows a black female senior citizen with her younger daughter followed by a white family, with father, mother and child clearing the table.  This commercial, like Kerry’s commercial, depicts an exceptionally wide demographic representation.  Whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, senior citizens, laborers, white color workers and even children all make appearances in these short thirty second or one minute commercials.  The commercials ensure that for nearly every type of demographic an audience member may be, the commercial shows that type of person smiling and supporting the commercials candidate.

One group, however, is conspicuously absent from the commercials.  In neither of the positive commercials are Arab Americans present.  Whereas nearly every other type of Americans are present in the commercials, Arab Americans are nowhere to be found in the ads.  Understandably so in this era of terrorism usually associated with Arab Muslims.  In fact, the one commercial that does show Arab faces is Bush’s attack ad against Kerry’s defense policy.  When the commercial notes that Kerry’s plan will weaken the fight against terrorism, the commercial shows faces of threatening Arabs.  In this election, Arab Americans are ostracized from commercials or used as threats against the country, not members of the voting populating.  Although the Arab American demographic represent 3.5 million Americans (Arab American Demographics), appealing to them in commercials is obviously too big a risk to take and the candidates will not appeal to them on television if it means potentially losing other voters.  For this election then, Arab Americans are truly the forgotten race. 

Copyright Kevin Lessmann
 2004