Politicians rely on the public to vote them into office in Canada. This means that there public imagine is crucial, the more relatable you are to the public the more likely they are to trust you and vote for you. This has bread the perfect opportunity for politicians to tell their own story through life narratives. Typically, the medium that is best suited for this political life narrative is a short commercial capturing the: background, any hardship and the experiences these politicians have. With the upcoming Canadian federal election many of these short political life narratives have been surfacing.
One current example of these political life narratives is Thomas Mulcair the current NDP leader released commercial “I’m ready”. This commercial is trying to encapsulate Mulcair’s life to make him more relatable to gain trust and votes. Mulcair commercial begins with a background of him and his family and how they where “hardworking and live within there means” by doing this he is opening him self up to public. I believe the goal in this is to convey the public that he is more then just a politician. He then goes on to talk about how he worked himself through law school. Showing that he wasn’t handed anything in life that he had to work for what he wanted like many Canadians. Next the commercial puts him in three categorize: husband, father and grandfather. This classification allows for the public to find similarities between themselves and Mulcair allowing for more trust.
This commercial or short life narrative is able to present Thomas Mulcair in such a way that he become more relatable to the public. That he can be trust. That the public should vote for him. He is portrayed as a family man, a father even a grandfather. I believe life narrative commercial’s like this one are much more effective then slander ads. The power of life narrative is immense.
The overall goal for Political Parties is to get their leader elected. For that to happen they have to be well persevered by the public. Releasing some sort of Life narrative is a strong way of shaping that image.
