OD'ing on Lisbon posters
Opinion: How good are these posters at influencing our votes?
Unless you refused to set foot outside your house in the last two months, you’ll have noticed that there’s barely a lamp post, traffic light or electricity pole in the country that hasn’t been covered in posters urging you to vote either Yes or No to The Lisbon Treaty. But just how good are these posters at influencing people's votes? Are they really just an expensive way of decorating lamp posts for a few weeks?
So far, both sides in the debate have done nothing short of an excellent job at refusing to engage with the issues, being condescending to the public, and running away screaming from the possibility of any real discussion. They also deserve extra credit for frequently trading personal insults. I mean, if the campaign had run on any longer, I'm pretty sure childish name-calling would have become a regular feature.
The posters that are in the voter's faces every day are a reflection of this. While I realise that it's not easy to get the complexities for or against reforming the European Union onto a poster that someone can read in a few seconds, it seems that neither side have even really tried to do this. Instead, they have opted to turn out slogans and images that range from the very boring to the amazingly inaccurate.
The Yes side's posters, even though they deserve points for broadly sticking to the truth, are fantastically boring. The only time they seem to genuinely care about the fate of the Treaty is when they’re reacting to some wild accusation the No side have made. Otherwise, it is bland messages such as "Yes to Jobs" or "Yes to Europe", while Eamon Gilmore or Enda Kenny smile benevolently down at you, quietly urging you to vote the "right" way.
The Yes side triumphs in the "Talking Down to the Public" category, thanks mainly to the wonderfully patronizing It's Simple series of posters. Guys, it's a 400 page Treaty between 27 countries; it's far from simple. Quit insulting the electorate's intelligence, it's that kind of attitude that will make people vote against you.
The No side get points for their superior design, and variety of posters. These guys have some good designers, and the posters come in lots of eye-catching shapes and colours. But, pretty designs and colours can't really help when your posters are making claims that are....well, let's face it; some of the claims are downright nuts. The No side scores a resounding victory in the "Didn't Pay Attention in History Class" category, thanks to their Irish Democracy 1916 - 2009 posters, in the process causing much wailing and gnashing of teeth among history students, all of whom will tell you that Irish Democracy did not begin in 1916. Yes, the Irish declared themselves independent then, but the British did not agree until 1922.
Also, while I’m singling out this particular poster, I very much doubt that the likes of the tearful four year old girl pictured would really be interested in, or able to understand the workings of democracy, qualified majority voting, vetoes or councils of ministers. Whatever has upset her; I'm pretty sure she wasn't worrying about the number of European Commissioners or the voting weights of France and Germany. Using a picture of a little girl crying is an emotive stunt, probably a sign you’re on pretty thin debating ice. It contributes very little apart from lowering the tone of an already pretty poor debate.
Neither side have made particularly good cases for voting with them. The Yes side have been slow to get their message out, and tended to get bogged down in denying No side claims. The No side have been more active in spreading their message, but have been making so many bizarre and questionable claims about exactly what Lisbon will do that it’s difficult to accept much of what they say. Both sides have shown that neither is above calling each other "gobshites" and "losers". Let’s hope that the next referendum (even if it’s a Lisbon 3!), is a bit better.
By: Andrew Gibbons
Your Comments
There are no comments for this article yet, please leave one!
Login to leave a comment on this article
Login | Sign Up