Ever wanted to create your own political ad? Here’s your chance
If you’ve ever wondered whether your Facebook account could prevent you from holding public office, this is your chance.
The PBS News Hour has launched a fun app that lets you create a political advertisement for yourself using information from your Facebook account.
You can make a standard campaign ad but really, the attack ads are a lot more fun. Here’s mine (you’ll have to log into this app with Facebook for it to work). After watching it, I don’t think I’d vote for me either!
The app is poking fun at the political process, but I think it’s trying to educate as well. It’s pointing out the rhetorical tricks (out of context news stories, self-incriminating quotes, etc.) that permeate political advertising of all kinds. A lot of these “tricks” are obvious, but some are more subtle. But when your name and face are attached to the arguments, you’ll notice them for sure.
