Here’s the thing about those nasty attack ads — they work

Yes, those nasty political attack ads that you hate have returned with a vengeance, flooding TV screens, social media sites and radio stations as the federal election enters its frantic final stage.

Virtually all those positive election ads that you saw or heard at the beginning of the campaign extolling the virtues of party leaders are history. And brace yourself for even more negative ads this weekend given polls suggest the Liberals and Conservatives are in a virtual tie for first place.

Politicians know you hate these negative ads. They’ll even tell you that they hate them too. But the truth is, politicians and their campaign strategists love them.

Currently, the cash-rich Conservatives are leading the charge with hardhitting ads attacking Justin Trudeau as a leader who puts himself first.

“Trudeau promised no pandemic election,” one often-run television ad intones. “But he called one anyway, putting his ambition first. He wasn’t thinking about what was good for you. He was only thinking about himself. We can’t afford more of the same.”

For their part, the Liberal attack ads focus on the “Take Back Canada” slogan that Erin O’Toole used during his 2020 party leadership campaign.

“Erin O’Toole says he wants to take Canada back,” the voice on the Liberal ad says. “Back to private, for-profit health care. Back to the days when assault weapons were legal. Back to MPs pushing anti-abortion laws. The Conservative Party and Erin O’Toole: Don’t let them take Canada backward.”

The NDP is running a series of antiTrudeau ads on a number of issues, such as seniors’ care, with the announcer saying Trudeau “says the right thing at election time, but he has no intention of doing it” and ending the tag line: “Justin Trudeau is all talk, no action.”

Often in the final stretch of an election race, a desperate politician will abandon any pretense of discussing issues and instead pump tons of money into nasty attack ads. Close elections are usually the most negative. Candidates may be able to use the ads to help solidify their voter base by reinforcing doubts that voters may have about an opponent. That’s what appears to have happened with Trudeau and the Liberals.

The reason that attack ads work is that they have an unconscious impact on voters’ perceptions of candidates. That’s true even for voters who claim they strongly dislike such ads, according to extensive U.S. research on American election ads, where more than 60 per cent of all ads are deemed to be negative.

Key to successful attack ads is repetition, not the content, according to campaign marketing experts. It’s the negative ads voters remember. They define an opponent and shape voters’ views of them.

Attack ads may not result in people changing their mind. Instead, they can reinforce a negative view that some voters already hold about a particular candidate, prompting voters to make sure they get out and vote against that candidate.

What can voters do? First, tell politicians you’ve had enough of these ads and to stop creating them. Second, find out for yourself where the leaders stand on the issues; don’t rely solely on paid ads by the parties.

Only by taking such steps will we stand any chance of reining in attack ads and preventing Canadian elections from falling into the cesspool of hate and divisiveness that now marks American presidential elections.