Friday, October 29, 2004
No, no, no, no, no, Mr Howard
By their very nature, Conservatives look back to the good old days. Since the glory days of Margaret Thatcher, there hasn't been a great deal to look back to. But probably the Tories' finest subsequent moment was the 1999 European campaign message 'In Europe but not run by Europe'. Ever since then, they have been trying to find a soundbite to rival it.
So Michael Howard must have thought he was really on a winner when he came up with "Countries have constitutions and I do not want to be part of a country called Europe." Well, was he?
The The Advertising Standards Authority did some research a couple of years ago into what makes advertising messages really work. Looking at the most successful advertisements across the entire industry, they came up with three things.
First, the messages that worked were informative - and of course, accurate. Second - and this only worked if the first was fulfilled - the messages that worked were clever. And third - and this only worked if the first two were fulfilled - the messages that worked entered popular culture. Winning messages are things like 'Ronseal - it does exactly what it says on the tin' and 'Carlsberg don't make room-mates, but if they did they would probably be the finest room-mates in the world'.
So how well does Michael Howard's sound-bite do? In reverse order, it hasn't exactly entered the popular culture. "In Europe not run by Europe" caught the public imagination. Nobody but Michael Howard and his cronies ever say "Countries have constitutions and I do not want to be part of a country called Europe."
But, of course, this is less important than the question 'is it clever?' Well, not exactly. Not in the same league as the red billboards that say "You can so tell the people who like don't read the Economist". It doesn't quite have that ring to it.
But, again of course, this is trivial compared to the question 'is it informative and accurate?'
Well...
No, no, no, no, no, Mr Howard. Clubs have constitutions. Baptist churches have constitutions. The Liberal Democrat party has a constitution. The Labour party has a constitution. Interestingly, the Conservative Party does not have a constitution. Oh yes, and Great Britain doesn't have a constitution either. At least, not a written one.
But now, of course, the European Union does have a constitution - signed today, by every one of the Union's member nations. It has yet to be ratified, but it has been signed.
It's probably a good thing that political party messages are not governed by the Advertising Standards Authority code.
Previous news
 ÂOctober 2004  Â