UNDER FÖRRA månadens valkampanj i Thailand använde sig Yingluck Shinawatra och hennes parti Phue Thai av bland annat nedanstående valaffisch.
Chris Baker på bloggen New Mandala har gjort en intressant analys av affischen. Tydligen var den nyskapande ur ett thailändskt perspektiv.
First off, it is a far higher quality photograph than we’re used to on election posters. Its first message is simply “quality.”
Most election poster shots are as flat as the Central Plain. […] She is brilliantly lit. She is 3D and she is real.
[…]
She’s been sexed-down rather than the opposite. […] She is more mature and serious than her usual look.
The one element that conflicts with this mood is the hair. It’s long, and lush, and sensuous. [I]n contrast to the clipped, sprayed and regimented bonnets of senior bureaucrats and army wives. Very feminine. [T]he hair makes her not just 3D but touchable.
[…]
The message of the costuming is simplicity and seriousness.
Compared to most election posters, the picture has been allotted more of the space, perhaps 15 percent more. The copy has been kept to a minimum, again to allow the image to dominate. Most strikingly, the point size of her name is probably smaller than on any other poster of this size, and the surname Shinawatra has been reduced even further.
The overall effect is rather cool and quiet. […] Her look is bright but not as animated as she usually looks. The copy message (“Ready to service the people”) does not shout.
[…]
The quality of the shot and the skill of the presentation are reminders that Thaksin has always understood the importance of communication and especially of visual communication.
[… ]
This poster is a brilliant bit of visual populism.
The overall feel of the Yingluck poster is cool, quiet, unaggressive. The disturbing factor is the hair which is aggressively feminine. Most female political candidates have their hair clipped and controlled. […] How do you attack this without looking like a brute?
Baker har också tittat på en affisch som användes av den nu besegrade premiärministern Abhisit Vejjajiva. En riktigt trist men typisk thailändsk affisch om man får tro Baker. (Se även denna affisch.)
Om man bara skall ta dessa två affischer som exempel så är det uppenbart att Phue Thai var betydligt mer professionella i sin politiska kommunikation.
Läs mer: “Thai election: Why the Shinawatras won” (Part 1) (Part 2) av Dan Waites på Asian Correspondent. “Observing Yingluck on the Thai election campaign trail” på bloggen Bangkok Pundit. Se också några bilder från ett valmöte som Pheu Thai höll i Bangkok den 29 juni.
the Campaign Dossier 