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A political triumph? Don't make me laugh!

February 26, 2015 13:49
The Meretz party pokes fun at politicians

By

Sam Delaney

5 min read

Humour in political advertising can come in many forms. Look up the crackly old black-and-white broadcast from 1950s British election campaigns and you will get a lot of laughs out of Harold McMillan's stilted, confused performances. Watch pretty much any TV ad made by a minor political candidate from the southern states of America over the past few years and you'll be slightly unsure as to whether you are watching a genuine piece of political broadcasting or a semi-surreal parody. Due to the American media's laissez-faire policy on attack advertising, I recently saw a candidate from Kansas graphically suggest that their opponent wanted to urinate on the heads of constituents. I can highly recommend an hour or two wasted on You Tube looking at such remarkable advertising.

So, yes, there is a great deal of political advertising that makes us laugh at it, as opposed to with it. What has been so striking about the current Israeli election campaigns, in the midst of such worrying times, is the use of all-out comedy to attract a fragmented, undecided electorate.

Benjamin Netanyahu has appeared in what can most accurately be described as a sketch, rather than an ad, that went out online earlier this month. You might have seen it. He arrives at a young couple's home offering to mind their kids while they are out on the town, describing himself as a "Bibi Sitter," in reference to his nickname. But there is more to it than just a laboured pun. In conversation with the understandably bewildered couple, Netanyahu makes a couple of reasonably sharp jibes at the expense of his electoral rivals, warning that the children would have to take care of Herzog (because he is so weak) while suggesting Livni as a sitter would be a risk as she is unable to stay in one place for too long.

OK, it's not laugh-out-loud stuff but his performance is pretty good. It's certainly better than anything you could imagine a British party leader turning in. Not everyone was so generous, mind you. The Daily Show's Jon Stewart responded to the ad by quipping: "Turns out, Jews can't be funny in every country."