Chris Lamb (“Drawn to Extremes: The Use and Abuse of Editorial Cartoons”) wrote in a 2006 Providence Journal editorial about the power of editorial cartoons:
After a white mob lynched a black man in Maryland in 1931, Edmund Duffy, of The Baltimore Sun, drew a black man dangling from a rope. The drawing includes only the title of the state song, “Maryland, My Maryland!” Incensed readers, many of whom were members of the Ku Klux Klan, attacked the Sun delivery trucks, burned the newspapers, and beat up the drivers.
The cartoon, however unpopular with some readers, publicized the savage practice of lynching and raised awareness among other readers and legislators — which led to the state’s passing stronger anti-lynching legislation.
Duffy’s editor, the venerable H.L. Mencken, once summed up the simple potency of editorial cartooning by saying, “Give me a good cartoonist and I can throw out half the editorial staff.”
The Houston Chronicle reprints Lamb’s take on the power of satire in the Lincoln Project’s anti-Trump ads (original is here). The group includes a bevy of Republican campaign veterans and Republican ad-makers. The PAC has spent $28 million on raw ads aimed at Trump’s jugular. Lamb asks, are they good satire? You betcha:
Satire is the use of ridicule, sarcasm and irony to attack or expose the vices and follies of society. Satirists see themselves on the outside of society, looking in at an unjust or immoral world with mean-spirited, corrupt or inept leaders.
Effective satire must resonate with readers in a way that’s intimate, personal and often uncomfortable. A satirist wants the reader to grimace or howl at his or her description of a politician’s fatal flaws, and not chuckle comfortably as when watching a “Saturday Night Live” character parodying a politician.
An example of good satire that is an exception to the regular “Saturday Night Live” pattern of ridicule would be Tina Fey’s spoof of Sarah Palin, which was meant to mock John McCain’s 2008 running mate as wholly inadequate for the job of being vice president.
As soon as Trump is gone, the Lincoln Project could easily turn its jaundiced eyes against Democrats. But credit them with demonstrating ads can be effective that step outside Democratic leadership PACs’ fetish for formulaic, cookie-cutter spots that land like dead flounders. Entertainment industry friends have long complained they are standing by, frustrated, just waiting to tell riveting stories for them. It’s what they do … and what, as a rule, Democrats don’t.
Some of the ads are meant to sway voters. Others are meant to sting Trump. And they do. Trump shot back impotently, calling the Lincoln Project “the Losers Project.”
If Trump intended to damage the project, it backfired. The group received $2 million in donations in the two days after his comment, which also inspired the creation of more ads that were designed to poke fun specifically at him.
Advertising Age reports that the ads “have become a sensation during the 2020 campaign.” Satirical, yes, but not formulaic. Not only do they grab audiences, but they go viral, reaching non-TV viewers.
One Lincoln Project ad was posted after Trump was diagnosed with the coronavirus. The ad criticizes Trump for reportedly infecting staffers because he refused to wear a surgical mask and he mocked those who did. The ad, called “Covita,” shows a montage of a maskless Trump at White House functions as a singer delivers a parody of the words from “Evita”:
“Don’t cry for me, White House staffers. The truth is, I will infect you. All through my tweeting, my mad existence. I broke my promise. Won’t keep my distance.”
And this one stings without laughter.
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