Nationalism in Political Advertisements: the 2018 Presidential Election Advertisements of the Nationalist Movement Party and Justice and Development Party

Abstract

Political advertisements (ads) within political campaigns use a variety of topics, sounds, visuals, texts, and themes to impact voters positively. Therefore, political ads are crucial for political parties. Political advertising activities are linked to cultural elements (values, languages, myths, nations, beliefs, etc.). Culture is a social phenomenon that encompasses languages, religions, beliefs, myths, and values. Election campaigns often address nationalism. Political leaders act according to social values and beliefs to attract voters. Therefore, leaders or spokespersons of political parties collaborate with top agencies before elections to formulate compelling ads to touch voters’ emotional side. In this context, political ads touch on cultural elements. This study aims to explore the elements of nationalism used by the Nationalist Movement Party [Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi (MHP)] and the Justice and Development Party [Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP)] in their electoral ads and to determine which nationalist indicators and values they generally include. This study addressed the concepts of nationalism and political advertising and then analyzed the ads placed by the AKP and MHP during the presidential election of June 24, 2018. The study used semiotic analysis to examine the indicators of nationalism addressed by those ads.