Let's give pro-U.S. ads a chance

By Alice Kenrick and Jami Fullerton, The Oklahoman
November 22, 2006

This election season politicians announced their positions on our presence in Iraq, but few have addressed a continuing, underlying problem — America's damaged image abroad.

International public opinion polls repeatedly remind us that people in many countries have unfavorable attitudes toward the U.S. government, and in some cases toward America in general. Could advertising help with America's image abroad? Could it play a role in modern public diplomacy — in bettering relationships with people in other countries?

We believe the answer is yes.

Some might recoil at the thought of advertising — with all of its glitz — mentioned alongside a serious issue like international relations. The idea of calling our great country a "brand" is disturbing to some, but in the context of improving America's image, it may make sense.

To that point, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing shortly after 9/11, "We've got to get creative people from the most creative media society on the face of the earth to put their time, attention and mind power to this." It is hard to ignore Powell's suggestion when one reflects on the role advertising has played in getting us to buckle our seat belts and realize that a mind is a terrible thing to waste. We believe that advertising could also play a role in getting people not to "hate us."

Many think it is inappropriate, and even ridiculous, to try and win hearts and minds when we have so many foreign policy difficulties around the world. We believe that failure to counter the negative imagery of America in the foreign press is beyond ridiculous — it is dangerous.

Why shouldn't public diplomacy benefit from the power of a well-crafted ad message? There's certainly a lot of potential content — featuring good deeds done by U.S. companies and individuals worldwide, dispelling myths and false beliefs about America, or highlighting the common ground we share with others around the world.

The State Department did just that in late 2002 with a much-maligned campaign known as the Shared Values Initiative (SVI). It's interesting to note that SVI's most vehement critics were politicians, mass media pundits, diplomats and some journalists. In our book "Advertising's War on Terrorism: The Story of the U.S. State Department's Shared Values Initiative", we detail (to the surprise of most readers) that the U.S. government's first television campaign to the Muslim world was actually quite successful by advertising standards. Granted, there were problems in getting the campaign on the air in certain countries, but where it did run, numbers were very healthy.

Our own research among college students in more than 25 countries revealed that the spots, which featured testimonials from Muslims living and practicing their faith freely in the United States, actually moved the needle in terms of improving attitudes toward America.

In addition to reporting the history of SVI and the results of our own research, our book offers several suggestions for improving U.S. public diplomacy.

Our hope is that our government leaders will consider ways to improve the image of America abroad. And when they do, we believe they should not be so quick to rule out advertising as a potential tool in that process. We need to give ads a chance.

Kendrick, Ph.D., is a professor in the Temerlin Advertising Institute at Southern Methodist University. Fullerton, Ph.D., is associate professor of advertising at Oklahoma State University. This article is reprinted with permission from Adweek magazine.