Robby Firmansyah

 

Abstract

In the last quartal of 2020, during Covid-19 pandemic, local elections were held in various cities and provinces in Indonesia. As a result of the public awareness of the pandemic situation and the urgent need for solutions to deal with its implications, Covid-19 pandemic became a suitable theme to be addressed on election campaign media. The aim of this paper is to discover various patterns on how Covid-19 pandemic imageries were utilized by candidates in their political advertising to establish their personal brand. Thematic analysis was employed to identify the various patterns on how Covid-19 pandemic imageries were utilized by candidates in their political advertising. 329 Covid-19 related political advertisements from various candidates were reviewed to explore the emerging patterns on candidates’ personal brand establishment. The study found that promoting Covid-19 safety protocols, candidates’ strategies, and appreciation toward frontline workers became three major themes within the depiction of the pandemic in Indonesia local elections 2020 political advertising. Covid-19 pandemic-related imageries are not only employed to perform their informative functions but also as a context in which political advertising is able to perform its persuasive function.

 

Keywords: pandemic, politics, advertising, personal brand

 

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