The Living Room Candidate - The History of Campaign Commercials

Last night I was a guest on EdReach's EduNation Google+ Hangout On Air. One of the topics that came up was soundbite media and politics (don't worry it didn't turn into a political show). In the show I mentioned a resource called The Living Room Candidate that I reviewed four years ago. This morning I went back and investigated some new features of the The Living Room Candidate.



The Living Room Candidate is part of a larger project called the Museum of the Moving Image. Visitors to The Living Room Candidate can view the commercials from each campaign from both parties. A written transcript is provided with each commercial. Provided along with each video is an overview of the political landscape of at the time of the campaigns. Visitors to the website can search for commercials by election year, type of commercial, or by campaign issue.

Applications for Education
The Living Room Candidate has a great tool for students called The Living Room Candidate Ad Maker. The Ad Maker can be used by students to remix old advertisements, sound bites, and images to create new campaign commercials. The teachers page on The Living Room Candidate offers nine lesson plans for teaching about the historical context of campaigns, analyzing campaign ads, and creating new campaign ads.