Political ads have plagued people for years, spreading false information and becoming annoying after one listens to them on repeat in order to watch their scheduled show. With upcoming elections coming, so do new political ads, featuring: Sen. Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker in a myriad of attack and slander ads showing the unsavory parts of their lives, including scandals. Not only do political ads serve an unnecessary function by attacking politicians, but they also remain harmful to the populace when spreading misinformation.

Slander ads project the opponent of a politician in a negative light, usually causing lasting damage to their reputation and by extension, their everyday life. The attack ads come off as infantile outbursts but remain effective due to their professional film producers who know how to grab attention and sites that make creating an ad incredibly easy. The coupling of attention-grabbing advertisements and the drama surrounding the elections makes for an atmosphere filled with tension, distrust, and anger. This division can turn people against each other, inciting violence that possesses no real cause rather than the disgusting political ads politicians employ to up their polling numbers.

“Honestly, I think that they’ve lost their purpose in providing information on the candidates and instead just degrade their opposer in the most hideous way possible which makes it just seem a little childish and makes me as a consumer lose respect for the candidates use of advertising,” junior Isabel Baxter said.

Political ads do spread accurate information about the politicians running in the elections and create opinions on the candidates to support, despite the misinformation potentially spreading. These opinions promote discussions that can help people to decide who to vote for, even with minimal understanding of the person they decide to vote for. These ads also provide a valuable template for what ads receive the most responses, positive or negative from their audiences. These minor positive effects do not, however, excuse the annoyances and dangers posed by these political ads. 

Despite the consequences that political ads provide in the form of civil unrest, the likelihood of them falling into a state of disuse remains near zero. This unfortunate situation takes hold due to the ads’ volatility and the ease experienced when the ads spread from person to person through the sharing of them online much like how diseases spread through contact. These ads become effective due to their dramatic elements such as scandals, illegal activities and lies about the politician. A number of the ads are wrought together with misinformation, culminating in a toxic environment that encompasses America.

“I think they [political ads] work so well because people are inclined to believe something bad that they hear rather than research it themselves. It doesn’t matter whether what the ads are saying is true or not, people are inclined to believe them,” junior Brian Corry said.

Political ads become dangerous when exposed to people while spreading misinformation and should not see used in response to the dangers that such usage may pose. Within the disgusting political ads spreading this information, there remains the occasional truthful insight into the mechanisms, which run politicians’ minds and can help people decide who they want to vote for. Sadly, the ads spread so freely become incredibly irritating thanks to their volume during the political and election season.