AESTHETIC ANALYSIS OF UNFAIR TRIAL AS EMOTIONAL PROPAGANDA APPEAL IN NIGERIA’S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN (Published)
Disinformation in image projection seeks to achieve irrational protest consideration in message consumers of political commercials. It explains why a candidate’s image is subjected to emotional evaluation by the electorate, in an election situation. The Unfair Trial advertisement, used to separate Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP from Muhammadu Buhari of the APC, in 2015 presidential election in Nigeria, was the basis of this aesthetic analysis. Four aesthetic appreicational factors of environment, language, costume and action were used to determine how presented pictures, text and sound were expected to affect the television commercial consumers’ psyche. It is believed that emotion, introduced in political arguments, was likely to influence voter behaviour against incivility, capable of translating into loss of voter support for the disparaged candidate. It means that image projection of candidates at election should be done with dexterity, as to achieve the desired communication objective in political commercials. It is when arguments are elevated to rational discourse that emotional considerations become inconsequential in adverse contemplation for any particular candidate at elections.
Keywords: Aesthetics, Emotion, Propaganda, appeal.