Using video to control your message: Kennedy bids farewell to politics
Let's push politics aside, because quite frankly, we serve clients from every point on the ideological spectrum.
It's easy to understand why U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) decided to announce his decision not to run for re-election through a video press release. Video allows him to completely control his message. And it avoids any awkward moments in front of live cameras when the media would bombard him with questions about "the Scott Brown effect" and his fears of getting rejected by voters.
It's also easy to understand why he would release the information on a Friday. Heck is ANYONE even reading this blog post on a Friday night? I know for a fact that our boss isn't. He's thinking about a fun-filled family winter weekend. Snowtubes, woo-hoo!
But what is incomprehensible from a video production perspective, is why Patrick Kennedy chose to announce his political retirement with sad piano music edited underneath his statement. Sometimes it is better to let the words speak for themselves and music, any kind of music, can undermine the message.
Can you imagine President Lyndon B. Johnson adding piano music to his speech announcing his decision not to run for re-election in 1968? (WARNING: If you click on the above link, please note that LBJ is a dreadfully boring orator).