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Signs of Hidden Advertisements in Music Clips

October 26, 2012
                                                             Nino Tsagareishvili
 
Media Monitoring of Parliamentary Elections, implemented by Human Rights Center, revealed signs of hidden advertisements in music clips and advertisements of unidentified status which were aired by various TV-channels before the elections. Those clips and advertisements are: “I Love Racha,” “Anaklia Is Eager to Welcome You,” “Undefeated Energy of Freedom,” an advertisement about the launch of flights from Kutaisi airport and a song by Sopo Nizharadze,  “When we danced”.

The music clip “I Love Racha”, which was aired by Public Broadcaster, Imedi and Rustavi 2, is about the mountainous region of Racha where infrastructure was renovated by the government. In one scene of the clip, young people are dancing in front of a new police station. After the elections, we have not observed this advertisement on TV. If its purpose was to entertain the audience and present the tourism potential of Racha region, why did they show a police building in it?

 
On the TV-channel Imedi this clip ranked second place with 16%  of advertising time in the period from June 18 to July 29, as shown in the diagram.

Anaklia (a seaside town in Samegrelo region, western Georgia), rehabilitated by the government, was presented in the music clip “Anaklia Is Eager to Welcome You” which was aired by Imedi, Public Broadcaster and Rustavi 2 before the elections. Advertising the activities of the government was considered as pre-election advertisement of the ruling party, National Movement.
 


This clip ranked first place with 39% of advertising time in the period from June 18 to July 29, as shown in the diagram.

In the period from June 18 to July 29, the clips “I Love Racha” and “Anaklia Is Eager to Welcome You” were the advertisements to which most time was dedicated on Public Broadcaster too.

In response to an inquiry from Human Rights Center, Public Broadcaster and Imedi-TV sent official letters stating that those clips were not on the list of advertisements with social status.  Public Broadcaster called the ads “I Love Racha” and “Anaklia Is Eager to Welcome You” video-clips and said they were aired for free. However, the TV-channel did not provide the Center with information about the people who commissioned those music clips. It is noteworthy that Georgian legislation does not recognize the notion of a hidden advertisement, so regardless the status of these clips – whether they were commercial advertisements or music clips –  this problem lay beyond the influence of legal regulations.

Advertisements about the launch of flights from Kutaisi Airport also contained signs of hidden advertisements, which were aired by Imedi and Rustavi 2. 

In this advertisement, a man is standing in front of the renovated Bagrati Church and says: “My Bagrati, my temple.” Then we see a young man standing in front of the parliament who says: “My parliament.” Then a young woman says in front of the new airport: “My city, my airport.” At the end of the advertisement there is a text: “Kutaisi Davit Agmashenebeli Airport starts flights from September 26.” So, the advertisement is a kind of announcement about the launch of flights from Kutaisi airport. However, it is unclear what the connection is between the start of flights and the new parliament or the renovated Bagrati Church.

 
 
 

The music clip “Undefeated Energy of Freedom” was observed on Imedi TV in the period of September 10-23.

Dancers from Sukhishvili National Ballet of Georgia dance in front of the glassy building of the MIA day and night, on the roof of the new parliament, inside the domes of the president’s residence, in front of the new building of the Ministry of Justice, in the yard of the recently renovated Akhaltsikhe Rabat Fortress and on the Peace Bridge. The presentation of projects implemented by the government causes suspicion that the purpose of this clip is a hidden advertisement of the government’s activities.
 
 

 
 
 
 

 

 



The song by Sopo Nizharadze – “When we danced” ranked third place among advertisements to which most time was dedicated in the period of September 24 to October 7. The scenes used in the song present the renovated Rabat in Akhaltsikhe, whose renovation was finished during the pre-election period. The clip was quickly produced and was aired a few days before the elections.
 
Media Monitoring of Parliamentary Elections is implemented with financial support from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) within the framework of a four-year project, Increased Trust in Electoral Process (ITEP), financed by USAID (US Agency for International Development).
                                                

This blog is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the sole responsibility of Human Rights Center and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, USAID or the United States Government.   

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