Transgressive Playfulness Captured in Republican Campaign Ads with Guns

• In Event: Party Communications and Agenda Setting

Abstract

Studies have shown a significant increase in political ads featuring firearms over time. Of particular concern is the transgressive use of firearms by politicians, which may radicalize and incite violence. Some viewers find these actions entertaining or humorous. This paper introduces the concept of 'transgressive playfulness' to analyze its presence in 2022 U.S. midterm ads. Our study examines its impact on social media engagement, particularly on YouTube, to fill the existing void in the political communication field.

While guns have traditionally symbolized toughness, hunting enthusiasm, and Second Amendment support in ads, a shift has occurred in political advertisements, where firearms increasingly evoke violence against government, established order, and the legal process. Political analysts have noted that these political ads use guns in a transgressive manner to quickly capture the audience’s attention.

Over 100 GOP midterm ads featured firearms in 2022, with many taking a transgressive approach. Particularly controversial was Eric Greitens' transgressive political ad, which depicted him with a group of men in military gear breaking into a home and throwing a flash grenade to hunt a 'RINO' (Republicans in name only). While many expressed concerns about these ads actively mobilizing people to incite violence against political opponents, Eric Greitens claimed the ad was meant to be taken in a “lighthearted” and “humorous” way.

We introduce the concept of transgressive playfulness to capture the humorous elements of communication that cross a line. While humor appears in many forms, the ‘playfulness’ in ‘transgressive playfulness’ encompasses the wide array of actions or words that appear non-serious or comedic. At the same time, ‘transgressive playfulness’ must also include behavior that nearly approaches or crosses a social or moral boundary. For example, Jerone Davison (candidate for Arizona’s 4th congressional district) posted a political campaign ad in defense of AR-15-style rifles. In the ad, he suggests that “when this rifle is the only thing standing between your family and a dozen angry Democrats in Klan hoods, you just might need that semi-automatic and all 30 rounds.” While this video may be offensive to viewers depending on political beliefs, its tone can be interpreted as comedic.

Given that the transgressive 2022 midterm ads featuring firearms, which received significant criticism, defended themselves as "humorous," we aim to explore the presence of transgressive playfulness in these ads and their impact on engaging audiences on social media. More specifically, we analyze 1) the characteristics of transgressive playfulness in Republican ads featuring firearms and 2) the way these ads attract social media engagement on YouTube in comparison to non-transgressive firearm ads.

Our paper reveals that transgressive playfulness has been a prominent characteristic in 2022 U.S. midterm ads featuring politicians with firearms. Ads containing transgressive playfulness often included excessive ‘othering’ toward political opponents, especially liberals or news organizations. While political ads featuring firearms and transgressive playfulness received substantial criticism from news media because of their potential to incite violent actions toward political opponents, we discovered that transgressive playfulness acts as an effective defense for candidates’ otherwise objectionable transgressiveness.

By comparing how ads with transgressive playfulness featuring firearms attract views, likes, and comments on YouTube compared to other ads involving firearms, we observed an increase in the number of views, likes, and comments when the firearm ads incorporate characteristics of transgressive humor. These results clearly show that transgressive playfulness in political ads with firearms, despite concerns about normalizing and endorsing violence aimed at political opponents, including racial and gender minorities in some cases, significantly outperforms in capturing the audience's attention and boosting engagement on social media.

Our paper highlights two key aspects: 1) the increasing trend of political ads featuring firearms adopting a more transgressive tone while often normalizing their content through the use of playfulness, and 2) the effectiveness of transgressive playful political ads, which may incite violence, in the realm of social media engagement. This paper effectively fills a current gap in political communication by demonstrating how the public on social media often endorses the radicalization of political ads featuring firearms and how transgression is frequently combined with humor in these ads to solidify their political base. This understanding is crucial, especially in light of the pressing need to comprehensively address the issue of gun violence, which continues to be a significant concern in the United States.

Authors

• Sang Jung Kim, University of Iowa

• Jason Greenfield, New York University