Political advertising applications in Turkey: the example of 31 March 2019 local elections

Every new development in communication technologies has affected the society and all institutions related to it in some way. Politics has been one of the areas most affected by the developments in the field of communication technologies. Especially after large masses of people gained the right to vote, those who aspired to power sought ways to benefit from various means of communication in order to influence more voters and get their votes. At this point, political advertisements that emerge assume a functional role. In the historical process, newspapers, radio and television have been used as important mass media in the publication of political advertisements. Ar the present time, the internet and the digital platforms that develop depending on it are considered as important tools that bring together political actors and voters. In the example of the 31 March 2019 local elections, this study, which was prepared to examine the political advertisements published by political parties on official youtube channels and in their archives, in terms of form and content, consists of three parts, two of which are theoretical and one is practice. In the theoretical sections, the literature on advertising and political advertising is discussed in a wide framework. The third part consists of the research designed by using the content analysis method for the political advertisements published on the official youtube channels of the AK Party and CHP during the 31 March 2019 local elections and in their archives. Political advertisements analyzed within the scope of the research; types, durations, periods of publication, attractiveness elements used, characteristics of the subject discussed, types of images, viewing rates, etc. Comparative analyzes of many variables were made. As a result of these analyzes, it is seen that the majority of the political ads of both political parties in the official youtube channel archives for the relevant election period consist of positive ads. Again, while both political parties preferred to use animation as the image type in their political advertisements, it was also determined that slogans and logos were used in all commercials. On the other hand, it has been noted that while the AK Party focuses on national issues in the commercials, CHP focuses on local issues, and the AK Party's commercials reach a higher number of viewers compared to the CHP. Keywords: Advertising, Political Advertising, Political Communication, Local Elections, Youtube.