ABSTRACT
Negative advertising is sometimes called attack advertising because the point of the advertisement is to diminish the political fortunes of the subject of the attack, providing an advantage to the attacker. Negative advertisements are distinguished from positive ads, also called promotional ads, that seek to advocate for a policy or the election of an individual. Contrast ads contain elements of both positive ads and negative ads, extolling the benefits or virtues of one candidate or idea while disparaging another candidate or idea. Because contrast ads contain an element of attack, they are also considered to be negative ads. These ads have become ubiquitous in US politics. In 1960, just over 10% of political ads in the presidential campaign were negative, but by 1988 the number had jumped to 80% (Jamieson, 1996). Since that time, negative advertisements have continued to comprise the majority of political ads seen in the US (West, 2014).
