Anti-Marriage Ads: Scared Straight

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I’ve been thinking a bit about the ad above today — from the National Organization for Marriage — and why it’s got people so riled-up in the pro-gay-marriage community (a community I’m a part of).

I think the reason is simple: It’s pretty effective at what it’s trying to do. That is, of course, to stoke fear of gay marriage and a world in which straight people will be oppressed by gays.

Now, we already know a little about homophobia. It tends to be correlated with latent homosexual desire (hence all the religious-right people who end up stumbling out of the closet high on meth with their pants around their ankles). We know that, in men, it’s correlated with feeling one’s masculinity is threatened. But old-fashioned homophobia is enough on the wane in America that gay-marriage opponents now need something else.

Unable to simply run ads of leather-clad men prancing around at gay-pride parades (inducing fear of The Other), they now have to find a way to make us (straight people) feel threatened personally.

In order to fully understand what’s going on in this ad, you need to start with the concept of mortality salience. Basically, mortality salience is the idea that being reminded of the fact of death (i.e. one’s own mortality) can essentially prime people into a different mindset —one which makes them more likely to fear other races, religions, and nations; which makes them prefer charismatic over pragmatic leaders; and which heightens their attraction to traditional mores.

Take, for instance, these findings from an experiment during the 2004 presidential election between George W. Bush and John F. Kerry:

(a) Suppose that people are merely reminded of their own mortality–by being asked, for example, to describe “what you think will happen to you as you physically die and once you are physically dead.” After that reminder, and in answering seemingly unrelated questions, they showed stronger support for President Bush and his policies in Iraq.

(b) After people were reminded either of their mortality or of the September 11 attacks, they became more favorably disposed toward Bush and less favorably disposed toward John Kerry.

(c) Both mortality salience and a reminder of the September 11 attacks had similar effects–in increasing support for Bush among liberals and conservatives alike. Astonishingly, the reference to the terrorist attacks increased support for Bush among liberals even more than among conservatives.

Pretty strong stuff.

In another mortality salience experiment, male subjects were approached by a pretty research assistant while crossing a dangerous rope bridge. Those who got her number (she gave it as part of the experiment) while on the bridge, as opposed to once they were safely across, called four times more often.

So, fear can really affect how we process the world — and how we act in response to that processing.

What does this ad do to spark fear, or mortality salience? Well, the entire ominous “storm” motif is pretty sinister, with dark clouds and strikes of lightning. And there’s the nice touch at the end, where the sun comes out as a spokesman promises that a “rainbow coalition of love” will come together to fend off teh gays.

Then, there’s the text, put in the mouths of various actors of various races and genders: “There’s a storm gathering. The clouds are dark, and the winds are strong. And I am afraid.” The “I am afraid” line, the most direct appeal to fear, is read by a pretty, innocent-looking, young African American woman (perhaps even meant to evoke instincts of protection in males, empathy in females). And the kicker toward the end: “The storm is coming.”

You are going to die.

Now, don’t get me wrong. This isn’t mind control. And there’s nothing more nefarious going on here than in hundreds (thousands?) of ads that run every day. When the ad’s supporting something you like, you’ll just think it’s clever and well-produced; if it’s supporting something you don’t like, it’ll seem nefarious.

Still, it’s worth understanding how these things work. And understanding when people are appealing to your fear rather than your reason.