Conventional knowledge holds that voter choices are as a result of close ties forged by political parties and their followers, the position on the most controversial policies of the day, evaluation of the incumbent on issues like the economy, education, and security among others. In recent times, more literature is opening up and paying attention to other indicators, some weird, of electoral choices in elections; gender, temperaments, fame and influence, social media, communication, style of leadership, even fashion and looks.
How good you look can determine how successful you can be in an election or a course especially if you are not very popular. Maybe this is one of the charms Dr. Mahmoud “Magic” Bawumia and his beautiful wife Samira brought to the NPP. It worked! But this piece is not about Image and electability; I want to focus on Party Colours and Electability.
Somewhere in October the New Patriotic Party launched a “color campaign” on social media; every color NPP: Red, white, blue or the combination of any of them was enough to get one some gook LIKES on Facebook as long as it captioned #4Moretodomore or #4More4Nana.
I loved the idea. For a moment I thought the digitalized capitalist had acquired Facebook. For days, the NPP trended with almost everyone with access to a Smartphone and some love or sympathy for the NPP sharing their pictures, selfies and 4 fingers in party colors.
This phenomenon got me thinking about the role colors (flags) played in our elections; the different or new role colors will play in December 2020.
- Among all other things, can the colors red , white, blue influence your choice on December 7?
- Among all other things, can the colors red, white, green, black influence your choice on December 7?
Colors have been part of political and social movements throughout history, communicating all manner of messages, depending on the time, cause, course, and culture. For example the color red has become the “go-to” color for radicalism agendas; adopted in highlighting those issues that require immediate attention in our national lives. Most demonstrations across the world is not complete without the use or inclusion of this emotive color. Likewise, in Ghana, colors mean different things to different people.
Red, brown, black clothing, pieces of it, depending on how they are used (worn) is a sign of mourning. Red can also evoke some warmth and make you very hungry. Why do you think a lot of food joints and restaurant dominate this color in their designs?
Perception and Taste
The red color of the “Top 4” political parties since 1992 is not the same in terms of brightness; it varies from one party to another. The NPP has what can be described as the Candy Red; it is intense and attractive. The NDC has the blood kind of red- some call that Red 3 or fine brick.
It is also very attractive but has this gloomy or dark appeal whereas the People’s National Convention (PNC) and Conventions Peoples Party (CPP) share the same shade of red called Safe 16 or Lust. In summary, the red color present in all these flags represents the sacrifice, struggle, passion demonstrated by the founders of the various parties.
The pine like Green of color adopted by the NDC is also more attractive than the parakeet or shamrock Green of both the PNC and CPP. Philosophically, Green would represent abundance, purity, goodness in Ghana and safety and balance in places in the United States and Europe.
For the founders of the party it means the harmony of ideas from members at the grassroots to the executives is paramount to the decision making of the party. Members in the parties agree to disagree or vice versa to vital issues related to them. For the CPP and PNC, the green stands for the rich agriculture produce the country holds, youth development and the hope of new beginnings.
The Black as used by NDC makes a good inclusion to the colors and represents national pride; almost the same vibe exuded in the black star in the National flag.
The Blue color by the NPP is also colorful and attractive. Blue represents calmness and in some quarters, intellect or too intelligentsia (almost bouchée); the latter being the most dominant feature in the party’s history. It is also believed it represents the trustworthy and honest nature of the party’s leadership. The blue color is arguably the most marketed color of all the NPP colors in 2020.
The campaign billboards, posters, the threshold design Photoshops, digital wallpapers, souvenirs are mostly ( if not all) designed in blue.
The color white, like red is used by all Top 4 parties. It is also very powerful and combines well with all the other colors present in the various flags. Politically, victory and holiness are the words being propagated by all the parties who have adopted the white color.
Since 1992, together with the symbols, the NPP’s female elephant, the PNC’s slightly bent coconut tree, the CPP’s cockerel and the NDC’s umbrella with the head of the eagle, political party colors have branded the parties ahead of every elections, it also helped in organizing and mobilizing members and sympathizers especially on the grounds of party events, it has created a sense of belonging, it has helped in intentionally provoking emotions of opponents at public gatherings especially in election years.
In 2020, party colors have gotten a new role; they are fashion statement; the color campaign launched by the NPP in October on social media may have been a party initiative to rally support but was also some virtual fashion “run ways” for people to display and share their creative designs with the PARTY COLORS.
This event has a psychological potential of strongly creating and reminding the electorate of the colors of the NPP. Quoting free Encyclopedia (2006), as cited by Ehinful (2012)“if a picture is worth a thousand words, a picture with natural colors may be worth a million, memory-wise. Psychologists have documented that ―living color does more than appeal to the senses. It also boosts memory for scenes in the natural world.”
This can mean, anyone (swing social media electorate especially) who got attracted in any way to the “show your NPP color” campaign on Facebook may have the tendency to remember the NPP colors more than others (if the party should repeat this initiative). Again, placing this phenomenon in the framework of Malcom Gladwell’s rules in The tipping point, the NPP may have created an innocent epidemic to help their fortunes on December 7.
A “sticky message”, “4more to do more” is broadcasted around by few notable party figures (law of few) on social media (law of context) through an everyday lifestyle activity. Color and dressing!
For the few days of that color campaign, it felt safe ( not personally but by observation) to go out in the red, white, blue color combinations without provoking opponents considering it is an election year.
This is not scientific; it is just arguments made after some observation of recent events. And as mentioned earlier in the introduction, considerable investigation is ongoing on those weird ( nontraditional) determinants of elections outcome in recent times.
If there’s any lesson here for political parties to take, they should consider initiatives, actions in these last days and future elections to make their colors, symbols stronger on the minds of electorates.
The CPP and PNC may want to consider tweaking the green in their colors as suggested by other scholars and probably scientifically reexamine the relevance of the cockerel and coconut on their respective flags in future elections.
I will make time for that in the next piece.
Ebenezer De Gualle
The author of this article AJEOT 2018 Alumnus of ILAPI
