One Hit Wonders Not Exclusive to the Entertainment Industry

We often laugh at ‘one hit wonders’ in the entertainment industry. We may go on record as saying we loved or hated a particular song, and we look back at the singer or songwriter with derision or we are fondly nostalgic. We relish the Sound Bites that keep us updated as to ‘where they are now’ or that tell us how far they have fallen. However we feel about a particular One Hit Wonder, we do have an emotional connection of some sort to that particular song or that particular time. Sometimes, we just can’t get a song or jingle out of our heads.  We shake our heads and laugh about it. Harmless stuff. Harmless until the Political Machinists learned to harness this particular benign phenomenon and morphed it into a One Issue Wonder Tool.

One Issue Wonders

In Politics, the phenomenon of One Hit Wonders are more like ‘One Issue Wonders’ and they are a highly sought after commodity for Party Politicking at Election time. Pick the right ‘hit’ message, stay on that message and make sure your opponents can’t avoid talking about your message.  Usually these One Issue Wonders become festering wounds for the electorate at large because outcomes are rarely what was promised. They are largely responsible for the public perception that all politicians are ‘slime’.

Stephen Harper steals speech from Emperor Palpatine

From: offwall | Mar 25, 2011 In reaction to the bringing down of his government on March 25, 2011, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper seems to have borrowed talking points straight from the mouth of the most evil man in the galaxy: the Emperor himself… Darth Sidious.

Taglines, or slogans as they used to be called, are powerful tools for political parties. They can create the illusion of an issue or overshadow real issues in the political landscape. They are intended to elicit an emotional response and get the vote.

The 2011 Campaign Slogans:

• Bloc Québécois: “Parlons Québec”
• Conservative Party: “Here For Canada  & “Michael Ignatieff – He didn’t come back for you!”
• Green Party: “It’s Time” & “Canada needs Elizabeth May but only you can elect her”
• Liberal Party: “Rise Up Canada” & “Change you need, from a proven team”
• New Democratic Party: “Working For Families” & “You have a choice”

Party ‘Tag Lines’ can make or break a Political Party at election time and obscene amounts of dollars and time are invested in those slogans rolled out under the Party logo on signs, brochures, TV and Radio Ads, Blogs and Website banners. Wherever a Party can plaster their slogan/tagline they populate and multiply like noxious, invasive weeds.