Electoral Campaign Finish

This winter I was not interested in the parliamentary elections, for various reasons, that I see no point in exposing here. But after sailing indifferently through a sea of tasteless electoral messages, I only noticed only. It caught my eye instantly. It was a Social Liberal Union (USL) panel located in an exceptional place on the Olt Valley, both in terms of positioning and significance (of the place, n.b. Olt Valley). The panel was simple: divided into two equal vertical halves: on the left there was an oversized USL logo on a white background, and on the right, on a blue background, “We are finishing the Transylvania Highway” was written with white letters.

Let’s rewind:

Location: Olt Valley

Message: We Will Finish the Transylvania Highway

Party: USL

Let’s see what it means:
Considering the congested traffic to and from Transylvania that passes through the Olt Valley, and the frustrations accumulated daily by thousands of drivers on this route, the message that announces the completion of the Highway is extremely opportune. For example, a trip by car from Cluj to Bucharest via Olt Valley takes at least 6.5-7 hours when the traffic is congested, and it is not at all comfortable. Or, on the highway, the time could be reduced to 4-5 hours. Given that in the political alliance that promoted this message the predominant party that propels it, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), was, as far as I can remember, the initiator of the Transylvania Highway project, the message clicked in the minds of many; this showed that in the last 8 years almost nothing was done for this project that is useful for both the Transylvanians and the people of Bucharest or Constanța. The message is also a promise. Of course, with no deadline, but it “sounds” like a firm promise.

The graphic style of the panel really doesn’t matter. The graphic design was an “honest” one, as designers usually say, meaning ordinary, not out of the ordinary. But the message was visible, it made sense, and the location was absolutely perfect. I consider the panel to be a very good example of political communication, pragmatic and anchored in immediate realities and promising something useful and tangible to a very wide and diverse array of socio-professionally profiled people, from truck drivers, to sales agents and businessmen to ordinary people traveling for their self-interest.

Although, all the other political panels are just pieces of paper down the drain.

P.S. After a distinguished lady notified me of this, I feel compelled to mention here what I was reluctant to write at the beginning, namely the fact that Mr. Ponta said when he was in Cluj that there is no money for the completion of the Transylvania Highway.