Ad Watch- Barack Obama- "Walk a Day in My Shoes"

“Walk a Day in My Shoes” is a campaign paid for by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) that asks political candidates to spend time at home and on the job with SEIU members in order to better understand the concerns workers have about their lives and their children’s future. Although this video of Obama’s participation in the campaign does not exactly constitute an advertisement, it is relevant for ethical evaluation because it is a means for voters to see how candidates react to the reality of working people’s lives.

Sen. Barack Obama participated in this campaign on August 8, 2007. The video documenting Obama’s participation can be seen on the SEIU Web site along with the videos of other candidates who have taken part in the campaign. It begins with a video of Pauline Beck, an SEIU homecare worker, introducing herself. The video then cuts to Obama walking up to Beck’s house amidst the flashing of cameras and people who appear to be friends or neighbors watching.

Walking a day in Beck’s shoes involved Obama doing the work that Beck does on a daily basis. Throughout the ad, the video continuously cuts between footage of Obama throughout the day with his voiceover describing the experience and close up video of Obama, the man for whom Obama cooks and cleans, and Beck all discussing the day. When the close up is on Obama, visual text says, “Sen. Barack Obama (D) Illinois.”

There are no claims made in the ad about Obama’s voting record or promises that he has made in his campaign. However, Obama does discuss the important role of unions in improving workers’ lives as well as how Beck discussed with him the importance of having sick leave and health care. Obama portrays his views of these issues in a manner that is consistent with his campaign platform.

There are several visual factors of the video that are relevant to the ethical evaluation of the ad. First, instead of his usual suit and tie attire, Obama is dressed casually in a black polo and khaki pants. This is presumably so that Obama fits in better with the people around him. The moral relevance of this is whether or not he is misrepresenting himself by dressing differently than he normally does. Secondly, both Beck and the man in whose house she works are African American. It is unclear whether it is coincidence that the woman that SEIU chose for Obama to follow is African American, or whether they intentionally chose for him to interact with fellow African Americans. This is a morally relevant factor because there has been so much discussion of Obama’s race throughout the campaign.

Another issue to consider is the fact that SEIU announced its endorsement of Obama on Feb. 15, 2008. This was obviously well after this video was made, but this endorsement leads the viewer to wonder if the very positive light in which Obama was placed in this video was completely unbiased.

An auditory factor that I found to be morally relevant is the way that Obama’s speech differs between when he is interacting with the people in the video to when he is just speaking to the camera. When he is interacting with the other people, he begins to talk very casually. However, when he is talking to the camera, he speaks very formally and properly. This leads me to whether he is trying to pander to different audiences or simply connect to different groups of people.

I made numerous attempts to reach SEIU by email and telephone about this campaign but received no response.

I decided to use the potter box in order to determine the ethicality of this “ad”. The first relevant value of the American public is that of having transparency in the electoral process. In order to have a government that truly represents the people, candidates must portray themselves honestly so that voters can make the right decisions. This ad does not violate this value in terms of the issues that are discussed in the ad because the way he is portrayed in the ad aligns with his campaign platform. The aspect of the ad that could possibly violate this value is that he both dresses and talks differently in the ad than he does when speaking to the general American public. However, this could be because he is simply trying to make the people around him feel more comfortable.

Another relevant value is that candidates try to understand the needs and concerns of their constituents. By participating in this campaign, Obama is at least attempting to understand what life is like for working Americans. He actually went and did Beck’s job in order to really “walk in her shoes.”

If we apply Kant’s categorical imperative in determining the ethicality of this ad, it becomes obvious that Obama’s participation in this campaign was a socially responsible thing to do. I think that most American citizens would agree that all candidates should be required to do something similar to this in order to better understand constituents’ needs.

We can also examine this ad from the viewpoint of Utilitarianism. According to Utilitarianism, rightness or wrongness is determined by the total amount of value that is produced in a situation. Therefore, we can ask whether the consequences are valuable enough to outweigh anything negative brought about by the consequences. In this situation, I have determined that the value that is brought about by Obama actually seeing what its like to live as a union homecare worker outweighs any biased motives that may have existed in the making of this ad.

As American citizens, we must consider our political loyalties when judging the ethicality of a political advertisement. These include loyalty to our families, loyalty to our jobs, and loyalty to our country. When judging the actions of a politician or the ethicality of a political ad, we must consider how it adheres to or violates these loyalties. The purpose of this campaign was to force candidates to venture away from their privileged lives and see how other people live. I think that most people would agree that this campaign does not violate any of the aforementioned loyalties, and in fact actually attempts to enhance Obama’s understanding of these loyalties and how they affect the average American citizen. Therefore, I have determined that while this is not exactly an advertisement, it does represent an ethical portrayal of a political candidate.

Link to the ad:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=miUS7WnMgBw&feature=related