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Exploring Counter-Imaging in Online Political Advertisements During Elections Campaigns: A Case of South African Main Opposition Parties

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  • Mopailo Thomas Thatelo
  • Kealeboga Aiseng

Abstract

This article contends that visual depictions within online political advertisements during South Africa’s 2021 and 2024 local and national government elections employed counter-imaging as a visual rhetorical strategy. These visual rhetorical manoeuvres, being ideological and inherently subjective, are intricately crafted to either legitimise or undermine political issues and actors subtly. The study employed a research methodology grounded in visual discourse analysis to scrutinise the underlying visual rhetoric embedded within chosen visual representations from the online political advertisements of South Africa’s main opposition parties- the ActionSA, Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). The findings of this research divulge that the selected visual representations strategically undermine the legitimacy of the ruling African National Congress (ANC)-led government.

Suggested Citation

  • Mopailo Thomas Thatelo & Kealeboga Aiseng, 2025. "Exploring Counter-Imaging in Online Political Advertisements During Elections Campaigns: A Case of South African Main Opposition Parties," Studies in Media and Communication, Redfame publishing, vol. 13(3), pages 384-396, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:rfa:smcjnl:v:13:y:2025:i:3:p:384-396
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Doris A. Graber, 1996. "Say it with Pictures," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 546(1), pages 85-96, July.
    2. Fowler, Erika Franklin & Franz, Michael M. & Martin, Gregory J. & Peskowitz, Zachary & Ridout, Travis N., 2021. "Political Advertising Online and Offline," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 115(1), pages 130-149, February.
    3. Scott, Linda M, 1994. "Images in Advertising: The Need for a Theory of Visual Rhetoric," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 21(2), pages 252-273, September.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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