Vintage or surprising: an expert analyzes the posters of Rouen candidates for the Legislative

As with every election, election posters are flourishing on billboards in Rouen (Seine-Maritime). They are an opportunity to stand out and give a clear message to voters. Odile Ambry is an expert in consulting and communication strategy, analyzes her posters for us.

In 2020, she analyzed candidate posters for the municipal elections in Rouen. Today, on the eve of the first round of anticipated legislative elections of 202476- asked him to repeat the experience in the first constituency of the department.

A shortened campaign

First of all, it is important to clarify thatOdile Ambry is not from Rouen and does not know the local candidates. She would like to recall that this election has a special character, since it results from the dissolution of the National Assembly by the President. “The candidates therefore have to produce very quickly their communication equipment, she points out. And the goal is not to denigrate them. »

And then, the expert also emphasizes “the budget gap”which can favour the most established parties, even if electoral posters are now “a bit outdated and surely doomed to disappear”, she adds. In any case, the general observation for the posters in the Rouen constituency is divided into two categories: “Those who remain on the national ballot and those who have chosen local anchoring.”

The RN is targeting the Assembly, without ambiguity

For the poster of the National Rally candidate, Grégoire Houdan, there are no doubts, according to Odile Ambry: “There, it is very clear, we see the National Assembly behind him. The message is ‘send me there’. »

Which may also suggest that he does not necessarily have “a program or of local vision », she adds. There is also no clearly established slogan and the poster uses the charter common to all the far-right party candidates for this election.

The expert also notes that “we don’t see a substitute, and he hasn’t even been named. So we’re focusing on this candidate, the rest is not the subject.”

Patrick Chabert, “the big blur”

The poster of Patrick Chabert, the declared candidate of the Republicans (apart from Ciotti) and the Centrists, plunges us into “great confusion”, asserts Odile Ambry.

You can tell they didn’t have much time and kept it simple. The slogan is blurry, as is the background of the photo.

A blur that is all the more maintained by the four political party logos at the bottom of the poster and this notion of “republican union”. In addition, Odile Ambry does not find it “very punchy”, despite this attempt at fantasy with a few touches of pink. “It surprised me,” she said, knowing that pink is more of a left-wing color. “But maybe they have a charter.”

Richard Vacquer and his cat to stand out

With Richard Vacquer, the candidate for the Sovereign Republic, “we feel that our cat is part of the campaign,” notes the expert. “It’s perhaps a reference that can speak, it gives him a side closer to people. »

On the other hand, it can also lead “to a mix between animalist and rural codes with this green and this brick wall behind it,” she notes. I don’t know if it was intentional and it gives a bit of the impression that he wanted to put everything in the same image. »

Whether it speaks or not, this poster stands out from the rest. If that’s what he wanted, he succeeded.

This is a poster that will to make people stop. We wonder about this cat, about the colors.” The only downside: “He’s the only candidate who wrote ‘replacement’ instead of substitute, it’s not very chic. »

Damien Adam, alone in the Seine

The outgoing MP Damien Adam “takes up all the space”. Odile Ambry also notes “the local anchorage with the Seine and the quays”.

It calls for development. It was chosen, it is a message well seen and well said.

“The color codes are very national. And we have a bit of a Gabriel Attal effect when we see him. » Another general observation: “There are zero slogans and no reference to the president, like most of the majority candidates. It is voluntary. »

Above all, Damien Adam “is alone in the Seine. His substitute’s place is below, it’s clearly him. » And finally, “we feel that there is a lot of work and budget. They usually. “

The New Popular Front, with the strong support of the mayor of Rouen

At first glance, Odile Ambry had difficulty determining who was really a candidate for the New Popular Front. On the poster, the mayor of Rouen, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol appears at the top left while he is Florence Hérouin Léautey’s deputy. SO, first in reading direction. “A poster is read from left to right and top to bottom,” recalls the expert.

It may be a voluntary choice. He (Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol) is more visible than her (Florence Hérouin Léautey) even though he is not the candidate. But it is very buoyant. He suffocates her a little all the same. There, we are told that it is he who will help win.

The expert also emphasizes anchorage towards the Seine, as for Damien Adam: “If I had to analyze this in a very philosophical way, I would say that it is to point towards Paris. But with the little time that the candidates had, we say to ourselves that it is more to have a nice photo in the open air, with green and water. And then it’s a corner that speaks to people. »

On the choice of colors and font, “we respect the charter of the New Popular Front”. The slogan “is perhaps a little too high, although it is certainly intentional,” she concludes.

Jody Horcholle: A poster on a tight budget

Pour Jody Horcholle, candidate for various centers, the expert immediately notes a tighter budget. “You can feel it. » She especially notices the “local roots” with this view of Rouen. “Why not, but it goes against its slogan about the homeland. »

She notes some errors in the form: “We never capitalize words or colons on a communication poster. » The large space left Next to the candidate, the expert also strikes: “There is no photo of his substitute, perhaps because they did not want to or did not have time.”

And finally, “there’s this blue and green gimmick at the bottom left”, symptomatic of the problems of modern display: “People don’t necessarily stop to read everything. »

Lutte Ouvrière, the vintage poster

Valérie Foissey, the Lutte Ouvrière candidate “stay vintage” with his poster. “We have had the same posters for 30 or 40 years and that is intentional. » Always red, the sickle and the hammer. “It’s to say: ‘We’re always the same, we don’t give up,’” analyzes the expert.

As usual, the workers’ camp party keeps a lot of text. Here too, it’s vintage: “We are still in these codes of the time when we took the time to stop in front of the poster and read it.”

The NPA Revolutionaries, between tradition and modernity

The poster of the NPA Révolutionnaires (dissident of the NPA which is allied with the NFP) with its candidate Marie-Hélène Duverger, keeps the codes of the extreme left. Namely red on a red background and a lot of text. “There is not much else to say except that we feel a desire to modernize the revolutionwhich we find almost everywhere on the left,” explains the expert.

Reconquest: the poster not to do

“What can I say about this poster? I don’t know what it’s for,” entry tackle Odile Ambry. According to her, “this is not an election poster. We don’t even have the name of the candidate (Christian Savey, Editor’s note) and his deputy. » We don’t know who we’re voting for, other than the Reconquest party.

The explanation may be found “in the few candidates they present”, thinks the expert. But in this kind of case, “It is better to do nothing than to do badly.”

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