The fervor with which election campaigns are conducted in print and in the media brings a surge in demand each election time for the workers involved in producing campaign materials. It is no longer enough just to rely on the enthusiasm of ardent supporters and campus volunteers. Since 1989, professional public relations companies, advertising agencies and freelance studios have sprung up, and even artistic workers such as writers, photographers and film directors have joined the ranks of the creators of political advertisements.

This great gathering of creative talent, and the printing presses which roll 24 hours a day, churn out ream after ream of bright, eye-catching leaflets, which are then whisked away by various routes to be thrust before the eyes of the voters. Candidates are never stingy when it comes to campaign publicity materials, but this causes a headache for city and county environmental departments, and heartache for environmentalists. According to a 1992 estimate by the Green Consumers' Foundation, each candidate in Legislative Yuan elections consumes about 20,000 kilograms of paper--equivalent to 400 20-year old trees--to produce posters, handbills and campaign leaflets.

Behind each little leaflet stands an enormous expenditure of human labor and material resources. But it is also a little window through which we can see in miniature the face of society at the time when it was produced. Here we have collected mementos of the four major election campaigns since l989, each of which gives an insight into the state of society at election time.

[Picture Caption]

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Hammer and Tongs The campaign for the 1991 National Assembly elections centered on two proposed systems for presidential elections: the KMT's "indirect election" and the DPP's "direct popular vote." But whatever the system, "at last people in Taiwan have the chance to choose the president themselves!" This gave rise to the two parties' opposing themes of "The first time in 5000 years" and "The first vote in 5000 years."

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What's Wrong With This Picture? On the left is a party image poster used by the DPP in 1992. The picture was taken by photographer Hsieh Chun-teh. But according to a survey by students of the Department of Advertising at National Chengchih University, some 70% of voters were not even aware that this was a political poster. Most people thought it was a charity advert to assist the search for missing children. On the right is one of a series of newspaper adverts produced by the KMT in 1991 on the theme of the "Constitutional Amendment Air Express." In their hurry, the artists and proofreaders failed to notice that the party's name in English is written as KTM instead of KMT.

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The War of the Old Women? A major issue in the 1993 city and county chief executive elections has been the demand for state old-age pensions. Both big parties used old la dies as models in their advertisements.

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Passion or sympathy? A sensational caption can build up a candidate's image as the victim of political dirty tricks, but a Softer, more sympathetic appeal to the emotions is more likely to win people's hearts. On the left is a handbill from DP P Legislative Yuan candidate Chang Chun-hung; in the center and on the right, posters printed in 1983 by the KMT's Taipei City branch.

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Careful How You play the Image Card! Lin Po jung, a candidate for the office of mayor of Taichung City, went into this year's elections with the slogan "a hard-working gardener." But because in his first batch of leaflets he appeared wearing an expensive-looking watch which was taken for a Rolex, his opponent ridiculed him as "the world's richest gardener." In a panic, he had his campaign aides rush to print a new poster, with a photo showing him without a watch. This episode gives an idea of just how care fully political figures have to watch their every move at election time.

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Whirlwind in the City of Sadness A poster for the film City of Sadness was cleverly pressed into service by the DPP in their 1992 Legislative Yuan election campaign. DPP headquarters had this cinema still of a family group skillfully transformed into the people of Taiwan proclaiming their "three oppositions and three demands" in front of the President's Office.

Hammer and Tongs The campaign for the 1991 National Assembly elections centered on two proposed systems for presidential elections: the KMT's "indirect election" and the DPP's "direct popular vote." But whatever the system, "at last people in Taiwan have the chance to choose the president themselves!" This gave rise to the two parties' opposing themes of "The first time in 5000 years" and "The first vote in 5000 years."

What's Wrong With This Picture? On the left is a party image poster used by the DPP in 1992. The picture was taken by photographer Hsieh Chun-teh. But according to a survey by students of the Department of Advertising at National Chengchih University, some 70% of voters were not even aware that this was a political poster. Most people thought it was a charity advert to assist the search for missing children. On the right is one of a series of newspaper adverts produced by the KMT in 1991 on the theme of the "Constitutional Amendment Air Express." In their hurry, the artists and proofreaders failed to notice that the party's name in English is written as KTM instead of KMT.

The War of the Old Women? A major issue in the 1993 city and county chief executive elections has been the demand for state old-age pensions. Both big parties used old la dies as models in their advertisements.

Passion or sympathy? A sensational caption can build up a candidate's image as the victim of political dirty tricks, but a Softer, more sympathetic appeal to the emotions is more likely to win people's hearts. On the left is a handbill from DP P Legislative Yuan candidate Chang Chun-hung; in the center and on the right, posters printed in 1983 by the KMT's Taipei City branch.

Careful How You play the Image Card! Lin Po jung, a candidate for the office of mayor of Taichung City, went into this year's elections with the slogan "a hard-working gardener." But because in his first batch of leaflets he appeared wearing an expensive-looking watch which was taken for a Rolex, his opponent ridiculed him as "the world's richest gardener." In a panic, he had his campaign aides rush to print a new poster, with a photo showing him without a watch. This episode gives an idea of just how care fully political figures have to watch their every move at election time.