Customer Reviews

Our Brand Is Crisis

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This documentary traces the re-election campaign of Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada (Goni), which was largely run by paid, American political consultants. Their challenge: to get their candidate re-elected even though as president his highly unpopular free-market policies had done nothing to alleviate the extreme poverty and unemployment the country was facing, and even though he was perceived as an arrogant, elitist, fair-skinned, American-raised "gringo" who was out of touch with the poor, indigenous majority of Bolivia.

Despite all these obstacles, we see how the consultants were able to use polls, focus groups, negative attack campaigns and advertisements to successfully market their candidate (Noam Chomsky always talks about how political campaigns are like selling toothpaste; here we see a perfect example). They also benefited from a political system in which a candidate could win with a plurality of the vote: the vote ended up being divided between three main candidates, allowing Goni to win with only 22% of the popular vote.

However, as Goni continued to implement unpopular policies even after the election, the Bolivian people took to the streets en masse to demand his ouster. Goni fled to the U.S., where he now resides, while his vice president took over until the next election in which the indigenous, left-wing candidate Evo Morales came to power with an overwhelming majority of the vote.

What I found most amazing was how little the paid, American political consultants knew about the policies that "their" candidate was implementing and how adversely they were affecting the people. Knowing that he was the "free-market" candidate (a supporter of the so-called "Washington consensus"), was enough to convince them to work for his re-election; and these are the people who represent the "left" in the U.S. (James Carville and the like). It was also shocking and disappointing to see how easily people are manipulated (i.e., Goni is not faring well in the polls so the political consultants run some ads discrediting his opponent and re-inventing Goni's image; the next focus groups and polls show that it has had the desired effect: people now like Goni better than his opponent). People always say they know political ads are bogus, but yet they clearly work each and every time. One questions the viability of "real democracy" when so many people are so easily manipulated.

Personally I would have liked to see more information about the mass protests that ousted Goni and brought about the rise to power of Evo Morales. But, I suppose that would really be another documentary. Still, this one is worth watching.

While I consider myself better informed than average on Central and South American politics, I didn't know that much about the elections of the early 2000s in Bolivia. I have asserted that the leftward swing there of the last few years was because of the way we Yanks have treated those countries. So true.

But I realized while watching this gem that the issue addressed by the film is as much about us as it is about those other countries!

As others have pointed out, Greenberg, Carville and Schrum, a well-known Washington political consulting (classy way of saying PR) firm was hired by Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada--aka Goni--to get him elected president of Bolivia. He'd been brought up in the United States--suburban Washington, DC, while his father was exiled. He'd been president of Bolivia for a term in the 1990s, had, according to the film, set up some social programs, e.g., Social Security, and had provided some reforms to education. But he had also "capitalized." That term wasn't really defined until toward the end of the film when I believe the word used was "privatized."

Well, GCS did what such a consultant does here in the US: They had their pollsters following Bolivian trends, gave one-liners and effective rhetoric to Goni, set up countless "focus groups," instituted negative campaigning, e.g., made Goni's opponents look like budding fascists, or out of touch with reality--something that's become commonplace here in the US. In short, they avoided facing any issues, those which make democracy work--again, something of which many in the US know pathetically little.

Indeed, Goni's opponents were far more populist than Goni was. The people--you know, those pests who tend to get on the nerves of our fearless political elites--were demanding constitutional change, even representation. Goni ignored those issues, while his consultants advised him to stick to his principals, what he believed was better for the company.

Well, to make a long story short, after 14 months and lots of demonstrations, and deaths of demonstrators, Goni was forced to resign where he became a neighbor of mine here in the DC area. Probably the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back was his sale of the country's natural gas reserves with no input from the people of his country. His VP tried to take a more moderate approach, but was also forced to resign when he couldn't find a happy medium to meet the people's nees and those of foreign investors. So eventually one of Goni's opponents, whose name escapes me now, was elected as Bolivia's first indigenous president.

The film focused on Goni's not having a majority--he got about 22 percent of the vote while his opponents each got about 21 percent--as the source of the problem. But I argue that the major problem rather was that the election relied in image and superficial message--the standard tactics of public relations--rather than political issues, again, that which makes democracy what it is! And that I blame on GCS! (Indeed, I had more respect for James Carville before seeing the film than I did after.) Carville and his associates spent the last 10 minutes of the film trying to rationalize the disaster that Bolivia became, and the reinforces my belief that the disaster was more their fault, based on the angles they took, than that of anything else.

And our "democracy" is obviously failing for the same reason: too many not voting on issues but on one liners, slogans, PR campaigns as much negative as positive. So while jobs are disappearing--as they had in Bolivia--people are talking about Rev. Wright, gay marriage, and whatever devil terms can be created to distract us from what really happens.

Shame on those who've reduced campaigns to that level, whether hired by the GOP or Democrats. All your rationalizing isn't going to make your actions any more ethical.

What a shocking image of how powerful political consultants can be when they decide to spread American democracy to other countries. Provocative film!

Koch Lorber Films and Films Transit International present - Our Brand Is Crisis (2005) (87 mins/Color) - Director Rachel Boynton features an astounding look through this documentary at one of their campaigns and its dramatic aftermath ... The filmmaker follows a crack team of Democratic political consultants, including James Carville, Tad Devine and Jeremy Rosner as they strategize for a struggling presidential candidate in Bolivia ... behind the turbulent re-election campaign of Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada ("Goni") --- In a country facing a calamitous economic crisis, Goni - a wealthy businessman who privatized Bolivia's economy and created social security (when he was president in the mid-`90s) - isn't the popular candidate ... here is a shocking example of how U.S. marketing strategiest can affect the spreading of "our brand of democracy" overseas --- at times this can be absurdly funny, sometimes horrifying, frequently revelatory documentary that clearly ventures into an important new territory --- as we witness U.S. strategists for hire influencing the opinions of voters in elections around the world --- Boynton's directorial debut, was shown at New Directors/New Films, presented by the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 2005 --- winner of International Documentary Assoc. "Best Documentary Feature" and winner of Full Frame Documentary Festival "Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award" --- a food for thought film as we're in for high stakes for re-election and strategy on this political campaign heading on the campaign trail, at times very gritty and matter of fact ... "OUR BRAND IS CRISIS".

BONUS FEATURE:
1. Commentary with Director Rachel Boynton
2. Original Trailer

Great job by Koch Lorber Films for releasing "Our Brand Is Crisis" (2005) Director: Rachel Boynton, the digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more high quality releases from the foreign film market --- order your copy now from Amazon or Koch Lorber Films where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch reporting with an outstanding documentary on events worldwide.

Total Time: 87 mins on DVD ~ Koch Lorber Films KLF3092 ~ (8/08/2006)

The documentary was made as objectively as possible. Director Rachel Boynton seems to have no agenda other than creating a well made documentary with a chronological narrative flow. [On the commentary track she is neutral, doesn't favor a candidate, and "accept(s) at face value" that the consultants believe in what they're saying/doing]. Viewers are provided clean information - the players are spinning but the film makers aren't. The film's objective style also makes the Bolivian poverty and near civil war divisions starker.

Some "food for thought" the film offers: 1) The extent and limits of American hegemony, as US consultants influence another foreign election. 2) US consultants have an inherent faith in free markets and in privatizing Bolivia. 3) Difficulties in re-branding a known candidate and selling him to voters with long memories. (Like, 400-500 year memories). New Coke isn't going to sell well, especially if folks didn't like the old Coke. 4) Effects of the modern US campaign style in a poor foreign country. The Gringos don't know Bolivia -- they know "universal" campaign rules. Let's face it: Probing, polling and exit-polling is always deeper and more meaningful if you get to know people first. 5) Negative aka "informative" advertising works all over. (Hey Latinos, get ready for the "Señor Has Two Faces" split screen ads). 6) The gulf between campaigning for office and governing: The US consultants stay on the perpetual campaign to help their elected President Goni govern. The Bolivian Congress is less pliable than the public. And the governed public is less pliable than the campaigned-to public. Flavor Flav couldn't get this party started. 7) Limits of a president elected with a 22 percent plurality. 8) James Carville is funny (you won't OD on him - there are just enough glimpses).

Questions the film doesn't address/answer: To what extent were US campaign consultants hidden from voters? (In the 90's, Yanks that helped Boris Yeltsin were kept hidden in a hotel room and communicated via fax and phone). What role does the Bolivian media play? What percentage of Bolivian citizens have access to which news mediums? Who paid the US consultants -- anyone standing to gain from Bolivian privatization? The consulting firm is private, but how tied-in are the players to DC policy makers? (The firm includes players who ran Clinton and Kerry campaigns as well as foreign ones). To what extent is the consulting firm's choice of foreign clients informed by US government interests? What are the similarities and differences between US backed coups in, say, Guatemala '54 or Chile '73 and the "soft power" campaign? To what extent is the firm independent? Let's take a poll.

In an unintentionally funny line, a US consultant says, "I respect Goni - he ran as himself." Well, "ran as himself" is all relative when the world's top advisers run the campaign.

The lessons I see in this DVD include:

- The sheer arrogance of the US campaign advisors who have no qualms about 'helping' Bolivia by pushing who will win the election. These are people who seem to think that because they have skills in PR, they're justified however they're used. It's all 'part of the game'. They're far more lacking in judgement about who should be elected, even if they show they are able to 'believe' they are helping.

- That's the greater lesson - contrasting their self-righteous efforts how important it is to get their guy in office, with what happens.

Oh, gee, they were completely wrong, and effectively an enemy of the people's interests, who'd a thunk? Oh, well, next country.

- The beauty of actual democracy in action when the people of Bolivia fight against the president's bad policies. We could learn a lot.

- The unanswered question raised be seeing just how dangerously effective these 'campaign technques' are, how they are the enemy of democracy.

It's a valuable video for an insider glance rarely seen.

Worth seeing if these lessons are of interest.

"Our Brand Is Crisis" (2005) is an extremely interesting documentary that tells us about the campaign of Gonzalo Sánchez de Losada to become president of Bolivia. How did he become president, and why did he decide to "brand crisis" in order to run a successful campaign? What role did the American political strategists he hired played in the 2003 Bolivian elections? And what ended up going wrong, after he was elected? The answers to those questions, and more, can be found in this dvd.

I would like to highlight the fact that this documentary is made out of real life footage of meetings between Sánchez de Lozada and his advisors (before, during and after the campaign), and also contains some footage of the events that led to his resignation. This is not fiction, but reality, and that is one of the reasons why it is so illuminating.

I believe that this dvd should be seen by those who are interested in political campaigns, political advertising or mass media, but also by the kind of people who like to watch an engaging documentary that helps them to understand the world we live in. "Our Brand Is Crisis" shows us that a presidential candidate is promoted in more or less the same way a product is advertised. However, if you buy the wrong product you can always return it. If you choose a president that is not good for your country because you believe what a wonderful advertising campaign designed through polls tells you, your country suffers.

All in all, I am very happy I watched this dvd. It is the kind of documentary that you don't forget, and that gives you food for thought. Highly recommended!

Belen Alcat

The documentary of Bolivian policy is simply a contemporary situation that makes this video as a good sample of ongoing affair in many Latin American countries.