Strategic political communication through storytelling: A case study of the 'Democreative Tales of Jokowi’s Blusukan' comics

The 2014 Indonesian presidential election attracted massive interest of Indonesians around the world, who more than ever before, became very active in campaigning for the two candidates: Prabowo Subianto and Joko Widodo (commonly referred to as Jokowi). Strategies used by their supporters ranged from the use of smear campaign to the use of creative art. One form of creative art used by the volunteer supporters of Jokowi included Tintin-style (from the comics by Hergé) posters and other print materials depicting Jokowi. These comics have gone viral through social media. The collection of these posters were later officially published as a book titled “Demokreatif Kisah Blusukan Jokowi” (“Democreative Tales of Jokowi’s Blusukan”- blusukan can be roughly translated into impromptu visits to meet the people). Through the art of storytelling, Jokowi is successfully portrayed as the people’s leader, who is humble and down-toearth, representing the proletarian. After being elected president, this storytelling strategy continues as the comics are still produced, but now portraying both Jokowi and Vice-President Jusuf Kalla.