Brilio.net - In the midst of the heat of voting in the 2024 presidential election, the name Komeng actually emerged as a topic of conversation during the 2024 General Election (Pemilu) on 14 February 2024. Nominating himself as a member of the DPD RI for the West Java electoral district, Komeng's name and photo on the ballot papers were widely spread on various social media timelines.
The candidacy of the comedian with the jargon 'Spontan Uhuy' was widely discussed because of his unique photo on the ballot. While many legislative candidates posted formal style photos, Komeng actually appeared different with an eccentric pose. Even so, in fact this is actually an attraction that makes him stand out among other DPD RI legislative candidates for the West Java electoral district .
The proof is that the owner of the real name Alfiansyah has received 1.5 million votes from a total of 52.31% of the data entered into the KPU's real count, Sunday (18/2) at 15.00 WIB. These votes have passed the other DPD RI candidates for the West Java electoral district. In fact, they got more votes than the presidential-vice presidential candidate number 03, who only got 1.4 million votes.
photo: infopemilu.kpu.go.id
This is certainly surprising, considering that Komeng is running as an independent participant or not affiliated with any party. There are 53 people as competitors competing for the DPD RI seat representing West Java. Komeng's candidacy became a topic of conversation after one voter noticed how unusual Komeng's photo was on the DPD RI ballot paper for the West Java electoral district.
The photo stands out from the rest because of its different style of appearance. In the photo, Komeng appears with an expression and bulging eyes, giving off a sense of humor. Afgiansyah, a Digital Media and Broadcasting Communication Academic, revealed that the increasing public attention to Komeng was influenced by several factors.
1. Komeng's unique photo on the ballot paper has an influence on voters.
photo: merdeka6.com
Afgiansyah said that the old comedian's expressions connected voters directly to his persona. Because, representatively, Komeng does have an image as an authentic, unique and entertaining comedian.
"The entry point is actually through the photo first, from a semiotic point of view, when you look at Komeng's photo, the expression in his eyes is odd. Well, that illustrates Komeng's communication as a comedian," said the author of the book "TV vs Youtube. Is it true that TV will die" , when interviewed by brilio.net , Sunday (18/02).
2. Komeng's typical jargon 'uhuy' is an attraction for voters.
Apart from that, the man who is familiarly called Afgi also revealed that this was related to media exposure. Komeng's eccentric photo reminds him of his track record as a comedian. Moreover, there is a TV program entitled "Spontaneous". There Komeng has a characteristic with the jargon "uhuy" which makes voters also remember his figure.
This influences voter psychology through the concept of perceptual exposure. Moreover, television media has long made it easier to expose certain messages through repeated broadcasts. The real proof is that when the election and Komeng's name was mentioned, the members on duty spontaneously and in unison said "uhuy".
"This is a sign that Spontan's Komeng is quite big. If we look back, we can access it from the 90s until now. This could be a psychological exposure, so it will be interpreted by voters," said Afgi.
3. The photo on the ballot paper entices voters to vote Komeng.
Furthermore, Afgi explained that the 53-year-old comedian's vote was also influenced by communication psychology. There is a term called priming, which is a technique where the introduction of a stimulus influences how people respond to subsequent stimuli. Afgi explained that using the 'uhuy' jargon, when he saw Komeng's face on the ballot paper, it would create a stimulus for voters to vote for Komeng.
4. The 'uhuy' slogan shows the effectiveness of consistent imagery and messages.
Apart from that, there is another thing that makes Komeng so popular on voting day. The psychological term calls it "recalling". Even though 25 years have passed, the slogan 'uhuy' shows the effectiveness of consistent imagery and messages. So this creates a positive image of Komeng and encourages voters to support it based on memories related to that image.
"So from his eccentric photo, voters are reminded of his charm which was formed through media exposure," he concluded.
Until now, vote counting is still ongoing. Komeng is still in the spotlight to this day. He said he planned to introduce Indonesian culture to an international level.