This article discusses some of the problems of measuring political advertising effectiveness. It is argued that research about effects of political communication seems to lead to conclusions which are less easily contested if measurements are limited to cognitive effects, for which the term `impact' is used. Political campaign posters are used as a research tool to measure the impact of campaigning strategies. Aided and unaided recall techniques are used to test different aspects of poster impact. It is argued that unaided recall provides a measure for the recollection of posters, while aided recall offers a test of the success of parties' positioning efforts. The article concludes with a discussion of some of the potential effects the impact of posters may have.
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