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Wednesday, 21 March 2007 |
Lets begin with this from Neal.....................
Like others I was briefly amused and then annoyed at the Barack Obama/Hillary/Mac 1984 revisited YouTube spot. In the world of Blogdom it calls for a comment and I know others have already vented. First, from a creative point of view I found the idea derivative (Duh!). Why not have Hillary the wild beast chased by the Mountain Dew gang and pull the can out of her mouth? Or, show her dancing with I-pod wires dangling a tripping. In my book those are weak and hardly worth a viral play. Politically I think those approaches do little to help or harm either candidate. Culture jammers have been studied and their effect on a brand is essentially modest -- those unaffiliated stay that way and those who are positively disposed to the brand remain so disposed.
Politically, I am so uninformed about the political issues facing the country I could never comment on the adequacy of either candidate - should they in fact become viable candidates. Yet, the spot does not make me any smarter about the stuff that needs to be addressed and solved so that we may live and work in relative peace and prosperity. But, I laughed when I saw Charlie Chaplin slip on a banana peel -- and I may have smiled at this bit as well.
Secondly, this is the dark side of consumer generated content - it can harm what's good and puts nothing of value in its place. Any of us, armed with a computer, or cell phone can suddenly become a commentator, photographer, correspondent - or TV commercial editor. And, with the Hillary Mac piece getting more than a quarter of a million visits since being posted perhaps Barack's campaign can use Obama as the kid in the tunnel giving Mean Joe Green a drink of Kool Aid just to show he's black enough -- or Hillary supporters bounce back and make Mean Joe into Obama and have him whack the kid and walk away muttering.
The compromise of the potential of television as a worthwhile investment medium for advertisers as well as being worth the time of an audience where politics is concerned is clearly up for grabs. As is the value of consumer generated content.
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