Today’s Washington Post picks up on the media coverage of the Hillary/Obama “1984″ ad:
It’s the first viral attack ad of the 2008 presidential campaign: a clever idea, visually arresting images, the sound of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s voice and, all too fittingly in this YouTube age, an anonymous filmmaker.
The 74-second spot has been viewed more than a million times online, making it far more popular than any of the official videos posted by the presidential contenders. It’s a “mash-up” of Ridley Scott’s 1984 Super Bowl commercial that portrayed IBM as an Orwellian Big Brother and introduced Apple’s Macintosh as the bright new vanguard of computing. But now it’s Big Sister, Clinton, vs. the upstart, Sen. Barack Obama.
Interspersed with speeches from videos on Clinton’s official site, the clip shows a horde of ghostlike followers droning on. It closes with an altered Apple symbol — the Apple’s now an O — and the Web address BarackObama.com.
And just as the young blond athletic woman in the video causes a massive explosion by hurling a sledgehammer at a giant screen with Clinton’s image, this ad’s reach blows up any notion that candidates and mainstream media outlets can control the campaign dialogue. Especially online.
Obama campaign officials say they have nothing to do with it. The senator called it “pretty extraordinary” on CNN Monday night. Apple Computer declined to comment. Clinton said she liked having attention diverted from the oft-viewed clip of her off-key rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
It’s unclear who is behind this ad, and we may never know, but it seems to be someone with dollars. Even the video editing that would be involved in creating this would take some talent and time, and that costs money. If nothing else, it is the sign of an underground campaign in the Democratic Party against a candidate that everyone else seems to think is the inevitable nominee.
Update @ 8:20pm: The identity of the person who created the video has been revealed.
March 21st, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Is it really an “attack ad?”
I’ve seen some hit pieces in my day, this doesn’t look like it.
The producer points out something we all recognize in Hillary Clinton. Doublespeak.
Listening tours? Please.
Conversation? You’re killin’ me, Smalls!
Thanks for the link, Doug. I’m wondering, will Obama approve of this kind of message, or will he take a little higher ground?
April 6th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
I have to agree. Not an “attack ad.” Also, the Congressman’s spokesperson immediately distanced their campaign from this maverick.
Since then, Obama’s takin’ some big hits in the MSM. They say he’s a lightweight. Not really a contender.
Here’s my 2 cents — It’s not too early to go negative, especially by proxy. As much as I admire Hillary Rodham Clinton as a person, somebody on her team needs to fix this doublespeak thing before the primary season really kicks off.