Battle of the Unofficial Campaign Ads
March 3rd, 2008 BrianThis post is inspired by a posting that was made on a media newsgroup. It described the new Unofficial Ron Paul “Revolution” video by Aimee Allen (already has a song that many probably know titled Revolution) as a response to the will.i.am “Yes We Can” video made in support of Obama. Both are embedded below. I don’t believe the Ron Paul video matches Yes We Can in message, impact, or effectiveness.
The Ron Paul video (embedded above) is slick, well produced and appeals to our pop sensibilities. But that’s exactly the problem. It is a pop video that utilizes a political message. The message is token, the depth lacking, and the lasting power or internet phenomenon potential limited since in reality its just a music video. I must caveat this by saying that who knows what Aimee Allen’s true intent was. Maybe she wasn’t looking for the same respond will.i.am’s video received and maybe the Ron Paul campaign is just losing steam. It is definitely more engaging to the eye than the “Yes we can” video due to the visual content (looking at celebrities over and over gets old after the first minute or two). BUT, I think the Ron Paul video triggers the pop culture part of our minds more than the political side. The message gets lost in the glossy packaging. It is ineffective as a political rallying cry since the minute they throw in the Suicide Girls, people will be thinking about them and what will come next visually rather than any message that is in there. They might pull in a few young eyes who think Aimee Allen is hot, but I’m not sure how SGs translate into revolution or Ron Paul. Not to mention
half the time they yell Ron Paul it could just as easily be Run Pull. More pop using a little political messaging rather than political messaging utilizing a pop medium. Don’t see the emotional tug that will.i.am’s originally had.
More “that was cool” than “what a great message”
The Obama video (embedded above) on the contrary is minimalistic, almost reminiscent of the NBC public service announcement ads. The Message is political, the format is political and it uses a pop medium to that end. The celebrities are almost inconsequential, as most B and C celebs are anyways. Its the words and message that gets all the focus, as its repeated over and over again. Yes it helps that its a very well crafted tag line, its tough to beat “Yes we can”, but as with the adoption of “change” by every candidate the message is also in the packaging. I believe Obama’s unofficial ad really found a balance between pop and politics
Share your comments below.
Update: As you can see from one of the comments below, the Aimee Allen video is actually not an official video, but was an early version that was prematurely leaked. I think the analysis still stands as when, what, how, or why it was released is not as important as what is on the web now. Maybe the official video will have a completely different feel to it, but this is the content we have to consider for the moment. I look forward to the official version. At a minimum the original video had a lot of potential, so in the end it could blow the Obama ad out of the water. I hope they still complete it and post it even though Ron Paul has now discontinued his campaign activities.
