Forget the debates…the Democratic presidential candidates are going direct to potential voters…via video (virally, they hope). Here are two videos posted on You Tube that clearly target young adults, one in support of Clinton and one in support of Obama.
Please take a few minutes to view these videos and offer your comments/observations. Do you think they work? Why or why not? Post your comments here by clicking on the “comments” tag at the end of this post.
“Hillary and the Band” video created by the Clinton campaign organization:
Direct link to video on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA8Wy51Ionk
“Yes We Can” video created by Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas in support of Barak Obama:
This video is also available at http://www.dipdive.com/
By the way, I looked for similar online videos targeting young adults from the Republican candidates, but mostly found clips from campaign speeches, debates and TV show appearances, and television campaign ads that had been repurposed and posted online.
If you’re interested, you might want to compare one or two of these Republican videos/ads to the Democratic candidates’ videos listed above.
Here’s a link to the results of a YouTube search for “Mike Huckabee” videos.
Here’s a link to the results of a YouTube search for “John McCain” videos.
Here’s a link to the results of a YouTube search for “Ron Paul” videos.
February 12, 2008 at 10:13 am
I think these videos are a smart move by both campaigns, but it’s a little, no, very disheartening that they really might impact the way young voters chose to cast their ballot.
I think Obama’s video was really well made and was created to move the viewer, while Clinton’s seems to be more of a funny attention grabber. Obama’s video is very powerful and nicely produced, but I think littering a video with celebrities isn’t necessarily socially responsible and is almost a cheap shot. It’s too easy to get popular people within the music, film and TV industry to tug at their fan’s emotions. If you’re going to vote, which we all should, it should be because the candidate and their views align with ours, not because Common is in the Obama video and that’s “cool.”
February 13, 2008 at 3:36 pm
I watched both videos and they had a different impact on me:
The Hillary video appealed to me in a bit of a strange way. Maybe it’s me but: What’s the message? She had to quit the band to run for president? I mean – is this really important to viewers (if there was such a thing as “the band” at all…)?
I was a bit chum up by the Hillary video. Maybe the thought behind the clip was: “We want to address young voters – so let’s make up this really cool story!”. For me, it didn’t work.
On the other side I just loved the Obama video. It’s pretty simple: A song (using Obamas own words), the black and white color that gives it a strong touch and celebrities who actually support Obama.
I felt like this clip really brought the message across: If you want change, vote (for Obama). The style of this video is totally different – it’s real, simple and strong.
This one definitively did work for me. Actually, I like it a lot.
Maybe the quintessence is: If you want to reach young adults, don’t try to be funny or cool – just be honest, direct and simple.
February 13, 2008 at 7:46 pm
These videos can be put into very good use. The youth in this country have a very big problem when it comes to voting. Creating new ways to reach out to young voters was something that should have been in the works a long time ago. But anyways, the Hillary video was very funny and humor can always grab the attention of younger people. The Obama video was smart because when you put celebrity faces in an ad you are bound to get young people to look at it. Gossip is golden in the land of the young. I don’t know why but that is just the fact of the matter. Both videos were good. Can’t change the way we vote now though because the primary date has past. Too Bad.
February 13, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Everyone has heard the expression “your trying to hard,” well that’s the feeling I got watching Hillary Clinton’s viral video. After about a few seconds into the video, I sort of through up in to my mouth. From the faux “band members” praising Clinton’s rock ability to Clinton’s face being, for lack of a better word, photoshopped onto a person holding a guitar, it made me sick. This is not how you “connect” with young voters. I’m guessing Clinton’s campaign lackeys thought they need to make her look hip to appeal to young voters by making her a rocker. This Clinton video is nil for one in my book.
Yes, we can. I watched this speech by Obama live on TV and I had never been so moved by a speech in my life. Even political analysts, and old farts that were political analysts when MLK gave his “I have a dream speech,” said that Obama’s speech was almost on that level of magnitude. To see the day when a politician finally god damn gets it that it’s not about Democrats, Republicans, skin color, or religion, but about justice and equality. That is what led me to vote. Not the shenanigans in Clinton’s videos, but people like Obama. The video isn’t made by Obama’s campaign, so I was able to accept the video for what it was, with the ploy of using all the celebrities that appeal to young people.
February 14, 2008 at 2:11 am
After watching these two videos, I got a bit of a better look on both of these candidates.
Hillary Clinton’s video seemed corny and as Scott had commented about her “trying to hard,” I agree with this 100%. It seems as if she is doing things that she wouldn’t normally do, but just doing it to get the votes. Yes, it’s obvious a candidate wants to try to get different types of people’s attention, but rather than it helping her, I think it hurt her. Campaign videos are usually boring and not apealing and I give her credit for trying to do something different, but it didn’t work for the best, it just came across cheesy and somewhat pointless. Her message is not getting across in this video.
As for Obama’s video….wow. That’s all you can really say. It was so inspirational and touching. He was speaking what he felt and didn’t try to “get hip” and pretend he was in a rock band. He stuck to what he does best and made it original. This was a great video overall. Bringing in celebrities and also having his speech entirely on it helped it as well. He spoke and didn’t have others say it for him, just other’s saying it with him. This was a great video.
February 14, 2008 at 2:24 am
The youth of the nation needs to vote during presidential elections. Many also do not like the way this country is being ran at this moment so voting is even more stressed this year. By utilizing celebrity faces, Obama has tapped into the youth segment of voting by bringing in people that they look up to and idolize. He means what he believes and he promises a great future. Obama really touches the hearts of many and hopefully will become one that everyone will look up to.
February 14, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Well these videos each have their distinct message trying to reach the youth vote. Clinton tries to connect with the band by placing herself as “one of us” – that she is cool and has your back. Really?!
Obama’s video of “change” was very well edited, good music background…. ooohhhh and yes celebrities help too. Even though this video was more serious and used Obama’s inspirational speeches – it was, sorry to say, repetitive to me. Alot of empty words – no meat, no filler.
It’s a good push on both fronts – a step in the right direction you would say for web based info. It gains your attention, makes you even think a bit and even laugh. But no amount of clips and black & white imagery will drive my decision to vote for ANY (regardless of party affiliation) candidate. I want information – just the facts. Like the old political saying goes: Where’s the Beef?
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In my opinion, I feel that personalizing video clips on YouTube help the Democrats more than the Republicans. This might be a reason why Republicans won’t know what hit them in November. They have not learned how to connect traditional media with online material yet. This might hurt them. In the changing media world that live in today you can’t ignore the web – ITS RISKY AND STUPID IF YOU DO. Why not reach all types of media platforms, isn’t the point getting more votes to win?
February 18, 2008 at 10:23 pm
these videos are very well done. i think that they are smart ideas for both candidates. hillary’s video was very focused on being a funny attention getter. i thought the video was done to help sway people into thinking that hillary is cool and hip and it is smart to vote for her. obama’s video on the other hand had a more serious tone but used a lot of celebrity support. i liked obama’s video a lot. i thought it was much better than hillary’s video. i was swayed slightly toward obama just based on the video. so i guess obama’s video worked in the way it was intended.
March 5, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Thanks for all your comments.