Friday, July 13, 2007

Video spoof = free air time for Obama


Only in America.

The smarmy, goofy and somewhat funny Barack Obama video leaves me wondering about a few things. Again.

The video was created by Ben Relles and Leah Kauffman, who say that the production — which cost just $2,000 — was done mainly for fun. After all, 2.2 million hits on YouTube don't net Relles and Kauffman a cent. In fact, Relles says in a Chicago Tribune article that he's a big Obama fan.

Obama had nothing to do with the video, but as a homage, this is turning out to be immense, free publicity. Videos of other candidates have been brutal parodies and satires, like the "Bomb Iran" anti-John McCain production to the tune of the Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann". Or the slightly weird, but watchable Hillary video (another crush).

The sexy lip-synching star of the Obama video, Amber Lee Ettinger, probably got paid a few deniros for her lip synching. But the real winner is Obama. You can't pay for broad exposure, no pun intended, like this. Time and broadband width equal money, and Obama scored without even doing a thing.

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