They start innocently enough as emails with provocative subject lines and pasted-in URLs. Some even include unhelpful descriptions typed into the email body such as, “This is hysterical.” For the unlucky people who work in offices with IT restrictions that disallow access to certain Web sites, messages like these are torture. But for the rest of us, one of these little dandies can be the highlight of an otherwise dull day. I’m talking about truly shareworthy viral videos.

Viral videos of all shapes and kinds have made the rounds in this campaign cycle, especially now that YouTube exists –unlike during the last presidential campaign. They’re easier to watch this time around thanks to the substantially larger number of people who have broadband Internet connections rather than dial-up, making it a cinch to play videos without the stuttering and stalling from days of yore.

These videos range from Barrack Obama’s 38-minute speech on race, a bare-bones presentation with the democratic candidate standing at a simple podium, to JibJab’s highly entertaining “Time for Some Campaignin’” animated video, complete with Bush picking a banjo, McCain croaking, and Obama leaping through the happy land of change on his unicorn.

It’s worth noting that the Obama Girl’s “I Got a Crush on Obama” video hit the sharing community earlier in the campaign than most. And aside from including a scantily-clad girl who was, quite literally, shaking her O-B-A-M-A-labeled booty for the camera , this video had a ridiculously catchy chorus with funny words, to boot.

But real props should go to will.i.am, and not just because I got a lucky chance to meet him and hear about his mission for the “Yes We Can” video, though that doesn’t hurt –full disclosure…=).

According to YouTube, this video has been watched almost 11 million times, and it has brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. It is, in my opinion, a summary of Barack Obama’s entire campaign: a belief in the best of people, the ability to unite as one nation regardless of our background or ethnicitiy, the audacity of hope, and the courage to change. The words used in that video come from Obama’s speech in Nashua, New Hampshire, and some text of that speech reads as follows:

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been
anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible
odds; when we’ve been told that we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t
try, or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a
simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.

Yes we can.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the
destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail
toward freedom through the darkest of nights.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and
pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the
ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and
prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this
world. Yes we can.

###

Viral video campaigns could be the much-needed answer to bringing deserved attention to women’s baketball.

Of the sports-related viral videos that I’ve seen, Gonzaga takes the lead – by far – with their newly-launched Inspired Season campaign to sell season tickets.

Stay with me here, this is fun.

By definition, a viral video is a video clip that gains popularity through the process of Internet sharing, typically through email or IM messages, blogs or other media sharing websites. [Think funny YouTube videos such as The Evolution of Dance or "I Got a Crush... on Obama."]

As you can imagine, my attention was caught when I came across a viral video for women’s basketball. After reading a posting by Adrants (a site that evaluates advertisiments) which said Gonzaga’s efforts to sell season tickets were “well-executed,” I was thrilled – and very, very eager to check it out.

Essentially, Gonzaga University created a microsite (a URL that is separate from the University) called Inspired Season, which is dedicated toward a goal of selling season tickets for only $75. The main feature of this site is its viral video which is interactive through Web AND mobile technology.

The video features Gonzaga’s coach, Kelly Graves, who motivates you to buy tickets and inspires his team to take the court.

Adrants blogger Angela Natividad said,

“To sell tickets for its women’s basketball games, Gonzaga University produced a well-executed online campaign that makes your attendance feel vital.”

This campaign is so good – in fact – that Dan Heath, author of Made to Stick, claims he wanted to buy a pack after engaging the campaign, even though he’s, like, 2,600 miles from Spokane.

It’s important to note that coach Graves, 20 years ago, left a job with a finance company to commit his future to coaching women’s basketball. In 2007, he told Spokesmanreview that he “loved” coaching women’s basketball and never was entised to take a men’s job.

So here he is, leading Gonzaga’s program into his eighth season as the school’s winningest coach and leading women’s basketball into a new age of interactive video awareness campaigns.

To see the campaign, visit Inspired Season.

Did it make you want to buy season tickets? $75 is pretty cheap!

From Fabakis to you…

It has been slightly stressful this week. I think i just broke the toilet, haven’t prepared for my french orals, exams next week etc. But hey–i think i did okay at my chemistry mock. However, the real reason i’m feeling so awesome: of course because of the wonder that is Rufus Wainwright playing live. At Hampton Court Palace. Making jokes about meeting Gordon Brown, coming in his pants and historical inaccuracies. Love! Love him so much! The kind of love which cannot be expressed by typing, you need to hear the crazed whining out loud. It is sort of like “mnehBLEH! Behmnepmneh!”. It is the noise i generally reserve for close ups of David Tennant’s fine ass on Doctor Who. 

We (me, Jess, Jess’ father) arrived at Hampton Court (most awesome venue ever!) early, trudged through the grass whilst wearing inappropriate  shoes ad sat down to a luxurious picnic. Feeling incredibly english as we sat by the river, sipping tea. It was still raining lightly when he began playing (he is so beautiful, such charisma! stage presence! im such a fan girl!) but by then we did not care. I’ve never heard him live before (jess+her dad have) so i wasn’t expected his voice to sound as amazing as it does on CD. But it so does. It is even better. Especially because you get to hear him talk normally as well, randomly interjecting things into songs (“and i don’t know the words to this verse…lalalalala”) and it was a small venue and he was playing by himself so it was so intimate. He played my song first! The Art Teacher–possibly my favourite. I loved the acoustic Sanssouci and California and OMG i saw Rufus Wainwright sing Hallelujah! Me! Him! That song! Wow!

It is my birthday tomorrow! Also Hannahs, so we are both bringing in random snacks. I was eating the first, failed attempt at brownie whilst “witnessing history in the making”, i.e Barack Obama becoming the first black candidate of a major party. Obama FTW! Plus he looked so cute with his wife! [Bill Clinton looked slightly less good, still amazingly charming but rather red. Still love Bill]. Unfortunately, this piece of history just makes me sing “I got a crush on Obama” by the famous Obama Girl.

o ano começou com tudo aqui nos u.s. and a.: alguns analistas dizem que o país já entrou em recessão, o clima está completamente louco e a corrida das prévias presidenciais entrou na fase decisiva. o frio demorou a chegar na região de chicago, mas quando chegou parecia ter vindo para ficar – me lembro de ter visto -17ºC em dezembro, o vento castigando quem se atrevia a sair na rua com uma sensação térmica de -27ºC. durante alguns dias, era isto que eu via pela janela do meu quarto:

a estalactite maior devia ter 1,50 m de comprimento e ficou ali, intacta, por quase uma semana.

natal e ano novo tudo ok, frio e neve para ninguém botar defeito (aliás, o ano novo aqui não se compara ao brasil – até caímos numa festa animada, mas, como todas as outras na cidade, ela acabou à 1 DA MANHÃ). lá pelo dia 3, porém, começou a esquentar. do dia 4 ao dia 6, os termômetros foram batendo recordes de alta temperatura até que, no dia 7, chegamos a inacreditáveis 19ºC (acima de zero), superando em 5ºC um recorde que datava de 1907 (ou cem anos atrás, se preferir). simplesmente a maior temperatura em todos os tempos para esse dia do ano. de quebra, o encontro do ar quente com o frio gerou uma onda de tempestades fora de época no estado, que desabrigou centenas.

mas, a menos que você tenha perdido tudo que tem por causa de um tornado, nem dá tempo de esquentar muito a cabeça. ainda que fique cada vez mais claro o tamanho do estrago que fizemos no planeta (eles aqui bem mais do que nós aí, vale lembrar), os gringos adoram o clima de primavera, perfeito para sair à rua de chinelinho e camiseta, fazer compra adoidado nos saldões do que ainda restou do natal, tomar sol e se jogar nos parques. só para ter uma idéia, a média histórica do dia 7 de janeiro em chicago é -9ºC, e não é raro enfrentar frio abaixo de -20ºC durante o mês. olhando por esse lado, esse tal de aquecimento global é só alegria.

pois é bom o povo daqui se acostumar: os últimos relatórios oficiais sobre o fenômeno (arquivo em pdf) seguem provando que as mudanças climáticas são mais radicais no hemisfério norte. isso está tão evidente que até os republicanos, famosos pelo joão-sem-braço do protocolo de kyoto, mudaram o discurso. nos debates internos do partido pela TV, praticamente todos os candidatos têm apresentado propostas para combater o aquecimento. essa guinada provavelmente tem mais fundamento em pesquisas de opinião do que em preocupações reais. mas ver os viciados em petróleo do bush falando como ativistas do green peace, enquanto uma onda de calor invade o inverno quase-ártico, traz a sensação incômoda, para usar um eufemismo, de que as previsões apocalípticas de james lovelock para este século podem ser mais do que a visão amarga de um worst case scenario. seis bilhões de mortos até 2100 é algo tão catastrófico e difícil de imaginar que ainda podemos nos dar ao luxo de considerar alarmismo. mas, pelas desgraças menores que aos poucos se incorporam ao nosso cotidiano, 92 anos parece tempo de sobra para chegarmos lá.

* * *

só pra constar, o frio voltou: agora (sexta, 18 de janeiro, 2h07 da manhã) faz -12ºC, o wind chill jogando a sensação para -21ºC. já dá pra abrir a janela de novo e deixar a cerveja lá fora até dar aquele grau.

* * *

enquanto a terra segue cozinhando em fogo brando, a disputa pela candidatura a presidente por aqui já está do jeito que o diabo gosta. ainda no final do ano passado, os clintons aplicaram no obama um ratfucking de fazer inveja aos partidários de nixon nos anos 1970: no dia anterior ao debate democrata, um dos coordenadores nacionais da campanha da hillary clinton (bill shaheen, o nome da peça), disse ao washington post que, caso o obama leve a indicação do partido, os republicanos usarão “todo tipo de truque sujo” para capitalizar em cima do seu passado com as drogas (obama admitiu publicamente ter usado maconha e cocaína na adolescência). shaheen disse que será inevitável o bombardeio de perguntas como “até quando você usou drogas” e “você já vendeu drogas a alguém?”. logo que a notícia bombou, shaheen foi a público pôr panos quentes e comunicou sua saída da campanha. em seguida, foi a vez de hillary clinton repudiar as declarações, negando qualquer envolvimento com o caso e dizendo que sua campanha era baseada em “encontrar soluções positivas para a família americana”. nem todo mundo engoliu a inocência dela, muito menos que as declarações tenham sido um ato isolado, seja porque a entrevista coincidiu com a ascensão de obama nas pesquisas, seja por ter ocorrido na véspera do debate, seja porque shaheen é amigo pessoal da família clinton há quase 30 anos.

* * *

obama parece não ter sentido o golpe, já que saiu na frente em iowa e apesar de ter perdido em new hampshire continua à frente nas pesquisas. de qualquer forma, seria uma boa hora para a obama girl voltar à ativa. já ouviu falar nela? eu não conhecia até semana passada, quando o pablo me mandou o link do vídeo. nele, uma modelo usando trajes generosos dubla um r&b pegajoso e de letra bem-humorada, enquanto dança com anônimos na rua e lança olhares apaixonados a imagens toscamente editadas de obama. pesquisando, fui saber que o vídeo (“i got a crush on obama”, ou “eu sou a fim do obama”) foi um dos mais vistos do ano passado na internet. a campanha nega que tenha encomendado a peça, mas seja como for é um dos virais mais bem sucedidos de 2007. e merece mais crédito ainda por estar ligado a uma campanha política, meio marcado pelo melodrama e pelo trash a que estamos acostumados.

além disso, desde o dia 13 deste mês o contra-ataque também já está no youtube: em versão punk rock, “i got a crush…on hillary (take that obama girl!)” traz um garoto branco dizendo que, não importa o quanto a obama girl rebole, quem leva é a hillary, a “candidata mais sexy”. nem precisa falar como ficou forçado isso. só um moleque de 14 anos muito otário diria que tem tesão na hillary clinton e que dispensaria a obama girl. além do que o vídeo é bem mais sem graça. seja como for, já passou de 400 mil plays em cinco dias. é isso aí, as eleições entraram oficialmente na época da internet 2.0.

vejam aí os dois vídeos e decidam por vocês qual é o melhor:

1) obama girl canta “i got a crush on obama”

2) punkzinho da hillary canta “i got a crush… on hillary (take that obama girl!)”

It aint exactly the notorious “I got a crush on Obama” Girl from Barely Political (see below) but it’s a cute effort (if occasionally off-key) and Mitt can use all the help he can get.

De vele Amerikaanse kiezers zullen nu, als ze al niet verkocht waren, weten op wie ze zullen stemmen in de race naar het witte huis. Deze video dateert echter al van juni 2007 en is niet bedoeld om campagne te voeren voor Barack Obama maar gewoon voor het plezier.

In het filmpje is te zien hoe een jonge vrouw (Amber Lee) aan de wereld laat weten dat ze een boontje heeft voor de democratische presidentskandidaat, Barack Obama.

Zo een filmpje is toch maar mooi meegenomen in de strijd naar het witte huis.

Het idee achter deze hit is ontsproten aan het brein van Ben Relles. Ben was medestichter van Marketvision en heeft ook een tijdje gewerkt bij TBWA/Chiat Day/LA, AMV/BBDO London en recentelijk nog bij Agency.com

So what’s with the new trend of hot girls singing and making videos of their favorite political candidates? I don’t get it…but anyways…here’s what I am talking about.  Take a look:

 First up – Obama Girl video – “I Got a Crush…On Obama”

Next up - “Hot 4 Hill” – by Taryn Southern

One More – a parody of the the Obama one – “I Got a Crush On…Giuliani” by VenetianPrincess