It’s old news by now, but a video mash-up of Apple’s famed 1984 commercial is creating waves in the presidential race. The very effective video, which eerily incorporates footage of Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton into Ridley Scott’s atmospheric commercial, portraying her as an establishment big brother, has been watched 1.9 million times as of this morning.
What is new is the discovery of the mash-up maker. Some had accused rival Barack Obama’s campaign of making the viral video, a charge that Obama’s people have denied. The Huffington Post, however, has identified the budding political video genius as Philip de Vellis, who was the Internet communications director for Sherrod Brown’s 2006 Senate campaign, and who now works at Blue State Digital, a consulting firm formed by Howard Dean’s crack Internet team.
de Vellis explained in an email to TechPresident why he created the controversial video:
The idea was simple and so was the execution. Make a bold statement about the Democratic primary race by culture jacking a famous commercial and replacing as few images as possible. For some people it doesn’t register, but for people familiar with the ad and the race it has obviously struck a chord.
He even posted a blog item on Huffington Post, offering further thoughts.
Let me be clear: I am a proud Democrat, and I always have been. I support Senator Obama. I hope he wins the primary. (I recognize that this ad is not his style of politics.) I also believe that Senator Clinton is a great public servant, and if she should win the nomination, I would support her and wish her all the best.
Unfortunately for de Vellis, his employer Blue State Digital counts Obama as a client and de Vellis has resigned from his job. But, I’m not worried for de Vellis and I suspect the offers are pouring in. The impact of this elegant ad has been enormous, indelibly painting Clinton with the old school establishment patina that Obama hopes to exploit.
Moreover, de Vellis may have forged new territory in the unchartered plains of Internet politics — the “citizen video” ad (granted, de Vellis is no ordinary citizen and there are those who don’t believe that somehow Obama’s campaign wasn’t truly behind the video). As he notes in his blog post, “This ad was not the first citizen ad, and it will not be the last. The game has changed.”
News of de Vellis’ unmasking is topic one among political bloggers and mainstream reporters alike. The New York Times’ Patrick Healy devotes his blog to the discovery today. Also, check out the Washington Post’s coverage.
Cynthia Brumfield at 10:39 AM|Comments(0)
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