A Halfrican Explores Multi-Racial Life in America

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It's nice to see Advertising Age ramp up its coverage of diversity in advertising and in general. We've been supporters of the exploration of diversity (or lack thereof) in the ad business and are glad the industry's number one publication has increased the size of the platform where this conversation can take place.

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by Steve Hall    Mar- 5-08    
Topic: Industry Events, Policy, Political



Screw the Drama. It's Dance-Off Time!

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Dance2DC is a new game by Shift Control for Barely Political. (Visit the site to play it and/or watch the video that inspired the madness.)

We don't know much about it aside from that Hillary is a disco fever inferno and Edwards channels John Travolta. Then it hit us: wouldn't life be better if we banished ballots and decided everything with sudden death dance-offs?

You can fake a smile, but you can't fake the funk.

by Angela Natividad    Mar- 5-08    
Topic: Games, Online, Political



Questions Raised Over Whether Hillary Darkened Obama's Pigment

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For all her noxious crying and whatnot, Hillary Clinton is a well-honed jungle predator. "Winning. Winning, winning, that's my measure of success -- winning," she barked recently.

Having demonstrated yesterday that she's still a viable contender for the presidency, the question arises: what does it take to win, win, win like Hillary?

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by Angela Natividad    Mar- 5-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Commercials, Political, Television, Worst



Virgin Pulls Tired 'Bill' Card to Promote No-Con Contracts

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Virgin Mobile is so naughty. Check out this political spoof ad that features Hillary Clinton looking into the horizon and thinking, "I wish my bill wasn't so out of control..."

Tagline: "You call the shots." This is for Virgin's new "no-con contracts." (Thanks to Adrants reader Simon for sending it over.)

The ad rings a little like a cheap blow, considering most of Hillary's Bill troubles went down in the mid-'90s and the poor woman is still suffering humiliations galore. Now that PR guy Penn is trying to divorce himself from Camp Clinton, we bet she wishes she could call a few shots right about now.

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by Angela Natividad    Mar- 4-08    
Topic: Magazine, Political, Poster, Spoofs



Support HOPE. Join Obama's Digital Patchwork Quilt!

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If you're bummed about your creative inability to contribute a musical mash-up to Obama's viral war chest, we're found your solution.

Become part of the fabric of "Yes We Can"! Yeah, the video looks all screwed up and snowy for a reason. Mouse over the images and you'll see snapshots of upload-happy Obama worker bees. Just hope they vote, Obama!

The site was put together by Syrup for will.i.am, according to A Source of Inspiration.

by Angela Natividad    Feb-27-08    
Topic: Celebrity, Consumer Created, Online, Political



Wasn't This a Side Plot in 'Mean Girls'?

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The primaries for Ohio and Texas are fast approaching. Tensions are high between Hillary and Obama. Unless Hillary scores these last two states, she's pretty much ether.

So after Hillary went all Exorcist on Obama about some slanted flyers his campaign disseminated -- pretty normal fare in a political death match -- we were like, Okay, the girl has snapped. It's over.

Then this picture of Obama wearing Somali garb surfaces. And instead of going "Uh, yeah, Obama's dad was African -- is that a problem?", camp Obama goes apeshit and accuses camp Hillary of smearing their Fearless Leader in the last dregs of this doomed pissing contest.

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by Angela Natividad    Feb-25-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Magazine, Political, Worst



Because a Clinton Doesn't Go Down without a Fight!

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To win the youth vote Obama stole like a thief in the night, Hillary further strains our suspension of disbelief with "the playlist for YOUR future."

It's a UGC support site! (We like how when you mouse over the videos, the bottom right-hand corner says "Posted by Americans!")

Does Hillary speak for you?

by Angela Natividad    Feb-21-08    
Topic: Bad, Campaigns, Consumer Created, Online, Political



More Obama Musical Speech Mash-Ups!

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Hey, look. It's another one of those Obama speeches flanked by music and enhanced by the magic of grayscale. This one, produced by Tom Dunlap and seeded by Feed Company, is called "Hope Changes Everything."

See the previous Obama-rama pop effort, "Yes We Can."

Think all the jingling will distract from the "iconic phrase" ripping?

by Angela Natividad    Feb-20-08    
Topic: Online, Political, Video



For Presidential Candidates, It's YouTube, Baby. Screw Network News

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Politics has come to this? Hmm. What would your grandfather say? Likely, he'd be horrified. Strange as this goofy Hilary Clinton video may be, times have changed and politicians have to, ya know, get down with the cool kids. Was that just Up With People we saw?

Can you imagine any presidential candidate before Clinton (the first one) doing anything like this? Reagan doing a two step in front of a green screen later proliferated with dancing bunnies while repeated his classic debate line, "There you go again..." over and over? Jimmy Carter wearing a straw hat with a big wad of chew in his mouth giving us his best "aw, shucks, y'all" drawl? George Bush (the first one) doing some kind of appropriately robotic break dance while rapping about the dangers of "nucular" weapons? Oh wait, that was the second Bush.

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by Steve Hall    Feb-15-08    
Topic: Political, Strange, Video



McCain Gets will.i.am/MoveOn Treatment, Except without the Love

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MoveOn.org is circulating this satire of will.i.am's "Yes We Can" Obama video. This time, the candidate in the spotlight is the apparently war-mongering Maniac McCain.

Nice to know the young, liberal and convicted have learned the art of killing with irony. But okay, McCain was totally asking for it when he went all-out with the "Bomb bomb Iran" song. (WHAT WAS HE THINKING?)

by Angela Natividad    Feb-12-08    
Topic: Cause, Online, Political, Spoofs, Video