Monday, August 04, 2008

St. Obama

Montana Headlines finds this ad "hilarious." Wrong. This is hilarious. The McCain ad is at best an acquired taste and the whole Obama as The Anointed One meme may even backfire.

When I was an assistant city editor in Texas, a friend on the copy desk was fond of saying, every time I caught an error, "David, you're a god." We were just kidding around, but funny thing. After a while, I really started to feel like I had some sort of supernatural copy-editing powers. His joke made me work harder and take my work more seriously.

The ads mocking Obama may have the same effect. At some level, voters know it's a joke. But at another level, they may really think, this guy is something special.

2 comments:

Montana Headlines said...

You're right -- your video is far more funny.

But it's not very useful for electoral purposes, since Hitler is not running for office this year -- it's Obama's turn to be the guy in front of teeming throngs of adoring fans.

The beauty of a viral ad campaign is that it spreads only to susceptible hosts. As an ad like "The One" gets forwarded around by e-mail and posted on blogs, those who don't find it funny or who don't think that it says anything about Obama's character and exalted self image will just hit "delete."

On the other hand, those with whom it resonates will forward it on to people they think will enjoy it.

This is not the kind of ad you would put on television for the general public. It is a "niche" ad, and through my unscientific polling of those who have seen it is quite amusing. McCain needs to solidify Republican support, and this sort of thing helps build camaraderie.

Obama does not, incidentally, seem to be responding to all of this by getting better and expanding his repertoire. His stammering response to the black hecklers in his audience recently show us why he wants to stay in his comfort zone by sticking to a teleprompter in a rock-star arena.

David said...

I just wish that McCain hadn't sunk to such a low level so fast. I thought he was better than that.