The YouTube Effect (Part XIII) (Hillary's Comeuppance) --WaPo

[Demeter]

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/03/the_you_tube_effect_part_xiii.html?nav=rss_blog

The Fix By Chris Cillizza

It has become a pet project of ours at The Fix to track the YouTube videos that have Washington chattering.

Today, we highlight a clip that has been on the site since March 5 but only of late is getting widespread attention.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h3G-lMZxjo

The video is an almost direct copy of the famous ad run by Apple during the 1984 Superbowl. In that commercial, a woman -- chased by police -- runs into a room where a Big Brother-like speaker is addressing a group of mindless drones via a giant television screen. The woman throws a hammer at the screen and it explodes.

"On January 24th Apple will launch Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like '1984,'"reads the text on screen.

The message was unmistakable: Computer technology was changing at lightning speed, and the coming change would be so radical that it would snap users out of their lethargy.

Fast forward to the Clinton ad. The images in the spot are almost exactly the same; the one difference is that it is Clinton -- not the Orwellian Big Brother figure -- who is speaking on the screen.

Clinton is shown repeating a series of snippets from her stump speech with a heavy emphasis on her desire to have a conversation with the American public. As Clinton says "I intend to keep this conversation going all the way through November 8," the woman throws the hammer and the screen explodes.

"On January 14th the Democratic primary will begin. And you'll see why 2008 isn't going to be like '1984,'" appears on screen. Those words are then replaced by an "O" with the distinctive Apple colors and a plug for www.barackobama.com.

Again, the message is clear. Clinton is the establishment, yesterday's news. She -- and, by association, her husband -- represent the party's past, while Obama represents the future.


By Chris Cillizza | March 19, 2007; 4:40 PM ET

[MrModerate]

1. The proliferation of "volunteer ads," many produced with . . .

Very high production values rivaling ad agency quality, will be a large but currently uncalculated feature of 2008.

It's going to be interesting.