Not her best moment
This mash-up video of Apple's iconic '1984' ad and the upcoming Democratic primary fight-fest between Obama and Hilary is gaining traction on the web.
Pundits are announcing a historic moment for media with this (I'll admit) clever ad. I guess maybe they are behind the times, because user-generated, bottom's up content revolution has been going on for some time now! The only noteworthy thing about this ad is that it really shows how a carefully planned media campaign -- as exemplified in the political area -- can be threatened by new media distribution.
It's ok when any doofus with a blog can spout extreme opinions.. but given the right timing (presidential election), channel (heavily trafficked and prone to viral expansion YouTube) and content (arguably the most famous commercial in advertising history)... the message is pretty dammed powerful.
My question is.. is this pushed by the Obama camp, Republican strategists or just an individual Hilary hater? The last two options are scary, because 1) the message is already out there and 2) it is potentially awkward and negative to the positive campaign of Obama and doubly negative for the notoriously micro-managed Hilary camp.
The slick production quality makes it suspect that one person is behind this. And it's a little too early for the Obama camp to start this kind of negative push. I'm leaning towards the 'vast right wing conspiracy' theory but this is another development that I'll keep my eye on.
I find this ad deeply suspicious.
The soundbites seem to be completely wrong for the ad. I realize there is a certain irony in the original, which juxtaposes "we shall prevail" with the throwing of the hammer. But in the original, the voice has an obviously evil quality to it. These soundbites are Hillary's explicit attempt to come across as a regular person, having a "conversation" with each of us individually, whereas the original ad speaks of "one people, one will, one resolve, one cause," and "a garden of pure ideology where each worker may bloom, secure from the pests of any contradictory thoughts." Meanwhile, the Hillary soundbite says "I don't want people who agree with me." Also, the image of big brother is dark, and blends in with the dark wall in the original commercial, while the imagine of Clinton is bright white, an aberration in the monolithic room
If I had to guess at the source of this video, I would bet it came from the Clinton campaign. Imagine seeing it without any knowledge of the original. Most people probably don't remember the original all that well. Here is an alternative interpretation of the Clinton video: Clinton is trying to awaken people who have become used to politics as a competitive sport, or partisan war, rather than a discussion, an exchange of ideas, about how to make everyone better off. Hillary says that it's "really good" that "so far, we haven't stopped talking." However, some evil forces don't want you to keep talking. Right before the hammer is thrown, the text on the screen over Hillary reads, "this is our conversation." The next time we see the screen, a smiling Hillary again says she "hopes to keep this conversation going," just before the sledge hammer smashes into the screen. In the original ad, following the initial explosion as the sledgehammer crashes into the screen, we hear a light, cool breeze, suggesting freedom. This sound appears to have been slowed down in the Clinton video, lowering the pitch and suggesting the cold wind of emptiness and despair. By this point we are really wondering who would be so evil as to want to end "our conversation." We then see a bright white screen which says, "On January 14th, the Democratic primary will begin. And you'll see why 2008 won't be like '1984.'" Note that 1984 has a significance in presidential politics quite apart from Orwell's book. 1984 was the year Walter Mondale, running as an unabashed liberal, lost every state in the nation except Minnesota. The white screen, associated with Clinton, promises a different outcome in 2008, until it is covered over by a pitch black screen bearing Barack Obama's web address. It must be he who wishes to end the conversation.
Posted by: Ben | March 20, 2007 at 01:53 PM
Hey Ben – nice (and different) take on this one. If it is coming from the Clinton camp, then I have to say any attempts to draw the voters her way is lost on the general public. Sure, there could be a subtext of "Let's have a conversation", but the overwhelming image associations is one of Clinton projecting vague generalities on a conforming populace. Hardly a vote of confidence to her 'message'.
Even if no one really remembers the original Apple Ad, I would say that to put out an ad like this is a pretty stupid move if it came from Clinton. I definitely think that we'll see some light shed on this within the next month.
Posted by: j.fisher | March 20, 2007 at 02:00 PM
I don't know, I think Clinton is pretty desperate to sully Obama's "above politics" imagine, and any success the ad has in that regard might well outweigh the damage done by its popular interpretation. I really can't imagine this is going to be very effective as an attack against Clinton, for the reasons I stated.
Posted by: Ben | March 20, 2007 at 02:39 PM