Turn Things Upside Down

This might be the second voice over + text commercial that I've ever liked.

Let's also take a quick moment to note the updated features and layout on YouTube. Nice work.

Out of this world campaign

"Today, we are all Americans" - this September-10-2001-sentence is once again true on this November-04-2008. The American election has been the number one news topic for quite a while, real and fake experts constantly present their views and there are public and private debates all over the place. You probably know what I mean. It's your country, after all.

The election hype is quite unbelievable - and we can't even VOTE! Well, actually we can vote. Just not in this election. We have this fancy democracy thing going on over here, too. Every once in a while there are European elections, for example. Only problem is nobody cares about them. The turnout has been steadily declining and is especially low in the new EU member states.

In an attempt to change that in the next election in June 2009 some geniuses in Brussels Germany came up with a mind-blowing idea. The European Union aimes for nothing less than the stars: A ballot box will be send into outer space to make voters interested in the process and create election excitement from Britain to the Balkans. In May, a Belgium astronaut is set to take the thing on his trip to the ISS. The box will show us Europeans that we can vote everywhere (no, still not in the US today). I supposse the Eurocrats learned from our American friends that every vote can count. Long lines in front of extrateresstial polling places have long been a major problem and many potential voters were err... alienated by that.

It's all part of a 33 Million dollar PR campaign to enhance the European Union's image amongst its citizens. Cause, you know, it's doing all sorts of tangible, effective and generally great stuff with our tax Euros. Next June, we will all be Europeans. Even those Martians out there.

Spreading the Yaybia Love

Yaybia, I've been unfaithful. I posted my first feature on Ypulse today. It's the first of the "Our Side of the Screen" series, which will be the Youth Advisory Board's reviews of ads and branding efforts aimed at 13-24 year olds. I reviewed three online political videos aimed at the youth vote. Please go check it out, watch for future features...and leave me some Yaybia love in the form of a comment over there!

P.S. You're all following the Ypulse Twitter feed, right? Another Youth Advisory Board member and I are in charge of it, so go follow!

McCain launches UGC competition! Appear in a McCain ad!

Jumping on the User Generated Content bandwagon of 2006, John McCain shows his age once again by asking users to submit their own "I'm Joe the Plumber and I love McCain" video. Actually, you don't submit it, you post it on YouTube and send them a link.

See the details here:
http://www.johnmccain.com/Joe/

Straight from the website, the guidelines are:
* Your video must be 27 seconds long (3 seconds are required for a legal disclaimer)
* Use appropriate imagery, language and music.
* Do not use copyrighted music, pictures or videos.

And John McCains Ideas and Suggestions:
* Be creative! The video that most effectively tells why you are Joe the Plumber will be featured in a TV ad.
* Tell us why you are like Joe the Plumber.
* How would Barack Obama's plan to "Spread the Wealth Around" hurt you?
* Explain why you're voting for the McCain-Palin ticket.
* Tell your story simply and clearly.

And just like Doritos let you do, you could get your video on TV! No way! Except this time you only get to be on air in swing states, instead of the SuperBowl.

I think my favorite part is this: "How would Barack Obama's plan to "Spread the Wealth Around" hurt you?"
Lets get over the negative advertising people!

Seriously, why not ask people to explain How would McCain's plan HELP you, why do you have to go for the negative?

So does anyone have an over under on joke submissions? I am guessing that nearly every serious submission is doubled or tripled by a mockery.

Don't Vote

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

STOP and VOTE.

With the DNC and the RNC going on these past couple of weeks, theres been an awful lot of hubbub about the election in November. Debates on who is the better candidate, distasteful advertising, and relentless reporting is sure to leave the next two months in a state of chaos. Whoever you are voting for, the most important message is, you need to. There are 50 million of us between the ages of 18-29 years old, and if we all vote, it's impossible for our demographic to be ignored.

While I was in NYC I met with a small agency called The Concept Farm. One of their directors, Griffin Stenger, told me about all of the awesome work their interns are up to. They've created their own campaign called Stop and Vote. The full interactive site will be up and running Sept. 9. In the mean time, visit their facebook group and flickr page. You can also register to vote, find your closest polling place or receive absentee ballots on their website. As part of the campaign, they are encouraging people to put "VOTE" stickers over stop signs (which has already been happening). I love this because it's people our age who had the ambition and drive to create this campaign all on their own. Stop making excuses and VOTE!!

It's Time For Some Google Reader Campaigning!

I have been consistently drawn to CNN this week to watch the speeches at the Democratic National Convention (p.s. the Clintons ROCKED their speeches), but I was surprised to find politics creepin' in on my friend, Google Reader.


Apparently, now we can subscribe to shared items and reading lists from Barack Obama and John McCain. Now, obviously this piqued my interest. You mean Old Man River figured out what this "Internet" thing is? He knows that RSS isn't some disease? Doubtful. I don't feel out-of-line to assume that he had some 20 something (Amanda... did he set you up to this?) set up his "top feeds," but it's an interesting political marketing scheme nonetheless.

What I learned from looking through his favorite feeds:
1) This Conservative Christian worships the false god, Weber. (BBQ Bible? Sacrilege!)
2) The Drudge Report hasn't updated their site since they leaked the Monica Lewinsky story.
3) Jib Jab! Wowsers! Didn't expect that! I suppose he enjoyed the Time For Some Campaignin' video. (Perhaps he also snickers to himself while putting funny faces of his buddies, Pawlenty, Bush and Romney, in some of the other personalized vids.)
4) He gets his news from Fox. 'Nuff said. (Link omitted on purpose.)

As for Barack's page, nothing too strange:


My favorite part is that he has The Daily Show on his list. GO JON STEWART!

Overall, the idea is a good one. Google Reader lovers can feel tied to the candidates by reading "what they are reading." Hey, maybe McCain IS trying to get over his digicap, but knowing his technological illiteracy, I am sure he just makes one of his cronies gather information for him on "The Google."

Go '08AMA! (Said endorsement is the opinion of the author, NOT necessarily all of the Yaybies.)

Yay Paris (and no... I'm not being sarcastic)

Okay, so this has nothing to do with the Olympics. However, since we Yaybies like to stay current, I decided to talk about Paris Hilton's response to the McCain "Celebrity" ad. But first, take a looksie:

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Not only do I detest the fact that McCain is trying to equate Obama's celebrity to that of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton (hello- a man growing up poor and working his way up the social classes isn't quite the same as a snobby heiress or a pop princess), but I also want to scream out a quick "Yaybia" after watching Paris' response. Who would have thought that I would be rooting for Britney and Paris rather than a respected politician? (Methinks no one.)

I say, way to stand up for yourself, girl! True, you probably paid big bucks to have someone write that eloquent response to the energy crisis, but you can afford it... so why not? Miss Hilton may have to forgo a few drinks at the next club or maybe even a cute new pair of shoes to make up for the expense (gasp!), but it was probs the best money she's ever spent.

What do y'all think?

P.S. You're all "so hot."