Wassup 2008 – a brilliant spoof

We’ve seen the campaigns for the current US election using online tools like never before. Here is one of the more recent examples – a brilliant ad for the Obama campaign. It was uploaded on the 24th of October, and in just five days it has delivered 2,677,934 views!! No doubt impressive!

It is of course a spoof or follow up on Budweisers ad from 1999-2002. See example below:

How come it gets such a huge impact and spread? Well, there are a couple of good reasons:

Collective memory
First of all, most people (at least in the US) has memories of the original Wassup ads. These memories are fond or not so fond, but nonetheless they remind people of something. It is something we can gather around and talk about, because we all recognize it.

Current events
Besides the obvious – the US election – the clip touches on a number of issues that are currently on the agenda. Issues like employment, the war in Iraq, health care, the financial crisis, the environment/climate threat etc. The timing of the clip is great.

Humor
This clip has a serious touch to it. It is of course exaggerated, but it is done with humor. We all like to share something funny.

Obama fans
From what it seems right now, a little more than half of the voters in the US have an incentive to pass this clip on. By passing it on, they promote their preferred candidate – Obama. I can imagine that McCain fans are not as keen on passing it on. 😉

Execution
It is a spoof, which often gives an advantage, riding on the success of campaigns before it. But, it has to be well executed. This one is.

Via:
Six Pixels of Separation
and
TechCrunch