Last week in my advanced writing public relations class, my professor showed us a video produced by will.i.am., a member of the music group Black Eyed Peas. The video, called “Yes We Can” features celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson, filmmaker Jesse Dylan (son of Bob Dylan), John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Adam Rodriquez, Kelly Hu, Adam Rodriquez, Amber Valetta and Nick Cannon. The pro-Obama video campaign created by celeb supporters has made a huge impact for Obama. ABC news did a story on the persuasive video (check it out at http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=4231523) and it has over 3.5 million views on YouTube. That number is rising daily.
Powerful and influential talk show hosts such as Oprah and Tyra have interviewed Obama on their shows, and now with this video, and much of Hollywood apparently backing Obama, I am starting to wonder, “How will my influential generation be affected by these celebrities?”
Born into a generation obsessed with the media, the Internet, the tabloids and most of all celebrities, will the power of celebrity influence go so far as to decide our next president?
I must admit, born into a republican family I originally felt compelled to vote for a republican candidate. The problem? I do not know anything about them! Never a fan of politics, I do not go out of my way to research the candidates, find out their unique stance on an issue and then support them through the election. That is just not me. But during this election I have felt more connected than I ever have before and I am not making any extra effort this time around. Sure, I look at candidates for small class assignments, and I hear things through word-of-mouth, but this time I am more informed than ever before because the candidates seem to be targeting me. Everywhere I look I see an ad for Obama, a celeb talking about Obama, even at the Grammy’s last Sunday a few singers used the phrase “Yes We Can” in their thank you speeches. I have not seen a thing about McCain. I wish more politicians were targeting my generation.
Now that politics seem to be surrounding me I feel compelled to me more involved. Whether this is a result of agenda-setting theory, I do not know. What I do know, is Obama is utilizing the new media that draws in my generation and it is working. Prior to this election, all I knew about him was that he went to my high school. Thinking that was kind of cool, I asked some friends what they knew about him but they did not know much. Ask a friend today, and they will talk my ear off.
I am not saying this makes me want to vote for Obama, I just wish all the candidates were making the same effort he is to keep my generation informed.
Powerful and influential talk show hosts such as Oprah and Tyra have interviewed Obama on their shows, and now with this video, and much of Hollywood apparently backing Obama, I am starting to wonder, “How will my influential generation be affected by these celebrities?”
Born into a generation obsessed with the media, the Internet, the tabloids and most of all celebrities, will the power of celebrity influence go so far as to decide our next president?
I must admit, born into a republican family I originally felt compelled to vote for a republican candidate. The problem? I do not know anything about them! Never a fan of politics, I do not go out of my way to research the candidates, find out their unique stance on an issue and then support them through the election. That is just not me. But during this election I have felt more connected than I ever have before and I am not making any extra effort this time around. Sure, I look at candidates for small class assignments, and I hear things through word-of-mouth, but this time I am more informed than ever before because the candidates seem to be targeting me. Everywhere I look I see an ad for Obama, a celeb talking about Obama, even at the Grammy’s last Sunday a few singers used the phrase “Yes We Can” in their thank you speeches. I have not seen a thing about McCain. I wish more politicians were targeting my generation.
Now that politics seem to be surrounding me I feel compelled to me more involved. Whether this is a result of agenda-setting theory, I do not know. What I do know, is Obama is utilizing the new media that draws in my generation and it is working. Prior to this election, all I knew about him was that he went to my high school. Thinking that was kind of cool, I asked some friends what they knew about him but they did not know much. Ask a friend today, and they will talk my ear off.
I am not saying this makes me want to vote for Obama, I just wish all the candidates were making the same effort he is to keep my generation informed.
1 comment:
Interesting thoughts. Looks like McCain better start utilizing the new media or he's going to lose your vote! Camps with Bugs
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