The first piece of voter-generated video to make a splash in Campaign 2008 has hit, and with it comes a mystery. Is "Vote Different" really the work of an amateur, a civilian if you will? Or is it a shrewd move by someone who wants to stir up trouble between the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaigns? After all, comparing Hillary to Big Brother, droning on about her "conversation" with America and portraying her supporters as silent automatons is hardly what Obama supporters want to say about the former First Lady. Or is it?

Yesterday, I was talking with several of TechPresident's contributing bloggers, and we all agreed that "Vote Different" was a terrific piece of viral video. Indeed, the minute-long mash-up of Apple's famous "1984" ad and some Hillary speeches has been viewed more than 100,000 times since being posted two days ago by someone using the handle "ParkRidge47."

One tip-off that this is not the work of a rank amateur is how well the video integrates not just Hillary's speeches into the rectangular TV boxes shown in the spot, but the placement of Obama's circular campaign logo on the woman runner's shirt (see below). Of course, it's totally possible that someone unconnected with any political operation could have these skills.

I emailed "ParkRidge47" yesterday asking him or her for some background on how they made the video and why, and here's what s/he said:

Thank you for your interest in the video. It has been amazing to watch it explode on the viral scene. At one point it was the #3 most watched video on YouTube and is at 108,000 views and growing.

Considering Hillary Clinton's biggest video has only received 12,000 views on YouTube, I'd say the grassroots has won the first round.

The idea was simple and so was the execution. Make a bold statement about the Democratic primary race by culture jacking a famous commercial and replacing as few images as possible. For some people it doesn't register, but for people familiar with the ad and the race it has obviously struck a chord.

A friend suggested the idea after reading a New York Times article about the Clinton's campaign bullying of donors and political operatives after the Geffen dustup.

I don't want to say more than that. I'd prefer to let it speak for itself.

Sounds like a hacktivist to me! But given the ability of campaign operatives to "culture jack" democracy too with dirty tricks, I would still like to know who ParkRidge47 really is. Wouldn't you?

1984 | Apple | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton | ParkRidge47 | Vote Different | Voter-generated | YouTube
Micah L. Sifry's blog | email this page | delicious | digg | technorati