From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"I Got a Crush... on Obama" is an internet viral video, first
posted on YouTube in June
2007 featuring a young woman seductively singing of her love for
U.S. Senator (now President) Barack Obama.
Produced by BarelyPolitical.com, actress and model Amber Lee
Ettinger lip-synched the song for the video, and Leah Kauffman (of
"My Box in a Box" fame) provided the
vocals.[1]
The concept was the brainchild of 32-year-old advertising
executive Ben Relles.
"I Got A Crush...On Obama" was co-written and produced by Rick
Friedrich.[1] The
creators sold two shirts and the red shorts used in the video in an
eBay auction. One of the shirts
garnered $1,000. Proceeds from the auction were donated to the Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness.[2]
The video
On May 25, 2007 Ben Relles placed an ad on the online classified
website, Craigslist,
seeking a music video director.[3]
The ad was answered by filmmakers Kevin Arbouet and Larry Strong. Filming began later that same day
in and around various New York City landmarks. Arbouet and
Strong co-directed and shot the entire video in about six hours.
The whole film project took approximately two to three weeks.[4]
On June 13, 2007 the video was posted to the video sharing
website YouTube and garnered
over one thousand views within the first five hours of its
posting.[5]
By the second day the American news media had taken notice of the
video's growing popularity. Relles, Ettinger and Kauffman appeared on
many television news programs.[5]
The video was nominated in the Politics category in the 2007 YouTube
Awards.[6]
Obama's
response
When asked about the video by the Des Moines Register on June 18, 2007,
Obama said, "It's just one more example of the fertile imagination
of the Internet. More stuff like this will be popping up all the
time."[7] Obama
told the Associated Press that the Obama Girl
video had upset his daughters and said, "You do wish people would
think about what impact their actions have on kids and
families."[8]
Obama's campaign stated they had nothing to do with the video's
creation.[9]
Kauffman and Ettinger confirmed this during their June 15, 2007
appearance on Fox & Friends, where they
said that the video was not made to support Barack Obama in his
campaign but rather for fun. They also expressed interest in making
more videos of the same genre for other candidates of other parties
as well.[4]
Subsequent
videos
|
"Debate '08: Obama Girl vs. Giuliani Girl" |
| Song by Leah Kauffman |
| Published |
YouTube |
| Released |
July 16, 2007 |
| Genre |
Political, comedy, pop |
| Length |
3:09 |
| Writer |
Leah Kauffman, Ben Relles |
| Producer |
Rick Friedrich |
|
Chronology |
|
"I Got a Crush... on Obama" |
"Debate '08: Obama Girl vs. Giuliani Girl" |
|
|
- On June 25, 2007 YouTuber VenetianPrincess released "I Got a
Crush on... Giuliani". The video was a parody of "I Got
a Crush... on Obama"
- A new Obama Girl video was released on July 16, 2007. This
featured "Obamagirl" and two of her friends, played by Amina Sade
and Sena Khoda, "debating" throughout the song with a trio of young
women, Adelina Kristina, Ashley Beach (granddaughter of Republican
Senator James Broyhill) and Rebecca
DiPietro, who support Rudy Giuliani, by cavorting on the
streets of New York City.[10
] A parody of a televised debate is featured, and
supporters of other candidates make brief appearances (including a
rather lonely Kucinich Girl).
- On July 2, 2007, songwriter-singer-actress Taryn Southern
released the "Hott4Hill"
viral video on YouTube. Clearly intended as an answer video for "I Got
a Crush on Obama," it gained media attention for its more ambiguous
sexuality.[11]
- In the middle of September 2007, a third video was released,
this time with U.S. soldiers being Obama Girl's crush. Her father
spent 23 years in the military.[12]
- In September 2007, Amber Lee Ettinger began working with Voter Vision, a multi-media political campaign
marketing program, shooting videos used to demonstrate voter
response to online and broadcast communications and offering up the
Obama Girl video services to Voter Vision clientele.
These Obama Girl/Voter Vision
videos debuted at the Campaigns & Elections Conference in
Washington D.C. on November 14, 2007.
- In late November 2007, a video was posted of Amber Lee Ettinger
talking with Chad Vader.
- On January 2, 2008, a video was posted titled "Obama Girl
Returns for Iowa! (Why Obama Won)."
- On January 13, 2008, Dave Days released a parody of the song
called "I Got a Crush... On Hillary"[13] in
which he was announcing a crush for Hillary Clinton rather than
Barack Obama.
- On January 31, 2008, a video was posted titled "Obama Girl
kills Osama Bin Laden?" In this video, Obama Girl appears on a faux
news program discussing her personal mission in Pakistan to find Osama bin Laden.
- On February 2, 2008, a video was posted titled "Super Obama
Girl." This video is both notably less risqué than the original
video and more campy in its narrative. The story begins
with the intertitle
"The nation needs a hero." Amber Lee, a reporter à la Clark Kent, has gotten
super powers from her Obama tchotchke. Now a superheroine, she
flies from battleground state to battleground state
battling the Legion of Doom, i.e., Obama's political opponents and
their henchmen, including Chuck Norris, in the cartoon fashion of
the '60s Batman TV series. Among other feats,
she literally carries Iowa, is responsible for Sen. Edward
Kennedy's endorsement, and battles Hillary's goons (labeled as such
in the intertitle), who are themselves labeled Status and Quo. The
story ends on a mid-air cliffhanger with Super Obama Girl carrying
Sen. Obama on her back and Bill Clinton carrying his spouse, Sen.
Hillary Clinton, on his back, on an apparent collision
course, and an exhortation to stay tuned for Super Tuesday. The video itself ends with
some comic fan
service from Amber Lee Ettinger which is an apparent greenscreen outtake.[14]
- On February 24, 2008, Ettinger appeared as Obama Girl on an
episode of Saturday Night Live. This
appearance was later posted to YouTube.
- On April 4, 2008 another song was posted onto YouTube titled 'I
think I fancy Boris Johnson' which is another parody of 'I Got a
Crush... on Obama".
- On March 25, 2008, a video was posted titled "Hillary! Stop the
attacks! Love, Obama Girl," in which Obama Girl implores Hillary
Clinton to stop making political attacks on Obama.
- On May 7, 2008, a video was posted titled "Mike Gravel Lobbies
for the Obama Girl Vote." In this video, Mike Gravel lobbies Obama Girl to switch
her support from Obama to him. Her response near the end of the
video is, "I'll think about it."
- On May 22, 2008, Kirk Productions released the "McCAIN GIRL"
video on YouTube. It imitates "I Got a Crush... On Obama" and
"Hott4Hill", but features a girl with a crush on Republican
Presidential candidate John McCain. It stars Olivia Daisy Wood
with vocals by DaNica.
- On May 23, 2008, a video was released by the "McCain
McCutie"[15] on
YouTube. It imitates "I Got a Crush... On Obama" and "Hott4Hill",
but features yet another girl with a crush on Republican
Presidential candidate John McCain. It is sung and stars Natalie
Bannon.
References
- ^ a
b
Tapper, Jake (2007-06-13). "Music Video Has a 'Crush on
Obama'". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Story?id=3275802&page=1. Retrieved
2008-11-05.
- ^
"Obama Girl Blog". TypePad. 2007-06-10. http://www.obamagirl.typepad.com/blog/.
- ^ Williams, Stephen (2007-06-25). "'Crush on Obama' video
directed by Hempstead guys (Interview with Larry Strong)". http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/ny-etobama0625,0,1449886.story?coll=ny-homepage-mezz. Retrieved
2008-11-05.
- ^ a
b
Allahpundit (2007-06-15). "Video: "Obama Girl"
Speaks!"". Fox & Friends. http://hotair.com/archives/2007/06/15/video-obama-girl-speaks/. Retrieved
2008-11-05.
- ^ a
b
"Music video creators have a
'crush on Obama' (Interview with Kauffman and Relles)". MSNBC. 2007-06-14. http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=e199a3f2-d7b6-4ead-b4d7-d8f9561de1f0&p=hotvideo_m_edpicks&t=m5&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16438329/&fg=. Retrieved
2009-02-21.
- ^
Carlson, Erin (2008-03-20). "Will the Obama Girl win a
YouTube award?". Associated Press. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080320/ap_en_ot/youtube_awards. Retrieved
2008-03-20.
- ^
Clayworth, Jason (2007-06-19). "Obama responds to
'crush'". Archived from the original on 2008-02-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20080211114524/http://blogs.dmregister.com/?p=6506.
- ^ "'Obama girl' may become
Clinton's girl". CNN.
2007-08-23. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/08/23/obama-girl-may-become-clintons-girl/. Retrieved
2008-11-05.
- ^
Gibson, John (2007-06-14). "'Crush' Video Good for
Obama". Fox News Channel. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,282694,00.html. Retrieved
2008-11-05.
- ^
This video also uses the "sex sells" technique."Obama Girl VS Giuliani
Girl". Barely Political. 2007-07-12. http://www.barelypolitical.com/obama-vs-giuliani/. Retrieved
2008-11-05.
- ^
"Video Send-Up of Hillary
Clinton by 'American Idol' Contestant Walks a Sexual Line". Fox News
Channel. 2007-07-11. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288974,00.html. Retrieved
2008-11-05.
- ^
Bosman, Julie (2007-09-18). "Net Watch: Obama Girl’s New
Crush.". The New York Times. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/net-watch-obama-girls-new-crush/index.html. Retrieved
2008-11-05.
- ^
Davedays (2008-01-13). "I Got a Crush... On
Hillary". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLSWudoqtWE. Retrieved
2008-11-16.
- ^
Barely Political (2008-01-31). "Sexy! Flashy! Wonky! Super
Obama Girl!". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIiMa2Fe-ZQ. Retrieved
2008-11-05.
- ^
McCain McCutie (2008-05-23). ""Insane for John McCain" by
McCain McCutie". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUWTkm6t8Wg. Retrieved
2008-11-05.
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