Can you use politicians to sell candy? I got a YouTube link sent to me and after watching it, I decided I'd like your reactions. Here's the link to the video.
I posted a version of this diary to my blog, and immediately got a nasty reaction from a Franken supporter who hasn't been overly critical of me in the past. To be honest, my initial reaction wasn't positive either. The company says this is a parody, but I say it's clearly an ad.
Clever? or exploitative? Is it legal for parody ads to use copyrighted songs? (Al and Norman's faces I'm less concerned about.)
Here's part of the press release:
Now that the RNC has left Minnesota, McCain and Obama are off and running for the next 60 days to see who will become the next leader of the free world, we want to turn our sights to one of the most hotly contested Senate races in the country right here in Minnesota - Coleman vs. Franken!
Ever since the Republican Party of Minnesota and the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party chose Senator Norm Coleman and Satirist Al Franken as their nominees in the 2008 campaign, the bitter rhetoric has been flying back and forth in one of the most visible United States Senate races in the nation.
What are voters to do? Will Minnesotans ever get the chance to hear the candidates talk about affordable healthcare, their views on global warming, the war in Iraq or the candidates' proposals to turn our economy around?
Chocolat Céleste has the answer to end the bitterness, please click here for the latest Minnesota Senate YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/...
The solution is sweet, simple and literally lies between the Franken and Coleman campaigns in a store on University Avenue in St. Paul - Chocolat Céleste's political chocolates. With an elephant for the GOP and a donkey for the DFL, each side can have their favorite icon on delicious chocolates. Once tasted, smiles will return, camaraderie will exist, and we can get back to the kinder, gentler debates of years past .
Chocolate Céleste is, btw, just a few blocks from my place, and only two blocks from Coleman's and Franken's campaign HQs. They also distributed some candy to the RNC delegates so it would seem they're trying to build their market and go national. I dunno about that, I just know that I can't decide if I like this approach to guerrilla marketing or not. I'm sure some people like this sort of thing, but my gut tells me that this is disrespectful, and could cheapen our political discourse to a level even lower than where we're at now. Note: I have absolutely NO ties to this business, and am in no way being compensated for this post. I don't know the owners and have never stepped foot in their store, but when I got the spam I recognized the name from the neighborhood and decided to write about this.
The Minnesota primary is tomorrow, by the way. Franken is the prohibitive favorite but I'll be voting for a minor candidate to express my displeasure with the DFL's truly unique endorsement system, one that makes Jim Crow look like a model of democracy in action by comparison.
I'll be voting for Al in November, of course. Despite having criticized Franken on a monthly basis in this space, the truth is the new heavy hitters the DSCC fobbed off on him have helped his campaign immensely. Al's campaign has improved a lot in recent weeks, and I'm hopeful that he will beat Norm Coleman in November. I always liked the idea of Al running, but the reality until recently was a far cry from what I had expected. What we've been seeing lately is, however, more in line with what non-Minnesotan Kossacks probably thought Al was doing all along.
What I can't decide is if this commercial makes me more or less inclined to buy candy from Chocolat Céleste. Can you do JibJab to promote candy? What do you think of this kind of guerrilla marketing?