Barack Obama is running what has to be the most expensive campaign to become president of the United States in the history of the universe. He raised $150 million alone in September and is using that cash to advertise everywhere. But in what has to be a first, he’s purchased virtual billboard space in Xbox Live video games:
“I can confirm that the Obama campaign has paid for in-game advertising in Burnout,” Holly Rockwood, director of corporate communications at Electronic Arts, the game’s publisher, told me via email, noting that EA regularly allows ad placements in their online games. “Like most television, radio and print outlets, we accept advertising from credible political candidates,” she continued. “Like political spots on the television networks, these ads do not reflect the political policies of EA or the opinions of its development teams.”
I have to admit that this is brillant. Obama’s core group of supporters are young first time voters, which means that the chances of having a game console are high. Plus he’s not competing against a McCain ad since he’s the only one doing it.
It’s moves like that that explain why he’s ahead in the polls.
UPDATE: A tip from a reader pointed me in the direction of this article on the PBS MediaShift Idea Lab website. It talks about what newsrooms can learn from the Obama campaign and their use of things like video games to promote their message. From the article:
“Now, what do videogames and Obama have to do with newsrooms? It’s clear that over the past year, Obama’s campaign has developed a profound understanding of how its community finds and consumes information across a number of platforms. And Obama has embraced them all, and adapted his message to fit the way people use those platforms.”
This is a good find and this is an article that is worth reading.
Thanks to Simon for the tip!
Obama’s Mac Savvy White House Staffers Stuck With PC’s And No Facebook…. Oh The Horror!
Posted in Commentary with tags Barack Obama on January 22, 2009 by itnerdSo President Obama’s team hasn’t been in the White House two days, and they are coming to grips with the fact that they walked into a White House that has no laptops, no Instant Messaging, no Facebook, and no Macs:
“It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said of his new digs.
Before you say “suck it up and use XP just like the rest of us,” consider this: Obama and company ran the most technology intensive election campaign in the history of the world. Walking into the White House is akin to living in the dark ages from their perspective.
I’m guessing that a new tech infrastructure and business rules for the executive office of the President are coming down the pipe very soon.
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