According to an article written by the New York Times on the topic of “Obama Girl,” a video clip, “showing Ms. Ettinger dancing in a bikini in front of a photo of Mr. Obama in the ocean, helped crystallize the view of the candidate as a pop culture figure and, to some, a sex symbol.” In the middle months of 2007, a new character emerged in the YouTube world that helped portray and market Presidential nominee Barack Obama as a national sex figure through arousing videos of the brunette bombshell and Barack Obama. Wearing bikinis and other scantily clothing, dancing and singing, actress Amber Lee Ettinger quickly became known as Obama Girl, the girl with “A Crush on Obama.”
Her first video, “I Got a Crush on Obama” was an instant hit and received swirls of talk amongst the Internet community. The video has clocked over 13 million views on YouTube, which is twice as many as any other campaign video officially released by the Obama campaign. Obama Girl has gone on to release additional videos dedicated to the new President as well as several interview sessions with news organizations and popular nightly entertainment programs. President Obama, Obama Girl, and her videos have also swept the headlines and discussions on blogs, forums, and Internet chat rooms around the world. Her sexy portrayals of Barack had, and continue to undoubtedly have astounding affects on the popularity and hip image of the now President, along with earning Amber Lee the title of the Hottest Woman on the Internet.
Barack Obama has not paid any public recognition to Obama Girl, but the positive effects that her Internet performances have had on his career path are undeniable! These effects can be vastly seen by the response that the public has given across many different electronic mediums, as well as his successful indoctrination as the 44th President of the United States. Despite Obama’s own lack of public recognition to Amber Lee, it is also undeniable that he is well aware that her promotions were highly successful due in part to the astoundingly large audience that was reached through the power of the Internet.
Clearly, Obama Girl and her large Internet stage has heightened the career of our nation’s leader and given the People some eye candy appeal to compliment. However, is sex appeal the real answer to our problems? Have We the People been blinded by the power of the projection of sex and lead into ignoring the true issues and our leader’s stance on those issues? Did sex sell Obama? Maybe not wholly, but I certainly believe it played a huge part. Expect to see future political players attempting to adopt the same type of advertisement figure to push their popularity.
Stelter, Brian. (2009). “Obama Girl” Team Retools for Tech Satire. New York Times, P6, 0P. Abstract retrieved from EBSCO Host Database.
No comments:
Post a Comment