YouTube gives worldwide publicity to Free-hug campaign

Have you heard about “Free-hug campaign”? This video clip above was posted on YouTube on September 22, 2006, and it made an instant sensation around the world. Less than a week after the posting on this video sharing website, this campaign even drew an attention of national television in the States. Free-hug movement is even happening in Korea now! Considering the fact that Juan Mann, initiator of this free hugs, started this cuddling campaign long before in 2003, the effect of the new media on the Web is beyond amazement. Look at the record of view. By 2 am today, it had more than 4 million hits and 100 thousand comments!

What can be more powerful media than this? It might be a good idea for non-profit organization to utilize such website as YouTube to promote their campaign. And it’s even FREE! Will there be any problem or concern, though, when an organization, not an individual, use such website? Do you know any other website that draws attention all around the global?

Article about Free-Hug campaign
Original YouTube Web site

Celebrity Endorsements that Matter

In a recent episode of Entertainment Tonight, Michael J. Fox was spotlighted as a sufferer of Parkinson’s disease. As Parkinson’s disease is a chronic disorder that is connected to the insufficient formation of dopamine in the brain, it is widely thought that stem cell research may be able to treat and retroact the effects of the disease. As embryonic stem cell research is an issue of growing controversy in the United States, Michael J. Fox is one celebrity who has taken a very personal stance on pushing for greater understanding and acceptance of this topic. The article available on Yahoo Entertainment at http://entertainment.tv.yahoo.com/entnews/ap/20061024/116174406000.html

Discusses the reason Fox is such a great choice for political ads that address this issue.

"The reason that he's powerful is that he's comparatively young," says Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director for the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center. "As a result, a lot of people in that age range can look at him and say, `If that can happen to him, it can happen to me.' This is a great example of someone who has a stake in the political issue at hand and engages in the issue to the point of being in political ads which are available for viewing at YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=McCaskill+ad&search=Search.

Although the messages at hand are delivered in an advertisement, this was part of a strategic communication plane involving television as a medium of communication which was very effective in reaching target audiences. Unlike some political ads that reach no one or the failed message of Sean Penn’s fake support of Hurricane Katrina victims in order to get publicity, this celebrity endorsement was successful in delivering the key message and reaching the target voting population.

Political Advertising

Over the weekend, political ads have taken over the commercial breaks on television. The majority of the ones I’ve seen have all been extremely negative. On page 107 in out text, Cutlip tells us the history and creating of the public opinion poll. I recently read an article on MSNBC.com (I couldn’t find it again to link it, sorry!) of how important those polls are this year and how they are framing the majority of candidates messages this year strictly around this data. While these polls are an excellent tool to truly see the public’s feelings and opinions, how much are political candidates using this just to tell us what we want to hear? Can we trust the genuiness of their message and platforms, if we know - that they know - exactly what we want them to say? Do the negative ads really work to influence public opinions? How many people vote for a candidate just because they don’t indulge in the negative advertising, instead of the other way around?