It’s no secret that politics can be dirty. I hate watching TV in October because all I see is negative campaign ads. In some eyes, it’s totally ethical. If you have skeletons in your closet, don’t run for public office. But in others, it’s mudslinging and considered distasteful. November 2008 is a long way off but smear campaigns have already started.
There was a negative ad on YouTube against Sen. Hillary Clinton. The ad is a twist on Apple’s 1984 Superbowl ad and it portrays Clinton as a “Big Brother” on a theater screen. A woman athlete comes along and smashes the screen, shocking the zombie-like audience. Then the words “On January 14, the Democratic party will begin and you’ll see why 2008 won’t be like 1984″ which then fades into “www.barackobama.com. “
The big discussion with this ad is the producer. Until 
Wednesday night, nobody knew who produced the video and Obama says he had nothing to do with it. According to NBC News, the producer was Philip de Vellis, a strategist with Blue State Digital ( a digital consulting firm). Ready for the big twist? The firm has ties to Obama! gasp. Oh my. Big whoop.
I think the big issue here is the fact that it was aired on YouTube. Online communication is going to play a major factor in ‘08 politics. The fact that regular citizens can create political messages like this one and cause such a stir is great in my opinion. I don’t see an ethical issue with it, although the media is making a huge fuss over the whole deal. Negative political ads are never going to go away. I’m sure this is just the first in a string of many. Obama and his staff claim to be major opponents of dirty politics and protest against negative ads such as this one. So somebody else did it for him. Nothing like taking one for the team.
The ethics of PR professionals in politics is probably scoffed at even more than PR professionals in agency or corporate settings. It’s all part of the game. And as De Vellis says in a blog he wrote after being ‘outed’ – “This ad was not the first citizen ad and it won’t be the last. The game has changed.”
PR professionals are going to have to keep up with the online communication world and be prepared for issues like this one.
For even more online campaigning, check out MySpace’s new political arena. I think it’s great candidates are effectively starting to reach out to the younger demographic.
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