Viral videos are the new tools for marketing.  It’s been used (and abused) this time ‘round for the elections!

Anyone who knows their social media knows that viral videos are a crucial way for achieving traffic that reaches critical mass — always cooking what they hope would be forwarded to the most of their friends, and so on.

Since you couldn’t turn on your television without seeing the elections, the makers of these viral videos ask, why not your internets?  Here’s 5 of the best viral videos that have been used in the elections for delivering Obama’s message … or a laugh, whichever comes first.

The Great Schlep
Who doesn’t find Sarah Silverman funny?  The queasy ones, of course!  In this viral video, she focuses on getting Jewish youth to get their grandparents to vote for change, while delivering cold hard truths that are the equivalent of a gut punch to “that” other guy’s campaign choices.

Obama Girl – I Got A Crush on Obama
Because everyone knows, girls in boy shorts declaring their love for a dude is every dude’s fantasy.  Why do we sexualize politicians?  To bring them down to our level, of course.  How many of us hasn’t fallen for a celebrity?  What’s so wrong with making a video ‘bout it, and then selling merch?  (the boy shorts)  Plus, I do have to say that it’s pretty catchy!

Barack-rollin’
Ugh.  Who isn’t tired of rickrolls?  It made Rick Astley famous again, hasn’t it?  Why shouldn’t it work on Obama?  This one has a neat twist though, it has various clips FROM Obama himself — making him sing the words to the song!  The guy that made this sure did take a lot of time compiling the clips and stitching them together into song.

Wassup 2008
If there was an origin story for viral videos, I’d say the original Wassup commercial’s up there.  It was catchy, different-yet-relatable, remixed and garnered a massive amount of attention.  This year, the original cast has been brought together to show just where they are in the present — still friends and yet affected by the realities that the nation is facing.  It ends with the guy in Iraq asking, “wassup, B?”  To which ‘B’ replies, “Change.  That’s what’s up.”

The Vet Who Didn’t Vet
Okay, so this isn’t much about Obama, but it shows, in Seuss-ian style how things could be bad-wrong.  We could, of course, get lead by W. Bush, with lipstick on.  There’s no limit for the creativity of these supporters, and if you get support from enthusiastic people like the makers of these videos, then you’re probably doing something right.

Okay, so that’s my list of top viral videos about Obama — will he win?  Will there be change?  Will all his campaign promises be true?  We’ll have to decide over the weekend for who our candidates will be.  Regardless of your candidate choice, it’s still an important civic duty to vote.  Make it count.

Know any other viral videos for Obama, or McCain … or Palin?  Share them and your thoughts over @ The Jabber.

According to Split.Id, “We poke fun and sexualize our leaders (and potential leaders) to hold them on the level at which they actually are -sexual beings, human beings.”

With the elections growing nearer, some clever people decided to “humanize” the candidates and cash in.  No one can resist a good risqué joke — unless it’s too much of course.  Here’s a little comparison between a good sexy joke (the kind that hints at it) and a bad one.  (the one that goes too far.)

Good one!
Palin Panties — Okay, so we’ve had unattractive political leaders before — now it’s prime time to make money off of their image, since one’s a beauty queen.  It should be easy, right?  Aside from the action figure, we get — Palin Panties.  The line is even called, Palin in your Pants.  Which is funny because it’s ironic; it could work like a chastity belt for that cute Democrat boy.  Who knows?

Too far!
Palin Panties — Well, there’s these two designs that go too far.  The first one’s her now-widely-known portrait … but wait, what’re those words underneath?  VPILF?  Double whammy!  Creepy and sexist!  The next one’s a silhouette from that infamous photoshopped picture of her in a bikini, while sporting a gun.

Good one!
Obama boxer-briefs — Designer Andrew Christian decided that he would show his support for the Democratic party by crating the putting the image of Obama on a pair of designer boxer-briefs.  Not only does it offer dudes ample support to fake a more shapely butt, $1 from every purchase is donated for the benefit of the Democratic party.  Which is a weird way of showing support, but the thought is there.

Too far!
Obama booty shorts — From the site, “Get the shorts made famous by Obama Girl. These screen printed microfiber boy shorts will make everyone know that you have a crush on a certain presidential candidate.”  If you’ve seen the “I have a crush on Obama” video — you’d certainly know that these were involved in a scene with girls dancing in front of a mirror, clinging on their butts oh-so-tightly.  Movies have proven of course that obsession is unhealthy.  And a little creepy — which leads to the next one:

Good one!
Obama Head O State “plaything” — It’s a dildo.  The site even alludes to the fact, but the images are pretty clear — this is another creepy, obsessive thing.  Obviously designed as a novelty item — I mean, are they really expecting Obama girls to use this?  The box looks like one of those fake boxes, the ones where it shows something else instead of the gift inside?  But wait, there’s a clear area and you can see Obama’s likeness sculpted as the head of this gold-colored “plaything.”  While it does go a little too far, it still falls short of …

TOO FAR!
Nailin Paylin — Hustler’s now-in-post-production Palin-inspired porno.  To quote: “The faux Sarah is Lisa Ann, who “will be nailing the Russians who come knocking on her back-door.” In another scene — a flashback — “young Paylin’s creationist college professor will explain a ‘big bang’ theory even she can’t deny!””  There was news about a certain Craigslist post, looking for Palin-lookalikes to shoot for an adult video.  Well, I think this is it.  She’s a grandmother, for chrissakes!  With the high profile of the VP candidate, there’s this probably low-production porno that analogs her.  Too far.

Think things have gone too far on the merchandising front?  Or are the politicians themselves going too far with all the hatin’?  Let your voice be heard on The Jabber!  (*click!*)

The media has been going crazy over Sarah Palin since McCain’s announcement — but has anyone been paying attention to what Obama is doing?

For the Labor Day rally at the Hart Plaza, Obama opted to skip on giving one of those powerful speeches in place of a prayer for Gustav victims.

I also think that this isn’t a time to question pregnancies, photoshop candidate heads into other pictures, or make funny videos about McCain.  It’s time to look beyond what everyone else is saying, and see the truth for themselves.

Sensationalism, at its finest.

Have you seen Obama’s acceptance speech?  Can you not say that *that* was compelling?  Apparently, even McCain had the tenacity to, well, take a minute, to congratulate his opponent.

What can you say about this?  Tenacious, or sincere?

Okay, so over the weekend, Obama announced that his running mate would be Sen. Joe Biden.  It would appear that Biden is the perfect mate, because he makes up for the deficiencies that Obama has — but who knows?  Who can actually tell?

In a previous interview, Biden once mentioned that, should the VP position be offered to him, he would flat-out refuse … what’s with the change?