The previous post was about the cohesiveness of the branding message on the Obama camp. This has allowed for the message to be easily picked up and used by others - whether to support Obama or themselves. It shows pretty clearly that Change sells.
The Capitalism of Hope
Support from large and small business has been amazing. Everyone wants to be a part of the movement that will change the course of our country's leadership - whether through belief in that movement or just wanting to say that they were a part of the historic event.
Take UncleBrutha, for example. Obama likes hot sauce (who doesn't?) and so Uncle Brutha decided to make The Audacity of Hot Sauce to raise money and support for Obama. Hot Sauce? Why not?
Or how about Ojamas? The Obama pajamas that help you sleep easier. (ok, cheesy line, but it was too easy to avoid.)
Numerous other sites exist too - artists, cafepress, and more. Some are donating the funds to the Obama campaign, but others are just capitalizing off the fervor for a new voice.
This might be proof that Obama isn't going to make us all socialists - his cohesive campaign branding incites hyper-capitalism in the people, and propels new entrepreneurs to get their hand in the action. Obama's campaign alone might stabilize the government.
Artistic Expression
I showcased some artistic support for Obama in my last post. However, the lengths to which artists are rallying their skills for Obama is expansive. Some of these are being picked up by the Barack Obama website and raising money, while others are raising awareness or giving quality design to people willing to share the art with others.
First, how about Design for Obama? Revisiting the era of propaganda posters, designers have put forth their efforts to do what they can to support the movement. From their site:
Design/ers for Obama was created when Design Observer essentially asked the question, “how can graphic designers best support Barack Obama?” Our answer ended up extending the question to cover visual communicators at all levels. In addition to supporting Obama for America we jumped at the opportunity to bring the spirit of grassroots style organizing and collaboration to poster design which, to us, meant not only forming communal bonds but sharing the fruits of our efforts equally and in such a way that anyone can enjoy and benefit from (because most of us do not own our own printing presses).
Again, it seems that the quality of branding and message of the Obama campaign has inspired widespread activism, and have people giving of themselves in ways they might not have considered before. In honor of this, I'll feature some of my favorite posters in my blog up until the election.
Other poster sites that have sprung up: 30 Reasons. Each day, a new poster is added to showcase reasons why you should vote for Barack Obama.
Perhaps Sketch For Change has something you'd be interested in.
A way to keep up on the Art being made for Obama? The Obama Art Report.
But the art isn't just for designers or serial artists. It's for everyone. For example, Spelling Change offers everyone an opportunity to create a letter for the website.
My local sewing co-op and fashion store, Fasten Collective, has WeHeartObama as their designer of the month.
Needless to say, the Obama campaign has been inspiring for artists everywhere.
DIY = the Unity of Grass Roots Action
I've also never seen so many people mobilized to take a symbol and make grass-roots creations, and then share them with others. In my own community, the organizer of Milwaukee Renaissance promoted an Art for Obama gathering where people came together to make Obama yard signs - homemade ways of expressing support.
Or you could organize a Yes We Carveparty and carve pumpkins with various logos, mottoes and other Obama supporting messages. Patterns are provided at the website, along with instructions, and an opportunity to join a contest.
Want to wear your own support? How about a knitting pattern for the logo? Like to see the results?
Many of these items are described in the Obama Craft Project. Which includes a post(complete with video) on how to create your own Obama pin. DIY or DIE features some Barack Obama jewelry on Etsy and other places.
In the spirit of FreeCycle, there's an ObamaCycle - a way to get Obama gear into the hands of people who want it but can't afford it.
It must be true that this campaign has organized more people than has been seen for a long time. Either people are really tired of the same political ways - which McCain seems to represent to them - or they really believe in the Obama message.
Either way, it seems to point towards greater unity for all.
(originally posted at Exponential)
Hello, True Believers,
I have just created a fundraising page at http://www.cafepress.com/dalange. Check out all the knik-knax and support Obama. All proceeds go to the Obama Biden campaign.
I spent all day today yesterday thinking that it was Monday. This is just one of the side effects of spending a long weekend in the woods with no television and no news. I think that, on some level, I expected to come home after my camping trip to find that something momentous had happened and that I had missed it. Instead, almost everything is as I left it. I guess that's why it seemed so much like today yesterday, the first day of my week, had to be monday and like I still had plenty of time to get ready for the first actual Dayton Mamas for Obama volunteer shift. I was even trying to schedule a playdate for tomorrow today with family friends. Oops!
It looks like our first kid-friendly volunteer session will be small. But that's ok. We'll build in size with word of mouth and will find the right niche for moms in this campaign. I received a call today from one of the Obama staffers at the Dayton office asking me to contact a couple of potential volunteers to talk to them about the Mamas for Obama idea and ways that they can be involved. I'm hoping that with a little time, but not too much, we'll be able to build something substantial.
Know Obama supporters? Of course you do! But, not everyone is going to think of getting signs, stickers, signing up to volunteer or phonebank. So, make it easy and fun for them!
Here are a few things I did that made a huge difference.
Get signs and stickers for your friendsVisibility is SO important, especially in OH, TX and PA. Seeing more Hillary than Obama in your town? Fix it!
Take your friends to an event They are infectious.
Take friends with you to your local HQ Sounds crazy, I know.
Use ALL of your campaign schwagSigns from other states, stickers, posters, you name it. Use it! Hack it! Make sure it's visible!
Change your online icons to Obamicons Myspace, Facebook, AIM, MSN Chat. You name it, you have an icon. Change it to an Obamicon!
Your enthusiasm goes a long way. A ____long____ way. You are more infectious than you think. Now, let's do this!
OH-BAMA!
Check this out - it's that political mashup ad riffing off of Orwell's work "1984":
Link
Here's what Phil De Veillis, its author,has to say about it:
Do you think this could really change the playing field for mindshare? When I saw it last week, I thought it was pretty neat, Also, we kicked around the possibility of assembling our own ad at the last Outreach Meetup.
Phil put this together in an afternoon, a couple weeks later 1.3 million eyes see it.
I can't wait to see what else comes down the pipe.
--AP
