The battle of the Bird

Posted at 11:05 AM on October 9, 2012 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)
Filed under: Marketing and advertising

The Obama campaign has released this video. Is it Fair Use or the injection of copyrighted material into a political debate?

Like so many musical performers whose works were appropriated by politicians, The Children's Television Workshop wants the ad taken down.

Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns. We have approved no campaign ads, and as is our general practice, have requested that the ad be taken down.

Of course, there's also the reality that if a presidential campaign has to roll out Big Bird, it's got big, big problems.

By the way, we'll be happy to crowdsource the question: When's the last time a presidential campaign used a fictional TV character in a campaign commercial? Don't let us down here, Internet.

Meanwhile, Public Policy Polling has included Big Bird in its poll released a few minutes ago.

Thirty-two percent of Minnesotans surveyed aren't sure of their opinion of Big Bird. People, Sesame Street went on the air 43 years ago. Do you need more time?

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Comments (5)

My interpretation of the Not Sure answer:

Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Big Bird?

A) Favorable
B) Unfavorable
C) Huh? Why are you asking me this?

Posted by Catherine | October 9, 2012 11:38 AM

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//Thirty-two percent

I'm pretty sure that "Not Sure" is a substitute for "I Don't Care" or "I am annoyed by all of the endless, slanted, and meaningless surveys I keep hearing about".

Posted by John P. | October 9, 2012 11:41 AM

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Wow. Just wow. This was a pure vanity ad. Every minute and dollar the campaign spent on this was wasted. This is why campaigns need to stop only talking to supporters.

I've see it before you get isolated and ideas like this seem really good. Your team is all talking about how the other guy screwed up on some hack issue or point and off script you go.

Posted by BJ | October 9, 2012 11:45 AM

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// I'm pretty sure that "Not Sure" is a substitute for "I Don't Care" or "I am annoyed by all of the endless, slanted, and meaningless surveys I keep hearing about".

And yet, only 17% aren't sure if the BLS is cooking the books on unemployment numbers.

Posted by Bob Collins | October 9, 2012 12:21 PM

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Bob: Where is the ad being broadcast?

Posted by JackU | October 9, 2012 12:48 PM

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