Obama “1984″ Creator Revealed (And It’s Not Bill Hillsman)
Thursday, March 22, 2007 at 7:58 am
- 8 Comments
As word comes out who was behind the infamous anti-Hillary Clinton “1984″ ad, it’s worth noting who was not behind it: Minneapolis adman Bill Hillsman, who created memorable ads for Paul Wellstone and Jesse Ventura, among others. TechPresident caught up with Hillsman, who admitted that he grew up in a Chicago suburb near Park Ridge (where Clinton was raised) and did a similar cut-and-paste style ad for Wellstone (in which Newt Gingrich became Oz and Rudy Boschwitz Ming the Merciless). But he denied involvement with “1984.”
No, ParkRidge47, the pseudonymous creator of the Obama ad, was revealed by The Huffington Post to be Phillip de Vellis, an employee at Blue State Digital, a company created by former members of Howard Dean’s web team. Per that company’s policy prohibiting outside political work de Vellis has been terminated for creating the commercial.
Story continues…In a guest post for Huffington’s site, de Vellis was unapologetic. “I did it. And I’m proud of it,” he wrote. “I made the ‘Vote Different’ ad because I wanted to express my feelings about the Democratic primary, and because I wanted to show that an individual citizen can affect the process.”
And that he did. De Vellis’ version of “1984″ has been viewed on YouTube 1,897,492 times (and counting).
While he can’t take credit for the hacked Apple commercial, Hillsman did praise the message of the spot:
It is a very shrewd attack piece, though, politically speaking. The subtext points up what I have been saying for a year now– that Hillary has big problems with her base of liberal women (note that the hero in the 1984 spot is a woman, which was key to its success at the time). And if you are for Obama, it really hits at her weak spot– coming across as a cold automaton even when she thinks she is being friendly and sincere (Al Gore disease).
8 Comments
Comment posted March 22, 2007 @ 11:50 am
“The game has changed.” The ad’s creator concluded in a post to the Huffington Post: “This ad was not the first citizen ad, and it will not be the last. The game has changed.”
That is the best thing about this whole controversy. It proves that the slimy political operatives who have had a stranglehold on campaigns for too long are now yesterday’s news. No longer do we have to swallow whatever sleazy ads and literature they put out. If we don’t like it, we’ll produce our own, thank you, and we really don’t care what the DCCC or DFL or the lifer caucus staffs or even the campaigns themselves think. We don’t have to raise millions to get it on tv. We’ll get it on youtube and the MSM will play catch-up. We’ll put it out on blogs. Damn right. The game has changed. Get out of the way.
Comment posted March 22, 2007 @ 12:58 pm
Oh, right.
I would submit that if we’re still forced to choose between the likes of Hillary and the likes of Obama, and there are still people getting excited about that dismal prospect, then the game has not changed one fucking bit.
Comment posted March 24, 2007 @ 12:53 am
What’s the DFL going to do next? http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/2007/03/23/pim-when-the-dfl-party-does-attack-it-often-misses-the-mark/
PIM:
DFL Executive Director Andy O’Leary has put together a great team as the DFL solidifies its claim that it regained its status as Minnesota¹s majority party. Unfortunately, the exception has been the DFL communications staff. The DFL’s media relations haven’t struck the right note since former staffers Bill Amberg and Tonya Tennessen left the party in 2005. When it comes to the DFL and media, it’s always difficult to please everyone. But the party critiques of Tim Pawlenty, Norm Coleman and other Republicans have been few and far between for months.
Comment posted March 25, 2007 @ 2:08 pm
In the future comments that don’t actually relate to the article will be deleted as spam, especially when they have nothing but links to other sites.
Thank you.
Comment posted March 22, 2007 @ 6:50 am
“The game has changed.” The ad's creator concluded in a post to the Huffington Post: “This ad was not the first citizen ad, and it will not be the last. The game has changed.”
That is the best thing about this whole controversy. It proves that the slimy political operatives who have had a stranglehold on campaigns for too long are now yesterday's news. No longer do we have to swallow whatever sleazy ads and literature they put out. If we don't like it, we'll produce our own, thank you, and we really don't care what the DCCC or DFL or the lifer caucus staffs or even the campaigns themselves think. We don't have to raise millions to get it on tv. We'll get it on youtube and the MSM will play catch-up. We'll put it out on blogs. Damn right. The game has changed. Get out of the way.
Comment posted March 22, 2007 @ 7:58 am
Oh, right.
I would submit that if we're still forced to choose between the likes of Hillary and the likes of Obama, and there are still people getting excited about that dismal prospect, then the game has not changed one fucking bit.
Comment posted March 23, 2007 @ 7:53 pm
What's the DFL going to do next? http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/2007/03/23/pim-when-the-dfl-party-does-attack-it-often-misses-the-mark/
PIM:
DFL Executive Director Andy O'Leary has put together a great team as the DFL solidifies its claim that it regained its status as Minnesota¹s majority party. Unfortunately, the exception has been the DFL communications staff. The DFL's media relations haven't struck the right note since former staffers Bill Amberg and Tonya Tennessen left the party in 2005. When it comes to the DFL and media, it's always difficult to please everyone. But the party critiques of Tim Pawlenty, Norm Coleman and other Republicans have been few and far between for months.
Comment posted March 25, 2007 @ 9:08 am
In the future comments that don't actually relate to the article will be deleted as spam, especially when they have nothing but links to other sites.
Thank you.
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