- I Got a Crush... on Obama
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"I Got a Crush... on Obama" 
Amber Lee Ettinger in the viral music videoSong by Leah Kauffman 2nd Published YouTube Released June 13, 2007 Genre Political, comedy, pop Length 3:18 Writer Leah Kauffman, Ben Relles Producer Rick Friedrich Chronology "I Got a Crush... on Obama" "Debate '08: Obama Girl vs. Giuliani Girl" "I Got a Crush... on Obama" is an internet viral video, first posted on YouTube in June 2007 featuring a young woman seductively singing of her love for then-U.S. Senator (later President) Barack Obama. Produced by BarelyPolitical.com, actress and model Amber Lee Ettinger lip-synched the song for the video, and Leah Kauffman (of "My Box in a Box" fame) provided the vocals.[1]
The concept was the brainchild of 32-year-old advertising executive Ben Relles. "I Got A Crush...On Obama" was co-written and produced by Rick Friedrich.[1] The creators sold two shirts and the red shorts used in the video in an eBay auction. One of the shirts garnered $1,000. Proceeds from the auction were donated to the Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness.[2] On May 25, 2007 Ben Relles placed an ad on the online classified website, Craigslist, seeking a music video director.[3] The ad was answered by filmmakers Kevin Arbouet and Larry Strong. Filming began later that same day in and around various New York City landmarks. Arbouet and Strong co-directed and shot the entire video in about six hours. The whole film project took approximately two to three weeks.[4]
On June 13, 2007 the video was posted to the video sharing website YouTube and garnered over one thousand views within the first five hours of its posting.[5] By the second day the American news media had taken notice of the video's growing popularity. Relles, Ettinger and Kauffman appeared on many television news programs.[5] The video was nominated in the Politics category in the 2007 YouTube Awards.[6]
Obama's response
When asked about the video by the Des Moines Register on June 18, 2007, Obama said, "It's just one more example of the fertile imagination of the Internet. More stuff like this will be popping up all the time."[7] Obama told the Associated Press that the Obama Girl video had upset his daughters and said, "You do wish people would think about what impact their actions have on kids and families."[8]
Obama's campaign stated they had nothing to do with the video's creation.[9] Kauffman and Ettinger confirmed this during their June 15, 2007 appearance on Fox & Friends, where they said that the video was not made to support Barack Obama in his campaign but rather for fun. They also expressed interest in making more videos of the same genre for other candidates of other parties as well.[4]
References
- ^ a b Tapper, Jake (2007-06-13). "Music Video Has a 'Crush on Obama'". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Story?id=3275802&page=1. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
- ^ "Obama Girl Blog". TypePad. 2007-06-10. http://www.obamagirl.typepad.com/blog/.
- ^ Williams, Stephen (2007-06-25). "'Crush on Obama' video directed by Hempstead guys (Interview with Larry Strong)". http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/ny-etobama0625,0,1449886.story?coll=ny-homepage-mezz. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
- ^ a b Allahpundit (2007-06-15). "Video: "Obama Girl" Speaks!"". Fox & Friends. http://hotair.com/archives/2007/06/15/video-obama-girl-speaks/. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
- ^ a b "Music video creators have a 'crush on Obama' (Interview with Kauffman and Relles)". MSNBC. 2007-06-14. http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=e199a3f2-d7b6-4ead-b4d7-d8f9561de1f0&p=hotvideo_m_edpicks&t=m5&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16438329/&fg=. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
- ^ Carlson, Erin (2008-03-20). "Will the Obama Girl win a YouTube award?". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2008-03-23. http://web.archive.org/web/20080323233019/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080320/ap_en_ot/youtube_awards. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
- ^ Clayworth, Jason (2007-06-19). "Obama responds to 'crush'". Archived from the original on 2008-02-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20080211114524/http://blogs.dmregister.com/?p=6506.
- ^ "'Obama girl' may become Clinton's girl". CNN. 2007-08-23. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/08/23/obama-girl-may-become-clintons-girl/. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
- ^ Gibson, John (2007-06-14). "'Crush' Video Good for Obama". Fox News Channel. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,282694,00.html. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
External links
Barack Obama Life and politics - Early life and career
- Illinois Senate elections
- Illinois Senate career
- U.S. House election in Illinois, 2000
- 2004 Democratic National Convention
- U.S. Senate election in Illinois, 2004
- U.S. Senate career
- 2008 presidential primary campaign
- Obama–Biden 2008
- Electoral history
- Political positions (Economic, Social, Energy, Foreign/Administration foreign policy)
- Nobel Peace Prize
- 2012 presidential re-election campaign
- West Wing Week
Presidency - Transition
- Inauguration
- Timeline: 2009, 2010, 2011
- Judiciary (Supreme Court candidates)
- Foreign policy (Obama Doctrine)
- First 100 days
- Health care reform
- Presidential trips (2009, 2010, 2011)
- People pardoned
- Death of Osama bin Laden
Books Speeches - "The Audacity of Hope" (2004)
- "A More Perfect Union" (2008)
- "Change Has Come to America" (2008)
- "A New Birth of Freedom" (2009)
- Joint session of Congress (February 2009)
- "A New Beginning" (2009)
- Joint session of Congress (health care reform) (September 2009)
- State of the Union (2010)
- Barack Obama Tucson memorial speech (2011)
- State of the Union (2011)
- Joint session of Congress (jobs) (2011)
Family - Michelle Obama (spouse)
- Stanley Ann Dunham (mother)
- Barack Obama, Sr. (father)
- Lolo Soetoro (stepfather)
- Maya Soetoro-Ng (half-sister)
- Stanley Armour Dunham (grandfather)
- Madelyn Payne Dunham (grandmother)
- Marian Shields Robinson (mother-in-law)
- Craig Robinson (brother-in-law)
- Bo (family dog)
Categories:- 2007 songs
- Barack Obama
- Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008
- Internet memes
- Political satire films
- United States presidential election, 2008 in popular culture
- YouTube videos
- Viral videos
- Songs written by Leah Kauffman
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