Music is my Boyfriend

Perhaps you've seen the new iPod Touch commerical on TV. Who am I kidding? You've definently seen it; it airs on almost every station all the time. The reason why this ad is so successful is becuase of the catchy song it's paired with; "Music is my hot, hot sex" by Cansei de Ser Sexy (CSS). But what many do not know about this ad is that Apple employees did not come up with the idea.

About three months ago, Nick Haley, an ordinary student, created a 30 second video on his MacBook about the new iPod Touch and posted it on YouTube. He combined a catchy, non-mainstream song with clips taken from Apple's website and became a fan favorite overnight. But Haley's success didn't stop there.

A few ad executives from Apple got wind of this impressive video and decided to take a look for themselves. They were blown away. Haley was immediatley flown out to Los Angeles to edit his work, the ad was reshot in HD, and Haley got a huge pay-out from Apple.

Dylan Tweney, a blogger specializing in technology, sums up Haley's strategy perfectly: "the song has the perfect YouTube trifecta: pounding beat + accented female singer + constant references to sex. "

Who's got a crush on Obama?

I'm the first to admit that I'm not that politically inclined. I know some will get offended when I say this, but, I'm a little apathetic concerning political issues. Politics can be overwhelming and, for the most part, I choose to just stay out of it.

Well, that was what I used to think. I thought politicians were a bunch of old, white men pretending they care about the well being of others. Until I heard about a certain video called "I Got a Crush on Obama." It features a seductive girl dancing around to lyrics about Obama and his political views. Grabbing the attention of millions of people, the online video obviously raised many eyebrows, but it also earned respect for its politically informed messages. Posted by "Obamagirl", the video has been viewed over four million times on YouTube.

Due to the overwhelming political indifference of many of America's youth, organizations have been doing whatever they can in an attempt to grab the attention of eligible voters. Groups like Rock the Vote and MTV's Choose or Lose have made it a point to educate young Americans to research candidates and vote as informed citizens.

With public supporters like Leonardo DiCaprio, Madonna, P.Diddy, Rachel Bilson and Adam Brody, Rock the Vote has purposely shot photo shoots with the sole intention of catching young people's eye. While they are certainly not overly racy, bare midriff and mini-skirts are an effective way of getting a message across. Even if it is political.

As If

PETA is the largest animal rights organization in the world, at just over 1.8 million members. They proudly claim to “focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: on factory farms, in laboratories, in the clothing trade, and in the entertainment industry”. An acronym for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA “works through public education, cruelty investigations, research, animal rescue, legislation, special events, celebrity involvement, and protest campaigns."

In the past, PETA has been most publicly linked with their very public and very extreme “protest campaigns”, but lately, their new “public education” and “celebrity involvement” operations have been receiving much more attention.

We all know and love Alicia Silverstone from her ditzy role as Cher Horowitz in the nineties pop-culture flick, Clueless, but she has recently made a comeback. Appearing in a very racy ad for PETA, Silverstone’s blatantly nude body can be seen in major magazines and on select TV stations. In addition to the words, “I am Alicia Silverstone, and I am a vegetarian”, Silverstone’s slim poolside image hopes to attract more attention and, ultimately, more support. This approach seems to be working.

Another racy ad released by PETA features Australian singer and actress Sophie Monk completely exposed. “If you are going to take your clothes off for something,” Monk explains, “it better be a good cause.” Sprawled out on a bed of chilies, Monk’s bare body is accompanied by the words “Spice Up Your Life—Go Vegetarian” in and elegant and tasteful font. Go figure.

Call it distasteful. Call it offensive. But PETA’s new racy ads seem to be drawing more attention than any other campaigns before and there are no signs of it slowing down.