Humanitainment
Humanitainment is a new media company that produces socially oriented entertainment videos.
The Obamacles[edit]
Humanitainment first gained visibility with The Obamacles, a unique viral campaign for Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election. The campaign generated millions of views, 5 No. 1 viral videos and extensive media coverage.
In the heat of the race for the Democratic nomination, Humanitainment released Baracky: The Movie just prior to the Pennsylvania Primary.
Starring Barack Obama as the hero Baracky and Hillary Clinton as his opponent, Baracky: The Movie features a combination of footage from Rocky (with the characters’ heads replaced by the heads of characters from the campaign), news soundbytes and other graphic elements. Incredibly, the video cleverly captures the issues and events of the election race with a mixture of humor, drama and inspiration.
Baracky: The Movie became an instant viral hit and was widely covered by the mainstream media before being removed from YouTube due to a claim of copyright infringement by MGM. (The creators maintain the exploitation was proper within the “fair use” exemption under copyright law.)
Humanitainment continued its viral campaign with The Empire Strikes Barack which achieved even greater success. Baracky II and SuperBarack followed.
Fighting The Smears[edit]
In response to the rash of smears against Obama (particularly that his middle name is Hussein), Humanitainment released The Name Game, a clever send-up that juxtaposed other famous people with the dictators whose names they share.
John McCain[edit]
Once John McCain became the Republican nominee, Humanitainment released The Commander in Chief Test which used the familiar silhouetted faces from The Electric Company to assess McCain’s qualifications for the job.
It was followed by My Friends: The Musical, a dance-inspired video that used McCain’s favorite phrase to examine McCain’s associates and his voting record.
Media coverage[edit]
Humanitainment’s 2008 election campaign was featured in Entertainment Weekly, Time, Newsweek, Variety, The Huffington Post and on CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, G4, and Inside Edition.
There is also an interview with the creators on Citizen Tube, YouTube's political blog.
References[edit]
- Romano, A., "Obama to 'Eat Lightnin' and Crap Thunder' in Pennsylvania Primary?", Newsweek (April 16, 2008).
- McMillan, D., "Humanitainment's Michael Fox: The Citizen Tube Interview", CitizenTube (July 31, 2008).
- Douglas, N., "The 12 Internet Memes That Took Obama To The Nomination", Gawker (May 8, 2008).
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