Frank Strategies: The Blog

When Online Video Goes Horribly Wrong

Behold the already-infamous and unintentionally funny “Demon Sheep” video, which was released yesterday afternoon by Carly Fiorina’s Senate campaign in California:

There’s so much wrong with this video, it’s hard to know where to begin. From a strictly political standpoint, the sarcastic, even sneering and disrespectful tone is completely off key. It’s also a mistake to show your own candidate at the end of the video after three minutes of over-the-top attacks on one of your opponents.

From a video standpoint, at nearly three and a half minutes, it’s far too long to be effective – at least in the way the Fiorina campaign wants. Even worse, the campaign seems to compare fiscal conservatives – the target audience – to a herd of sheep – even including a voiceover of “… men we admire, aspire to be…” as b-roll of sheep is shown on the screen in the opening seconds. And then there’s the demon-eyed wolf in sheep’s clothing, portrayed by some hapless guy who crawls around a field on all fours.

Now don’t get me wrong – online video can be extremely effective at undermining your political opponents. I just think it works best when it (a) exposes your opponent’s flaws in a more understated or neutral way, or (b) lampoons him in a more humorous, light-hearted way. As opposed to long, dark over-the-top negative attacks. That tone just doesn’t seem to fit YouTube very well. Then again, this Demon Sheep video doesn’t really fit in very well anywhere.

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