Interview: Ben Relles, Creator of 'I've Got A Crush On Obama'
Unless you’ve been living on another planet – or have an unnaturally healthy aversion to political news – you’ve already experienced the viral video sensation “I’ve Got A Crush On Obama. “
The brainchild of 32-year-old Agency.com executive Ben Relles, the video stars actress Amber Lee Ettinger as “Obama Girl,” who gyrates provocatively as she lip syncs to lyrics from Leah Kauffman and music from Rick Friedrich.
The video, posted on YouTube on Wednesday, June 13, was within hours the subject of reports from ABC News, MSNBC and Fox News. At this writing, the political spoof has been viewed 1.5 million times via YouTube, and countless other times on news programs.
It is not Relles' first foray into user-generated content. He and friends Kauffman and Friedrich first made waves last year with “My Box in a Box,” a spoof of the “My Junk In A Box”skits on Saturday Night Live.
But “Obama” is taking on a life of its own on both the wireline and wireless Net, as part of a new effort from Relles and friends called Barely Political.com, a new site set to feature homespun videos and other content about all things political.
If it becomes a factor in the 2008 presidential elections, Relles wouldn’t be bother a bit, much less surprised.
Rather, it’d be indicative of a new reality taking shape in online media.
I caught up with Relles for a Generation Wow interview to find out more.
(Approx. 10 min)
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Well, we all know the only reason that video is so successful is because "Obama Girl" is ridiculously good looking. I bet people have put that Youtube video to mobile millions of times already.
Posted by: Zippy Clippy | October 09, 2008 at 03:14 PM