Last night I searched Google for the term “Barack Hussein Obama,” and the top of the results page looked like this:
That’s an expensive ad placement, but I’m betting it’s quite effective. Even if they don’t click, people who are just now starting to pay attention to the election coverage(or are just now hearing the false rumors) are exposed to the other side of the story right there as they start to dig around on the web, in less than 20 words. What a smart use of well-placed ads to combat a whisper campaign.
Absolutely! It does not however show up for ‘obama’, ‘barack obama’, ‘obama muslim’. Wonder if that’s their search budget or if they just don’t have their campaign built out around those terms.
Very interesting…
Good question. My theory on that is that the term “Barack Hussein Obama” is a well-targeted one — most likely to be someone who is investigating the false rumor, since the “Hussein” is being thrown around as evidence that he’s Muslim. A lot of the articles/videos like to repeat “Barack Hussein Obama” again and again as a tactic.
Mr. Coustan, I certainly hope Mr. Obama’s strategy works. Hard to believe people really do think the rumors are true.
The other day, I was having lunch with an aunt from the Philippines. She said, “I don’t think he’ll win because America won’t vote for a Muslim.”
I couldn’t believe someone in my family actually believed the rumors. She followed with, “Yeah, that’s why he doesn’t where a flag pin. He was born in Indonesia. He’s a Muslim.”
I asked her where she heard such a thing. She said a Manila newspaper. Well, that made me feel a little bit better.
The Obama campaign has really revolutionized the way campaigns are run, don’t you think? Their Internet prowess trumps every other candidate.