Obama – McCain JibJab

The gang at JibJab have released a new animation, Time for Some Campaignin‘:

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

“Like the change we must change and the change we hold dear. I really like change, have I made myself clear?” is probably the best line.

UPDATENewsweek‘s Samantha Henig has an interesting interview with JibJab founders Gregg and Evan Spiridellis.

Do you consider the site nonpartisan?
Yeah, absolutely. When we produce political content, we’ll literally sit down and count the gags to make sure they’re even-handed. My brother and I have no political agenda other than to try to make everybody laugh. Personally, I don’t like one-sided, partisan comedy because it’s too easy to make fun of just one side. It’s more fun if you can find the consistent threads and themes that cut across both ways and make fun of that instead.

So you have no interest in influencing voters?
In the 2004 election people said, “How do you feel that your video had maybe impacted the way people voted?” and the answer was “Terrified.” If our videos are informing the way people are voting, then they should turn off the Internet and pick up NEWSWEEK.

But given that you know that you have this audience watching your videos, do you feel some obligation to use that as a way to get information out?
No, that’s not our mission at all. Our mission is to make people laugh. Where I do feel responsibility is to make sure there is no political message—that it stays 100 percent about the fun and the absurdity. The responsibility is not to inform. In my mind there are lots of other sources for information.

Much more at the link.

FILED UNDER: Uncategorized, , ,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.