A message came to my inbox this morning from a friend:
"This is upsetting, thought I should pass it along. Check your driver's license... Now you can see anyone's Drivers License on the Internet, including your own! I just searched for mine and there it was... Picture and all! Thanks Homeland Security! Privacy, where is our right to it? I definitely removed mine; I suggest you all do the same.... Go to the website and check it out. Just enter your name, City and State to see if yours is on file.
After your license comes on the screen, click the box marked "Please Remove." This will remove it from public viewing, but not from law enforcement. http://www.license.shorturl.com/
This is a fairly sophisticated viral marketing product which circulates the net now as the election nears. Republican candidates should benefit from this type of viral marketing in two ways:
* Concerns about erosions of civil liberties are mocked
* We are reminded that gasoline prices are going down
Viral marketing efforts leverage emails that are intended to be forwarded throughout informal networks of friends and family. They carry the message in such a subtle way that the propaganda effect is not even noticed.
In the 2004 election cycle a viral marketing campaign featured an animated musical cartoon that ostensibly mocked both Bush and Kerry. It was soo "cute", I got it sent to me a few times. However, it was bullshit 'cause while the digs at Kerry came straight from Rove, the Bush caricature was just doofy. Like, the cartoon Kerry had a Swift Boat adventure, flip-floped and was a gold digger for Heinz $$, Bush got off easy. Cartoon Bush stuggled with the pronunciation of nukular, was a hick, and missed as he launched rockets at Osama. All to silly music.
Or another one: Sometimes emails come from someone who knows someone in Iraq who has written them about how well things are going there and how our boys are being let down by the liberal media that only covers bad news. These may include vignettes about tough US officers, courageous Iraqis, brave young soldiers, or all of these. They invariabley conclude that we need to stay the course in Iraq, etc blah blah yada yada.
Who makes this stuff? How can we counter?