Politicos, Cartoons, And The Web

Wired Magazine takes a look at the use of animation in politics this week. It’s not a bad article, but you can tell it’s written by a guy that doesn’t spend much time tracking this stuff.

Animated political ads got their start in 2004 when JibJab hit it big with a parody called This Land starring presidential candidates John Kerry and George W. Bush.

Actually, Steve, political campaigns and groups fighting political battles have been using animation to make their point for years. the League of Conservation Voters had a great ad titled Bear Votes going back into 1999-2000. Patrick Ruffini had been doing flash animations at the RNC back in the ’02 cycle. On the Democrat side, a company called Free Range Graphics was doing a huge amount of political work for groups like Amnesty International in the late 90s.

To suggest that nobody had used animation in politics before 2004 makes you look stupid, Steve. Maybe you should do some research before you write. You remember research, right? It’s that mundane detail that separates journalists from two-bit hacks.

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