the buzz log
The Satirical Side of Politics
The resurgence of political song and satire, that's what. While tech pundits—and most recently the Associated Press—like to call citizen-created ads and viral videos a "new form of campaigning," political creativity has existed as long as government—and almost certainly before.
In the pro-Obama camp, two videos gathering search momentum are "Barackula" and "The Empire Strikes Barack." The first goes back to Obama's Harvard days and explores his fledgling fight against vampiric bloodsuckers through song and dance. Blaxploitation allusions aside, the Harvard students' riff is catchier than it is subtle, although the girlfriend twist casts an interesting light on Michelle Obama.
The "Empire" mashup is even less subtle (casting Clinton as Darth Vader), and will probably be destroyed by the jedis of jurisprudence before more men between the ages of 35 and 54 can seek it out.
Searches for satirical Clinton clips aren't as plentiful. (And really, it's hard to rhyme with Clinton, or Hillary, for that matter. Pillory? Conciliatory?) Video-related Clinton searches have focused on "tina fey hillary clinton" and "hillary clinton snl," ever since the SNL alum lauded the candidate's, er, strong female attitude back in February. The latest "saturday night live hillary clinton" resurgence, though, revolves around backpedaling worthy of a superdelegate.
The most viral video of all, though, may soon belong to Clinton, herself. She recently sent out a thank-you to fundraisers that some have read as her farewell aria. Regardless, however the race shakes out, there will be a song to sing and a video to go along with it.
Viral Video, Meet Your Candidate
If the run for the White House were determined by "video" and "ad" searches alone, we'd soon be singing "Hail to the Chief" to Barack Obama. Though most of the presidential candidates have forked over hefty sums to flood the airwaves with campaign commercials, the Democratic senator from Illinois has emerged as the frontrunner in generating buzz for his ads online.
Thanks to a slew of musicians and other celebrities, Obama's "Yes We Can" spot has roused searchers. Taking the dip into limited Super Bowl advertising seems to have paid off for the Midwest politician, too. Queries for "obama super bowl ad" spiked over the past day. Interest in "obama girl," an unofficial—and months-old—clip, also rose.
Meanwhile, a growing coterie of Obama supporters has driven search traffic to Yahoo! News. Interest in "caroline kennedy endorses obama ad," "ted kennedy endorses obama ad," and "michelle obama video" have all picked up. As for the Democratic senator from New York, the viral video scene doesn't look so hot. The only "video" or "ad"-related query buzzing for Hillary Clinton is "clinton obama debate video." Ouch.
Mitt Romney hasn't drawn as much "ad" buzz as Obama, but he leads the Republican pack. Interest in "mitt romney ad" and "maine caucus romney ad" continues to attract searchers on Yahoo! News. John McCain has seen an uptick in "mccain ad."
Finally, though Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul have enjoyed strong turnouts on the Web—Huckabee sparked attention in December for his Christmas commercial and Paul's supporters are astonishingly active in Search—neither politician has logged any "video" or "ad" queries in Buzz in weeks. Of course, in politics as well as viral webfare, anything could change in a moment's notice. So don't start humming "Hail to the Chief" just yet.
The Top Three Super Commercials
The day after the Super Bowl is the true test for the effectiveness of Super Bowl advertising. Folks gab about what they saw, forward cool ads to friends, and dissect the quality of the commercial content. Football, schmootball. The real Monday-morning quarterbacks are the amateur ad analysts scouring the Web for their favorite spots.
The commercial grabbing the most buzz on Monday was also widely considered to be the best ad. The Blockbuster spot featuring two rodents and a computer mouse generated the most searches with "blockbuster commercial" and "blockbuster super bowl commercial" leading the way.
Munching hot on the heels of the Blockbuster blurbs were the consumer-generated commercials from Doritos. Searches on "doritos commercial" and "doritos super bowl commercial" added to the buzz created by this unique campaign.
Bringing home the bronze in buzz was tried and true Budweiser. With seven different Bud ads to choose from, curious searchers had plenty to look for. Searches on "funny budweiser commercials" and "budweiser super bowl commercials" both proved popular on the day after the game
And it wouldn't be a Super Bowl without super ad controversy. The Snickers spot featuring an inadvertent kiss between two men caused a stir in searches on "snickers commercial," "snickers," and "snickers super bowl." Many found the commercial offensive, and Snickers has quashed the entire campaign. Which means one thing—more searches for Snickers as curious folks seek out the now-cancelled spot.
Other commercial searches staking a claim the day after the game included: "kevin federline commercial," "go daddy commercial," "oprah letterman commercial," and "fedex super bowl commercial." While this year's batch of ads was widely panned, Buzz shows the right Super Bowl commercial can generate tons of searches.
Filed under: TV, Super Bowl, Ads
Ad Buzz Builds
Commercials are one reason TiVo was invented. But for every Satan-scribed "Guys Night Out" anthem, there exists an ad that's neither evil nor annoying. One that's worth watching, even searching for, because, gasp, it's entertaining.
We plopped ourselves down on the ol' futon for a look at the Buzz's top commercial searches. The creepy Burger King, whose inability or unwillingness to speak reminds us of Jason from Friday the 13th, is eerily popular. Other favorites include "nextel commercials," "bud light commercials," and "psp commercials," especially those involving a nut-obsessed squirrel.
Before Super Bowl ads blitz the Buzz on Sunday, we thought you'd enjoy a look at which 30-second spots are resonating in Search. While we don't exactly agree that "sprint commercials" are worth watching online, your apparent lack of interest in the Fanta girls helped to restore our faith.
Filed under: Super Bowl, Ads
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oddest Jobs | Breakout! |
| 2 | Vivienne Marcheline And Knox Leon | Breakout! |
| 3 | Shwayze Song | Breakout! |
| 4 | Cell Phone Etiquette | Breakout! |
| 5 | Your Home Page | 17280% |
| 6 | W Magazine | 8647% |
| 7 | Christie Brinkley | 8361% |
| 8 | Selma Blair | 5953% |
| 9 | Nashville Star | 2758% |
| 10 | Neiman Marcus Christmas Book | 1365% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leryn Franco | +244 | 456 |
| 2 | Holly Madison | +288 | 351 |
| 3 | Halloween Costumes | -17 | 222 |
| 4 | Hi-5 | +8 | 220 |
| 5 | Kellie Pickler | +101 | 200 |
| 6 | Jamie Lynn Spears | +80 | 180 |
| 7 | NFL | +0 | 136 |
| 8 | Barack Obama | -1 | 119 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
For more detailed information, visit our FAQ.