Another video about the serious subject of consumer protection – the prequel to the Ron Howard video below. This is funny and an excellent example of the power of viral video. 2,570,056 views as of this writing.

Ron Howard teamed up with plastic reality fixture Heidi Montag to film a PSA for The Main Street Brigade. They are using humor to drum up support for the creation of an independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Effective?

Leading up to his inauguration then President Elect Obama was asked on more than a few occasions to comment on the economy and crisis on the Gaza Strip.  Most times he would say that “there can be only one President at a time” and abstain from interjecting what he thought the U.S. should do.

The Internet was a key element in President Obama’s campaign.  His team’s mastery of it to build grass roots support, communicate with his base and raise money was crucial to winning the Democratic Nomination and the Presidency.

So it was more than symbolic that at 12:01 on January 20, 2009 we had a new President and a brand new www.Whitehouse.gov.  It wasn’t just the President’s name on the site that changed, it was an entirely new site.  New architecture and functions that include up to the minute updates and information.  A site that includes video, a blog, slide shows, and text about what the president is doing and why.  Text from Obama’s first speech as President was posted shortly after he concluded.  There was a slide show of his first day in office.  Visitors can view the inauguration speech video and even download a higher quality version.  There will even be a weekly video address on the new site.

President Obama has said throughout the campaign that his administration would be “open and transparent”.  Just a minute into is presidency he proved that he meant what he said when his team posted the new site.

The importance President Obama placed on using the internet to craft his image and get his message out is something no business person should ignore.  After all, this is a man that raised hundreds of millions of dollars online and was able to use the web to bring his supporters together like no other.  President Obama has made the Internet an important part of his overall communication strategy.  Nothing reflected that more than the change we say at 12:01 on January 20, 2009.