Well known (and previously mentioned) street artist, Obey/Shepard Fairey, has made a recent endorsement of Barack Obama - and has done so in a quite intriguing way. He created 350 limited edition screen-printed posters (image above), to be sold to fund a larger street poster campaign. The profits are being used to produce stickers and large posters that will be sent to those who are willing to throw down for Obama in the streets. See communication from the Obey team below:
"Thanks for reaching out and wanting to get involved with OBEY's effort to support the OBAMA Campaign. Shepard made this image for the purpose of making pasters to be put on the street, with the money coming from prints sales to help fund the effort. For those interested, we will be sending out a care-package of the OBAMA Paster plus some OBEY stickers to be put up on the street. These pasters will be folded, not tubed, and are STRICTLY for street use. We do not expect to see them for sale on EBAY or anywhere else, so we ask that only the seriously dedicated get involved!"
There will also be non-partisan posters pushing everyone to vote:
Remember, Obey is the guy who over the past 10-15 years has decorated most major U.S. cities with the iconic Andre the Giant imagery:
Look familiar?
Honestly, I see this as a significant endorsement because street artists, in general, tend to be anti-helping-the-man. They are known for being anti-this and anti-that, but rarely, if ever do we see them promoting a politician, or a presidential candidate for that matter. Not to mention Obey has quite the following. Equally, if not more significant, is that the Obama camp appears to be embracing the endorsement.
Wonder if we will end up seeing any of these posters around?
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Taking It To The Streets: Obey Endorses Obama
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2 comments:
Fairey is very brand and PR savvy and as you know has given talks on incorporating street art into the fabric of big brands. You don't think that Obama's people are working with him on this then?
Cynical perhaps but this in America where people aren't as politically motivated on a street level as those in say, Serbia.
i doubt even Obama's peeps know who Fairey is...but even if they were orchestrating, it seems like a savvy move and shows that the camp has insight into youth bases (certainly more than the typical politico tossing around terms like "bling bling" in their meet and greets, like this man of the people http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXGMi7a53jA&feature=related)
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