You're probably already sick of political ads by now, what with the presidential election less than six weeks away, but a group of Barack Obama supporters are banking on the fact a new unorthodox spot they're releasing — starring Samuel L. Jackson and jarringly titled "Wake the F*** Up" — will get your attention.
(Check out an exclusive preview of the video, only on Yahoo!, above. And, yes, we are aware that this is a partisan video. When a clever pro-Romney video surfaces next, we promise to feature it on Yahoo! as well.)
The three-minute, 30-second ad, sponsored by the Jewish Council for Education and Research, is a play on the reading Jackson did last year of the satirical "children's book" Go the F*** to Sleep, which quickly went viral.
Adam Mansbach, who wrote the book, also penned the script for the video (set to dramatic, kid-action-filmesque music), which follows a young girl as she goes from room to room of her house, attempting to reenergize her jaded family into taking part in the Obama campaign this time around like they did four years ago. Though Jackson wasn't signed on to star in the spot when Mansbach wrote the dialogue, he did revise it for the movie star, a task he calls "great fun." "Knowing that an actor of Sam's caliber is going to be performing your words is a real thrill," notes Mansbach, who's also authored multiple novels.
As the girl in the video tries to engage her computer-gazing older brother, her snoozing-by-the-TV parents, her Facebook-obsessed teen sister, and even her senior-citizen grandparents, who are busy, er, getting romantic, Jackson pops up in every scene with plenty of rhyming zingers. An example: "Sorry my friend, but there's no time to snore/an out-of-touch millionaire has just declared war/on schools, the environment, unions, fair pay/ We're all on our own if Romney has his way/And he's against safety nets. If you fall, tough luck/ So I strongly suggest that you wake the f*** up."
At the end, the video states that the message was not approved or authorized by any candidate (the group behind the ad did not reach out to the Obama camp regarding the video) and encourages viewers not just to vote for Obama, but also to "Canvass. Phone. Donate."
"My hopes are that the video helps … remind people of Obama's accomplishments and the stakes of this election, and galvanize people to get out and get active," Mansbach adds. "Not just to vote, but to volunteer and organize."
As for whether the spot will get any backlash, Mansbach is counting on it. "There's always a backlash. To everything. And a backlash to the backlash."
Get more info at www.wtfu2012.com.
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