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Faux Presidential Hopeful Ray Hopewood Goes Viral
Ray Hopewood is the latest presidential hopeful to make waves online. With the slogan "The Technology to be President" and campaign profiles on Facebook, MySpace, and Flickr, the bumbling Hopewood is spreading the message that "larger is better" and the ideal that lots of money can buy you anything ... even the presidency. Luckily for the American people, there's no real threat of Hopewood taking office. He's a fictional character created as a viral marketing initiative for software company BigFix.
A similar campaign, which featured a smarmy software salesman in place of the politician, created a big boost in website visits (400,000+) for BigFix last year. As a result, viral marketing is something the small company has come to depend upon to "cut through the clutter" in their space.
BigFix plans to continue the Hopewood spoof campaign through the 2008 elections, and is working to keep real world issues current in the campaign. Hopewood will eventually select a running mate, and BigFix indicated that, just as real presidential hopefuls face scandals along the campaign trail, so will Hopewood. Fans of the campaign, who can "friend" Hopewood on a variety of social networking sites, can also purchase campaign merchandise, including "presidential briefing" underwear and a "campaign trail thong."
Learn more (The New York Times)
Learn more (Ray Hopewood Website)