Visible Measures Blog

Over the course of this election season, we've provided a weekly look at the Top 10 presidential ads in online video in partnership with the Wall Street Journal. Now that the 2012 election is just six days away, we wanted to take a step back and provide a broader view of online video trends for the candidates.

It's been a busy month for the 2012 Presidential candidates -- Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have faced off three times in national debates. The third and final debate wrapped up Monday and the two candidates are now in their final pushes towards the November 6 elections. As we look back to the debates, there were many controversial moments in the debate, but of course, we were interested in seeing which moments resonated most with video viewers online.   

On this week's WSJ Presidential Ads Chart, the anti-Romney Big Bird spot dominates, coming in at number one with over 3 million views. Big Bird by the Obama team takes advantage of Romney's comments made during the first presidential debate, when he said that he would cut funding to PBS. The ad was likely fueled along by Sesame Street's request that the ad be taken down. There are more than 30 copies and derivatives of the original clip, a sign of virality. 

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) released an anti-Romney spot featuring workers who collect trash and perform other public works in La Jolla, California, where Romney lived. Meet the People Who Make America Happen topped this week's chart with over 1.6 million views. The spot ends with "Meet the people who make America happen. Mitt Romney doesn't care about them."

Yesterday, Team Obama launched its newest ad campaign online. Called Big Bird, the campaign pokes fun at Mitt Romney's comments during the first presidential debate about shutting down PBS if elected and putting the big yellow bird out of work. The Big Bird ad has taken the media by storm, shifting the national conversation from Obama's debate performance to the yellow-feathered ad. The biggest question now is whether or not using a lovable children's character as one of the campaign's main talking points is good strategy. Detractors and proponents of the ad have made their arguments, but online audiences have already provided an answer.

Coming in at the top of the WSJ Presidential Ads Chart this week is comedian Sarah Silverman's PSA with super PAC Jewish Council for Education & Research. Let My People Vote gains more than one million views this week. The video slams voter-ID rules with colorful language typical of Sarah Silverman's comedic routines. The video's view count grew organically, but was boosted by placements on MoveOn.org, Huffington Post, and was also widely shared in social media. 

Last night, Mother Jones leaked secret footage of GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney from a private fundraising event earlier this year. In the video, Romney reveals what he thinks of President Obama's supporters, and the 47% of Americans who will supposededly vote for Obama. 

For the past two Fridays, we looked at the preliminary results of both the RNC and the DNC. Today, we want to look at the final results of these conventions to see who ultimately won the votes of online video audiences. The data is through the Monday morning after the convention, allowing audiences enough time to catch up on watching the speeches online. While people are still watching the convention speeches online, the data has stabalized at this point.

On this week's WSJ Presidential Chart, an ad by the conservative political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity comes in on top. Has Obama Earned Your Vote? debuted earlier this month, airing on TV in battleground states, but it makes a first appearance on the chart this week, thanks a healthy dose of paid media. The ad features voters disillusioned by President Obama, declaring that they won't vote for Obama again in this coming election. 

On this week's WSJ Presidential Ads Chart, Mitt Romney's VP pick Paul Ryan stands at the center of attention. The top ad of the week is Obama's Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan: Back to the Failed Top-Down Policies, which generated over 875,000 views, doubling last week's view count. In second place is Romney's America's Comeback Team, which uses footage from Ryan's Norfolk, VA vice presidential nomination speech. The spot generated over 780,000 views this week, with help from paid media.