No On 8 To Air YouTube Clips

Via press release:

In a first for an American political campaign, the NO on Prop 8 campaign will pay to air two spots that were originally produced and uploaded to YouTube by supporters completely independent of the campaign.

"We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of talent and creativity that has just exploded on the Internet," said Patrick Guerriero, NO on 8 campaign director. "People just can't believe how unfair and wrong this initiative is and they're creating innovative Web-based viral spots to get the word out to vote NO on Prop 8. We thank everyone who has put their talent and time in spreading the word about the importance of opposing Prop 8."

The independently produced spots have been a huge hit on the Web. There have been more than 3 million views of videos that appear on the campaign's YouTube channel. Several spots in the channel have been ranked as "#1 Most Viewed" and "#1 Most Discussed" in the Nonprofits and Activism Category. The channel has consistently been ranked in the top 100 Most Watched Channels.

"The power of all of these YouTube videos is that they represent a chorus of voices, a community of people who may never have met or spoken but share the same passion that discrimination is wrong. They have immediate credibility," said Chris Maliwat, the campaign's web strategy director.

Late last week, the NO on Prop 8 campaign approached the producers of two of the spots and asked them to pare down their Web videos into 30-second commercials. The ads, entitled "Constitution" and "Moms," will begin running statewide tomorrow. During the summer, in a completely organic and grassroots fashion, people independently produced their own messages and uploaded to YouTube.

Here are the two clips, both of which I've posted in longer form in recent weeks.

RELATED: Rex Wockner called for this move earlier in the month.