Today my campaign committee to elect Ed Lee, San Franciscans for Jobs and Good Government, released a viral video rolling out tech and San Francisco celebrities in a remake of Hammer's "2 Legit 2 Quit" video. The video features cameos by San Francisco Giants pitcher Brian Wilson, NFL Hall-of-Famer Ronnie Lott, will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, 49ers owner Jed York, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, Marissa Mayer of Google, Hunter Walk of youtube, and Hammer himself. Many of the celebrities are also wearing the "Fear the Mustache" T-shirt that our campaign designed
This is an innovative campaign tactic that applies our knowledge and relationships in the tech world to politics. Campaigns always announce endorsements but this is a completely new way to do it and is an innovative and inexpensive way to cut through the clutter of tired old negative TV ads.
Since so many people are not reached through traditional methods such as phones, TV ads, and mailers -- particularly in a mobile community like San Francisco -- this is a great way to reach people through social media. We hope it creates a buzz that encourages people to learn about and vote for Ed Lee, a mayor who has been terrific for job creation and the tech community.
The video was announced this morning through tweets by Brian Wilson and Hammer with the hash tag #fearthestache and was created by Portal A and Ashkon -- the production team and performer who teamed up for last year's viral video hit for the San Francisco Giants, "Don't Stop Believing."
Ed Lee has always been a "cool" guy. This video fits him perfectly.