Guerilla Marketing: Obama and Shepard Fairey

Most of the time, political ads, posters, and propaganda can be quite boring, however, when a country is about to embark on a historic election and change needs to happen, the situation calls for drastic measures. Obama’s message was spread far and wide with a variety of never-been-used-before techniques. Obama reached groups of voters who have never voted in their lives before; the reason is that through his guerilla marketing  tactics, Obama ensured his message was the most contemporary and most visible.

Shephard Fairey is a street artist widely known for his Andre the giant stickers. He has earned acclaim and fame for his unconventional art. Independently, he created an Obama portrait that had the words ‘hope,’ emblazoned on it; to date, this portrait has earned wide praise. He officially designed two other images, dubbed ‘Vote’ and ‘Change.’ These two images and the items they are placed on have certainly contributed  to the election of Obama as President-elect of the United States.

Once becoming officially involved in the campaign, Shephard Fairey produced and distributed an astounding number of his posters and stickers. With over 300,000 stickers and more than 500,000 posters sold, he has assured his reach is long. Obama’s marketing ingenuity grabbed hold of the electorate in ways a campaign never has.


Shepard Fairey says his idea for the posters was “…strong. I wanted wise, but not intimidating.” The posters certainly evoke the emotions one would expect given the circumstances. The United States is in financial turmoil, has corruption at every level, and has strayed from the “American dream,” yet we are ready to overcome oppression and discrimination to elect our first African-American president. In Obama, we see what we hope for our futures; these posters certainly reflect that feeling.

Finding something to believe in from this campaign is not hard at all. Literally everywhere one looks, Obama’s message has blazed a furious trail to let Americans know not to give up, not to give in. The Shephard Fairey posters and paraphernalia have helped to cause Obama’s message to reverberate through America. No longer will we let the country settle into despair, but we will rise up with ‘hope,’ as the posters say. A new dawn is upon the United States; it’s the dawn of the Obama era.