From Dolphin Costumes to Deepfakes: 20 Years of Campaigning in the Digital Age
Campaigns still chase clicks, but now they also worry whether their ads will even run or whether AI spoofs will upend their strategy.
In 2004, a microsite called FlipperCam was built, featuring interns dressed in dolphin costumes chasing John Kerry around, branding him a “flip-flopper.”
- The tools used: HTML, Windows Movie Maker and a $30,000-a-month streaming server.
The mission was to upload videos and shape the public narrative of a presidential candidate.
Two decades later, the incentives remain the same: grab attention, shape perception and win the story before someone else does.
The difference now is that powerful social media platforms are turning into artificial intelligence companies, with higher stakes and both dazzling and potentially dangerous tools available to campaigns.
Author's summary: Campaigning in the digital age has evolved significantly over 20 years.
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