Viral Marketing: The Highs And Lows Of 2011's General Election

All of the major parties attempted to use viral marketing to sway voters, from party leader's recording videos, to Fine Gael releasing a flash game and Fine Gael e-Valentines.

Added to this, several of the individual candidates created personal videos, with some being more creative than others. So, did this give them a boost?

1) Mannix Flynn 

Running as a "New Independent" in Dublin South East, Mannix revived the "Dub Rap" from the 80's during this interview, which promptly spread across the net. Despite being on of the most viewed videos of the campaign, it did little for Flynn, who was eliminated on the second count.

2) Dylan Haskins

Also running in Dublin South East, Dylan Haskins placed a lot of importance on internet campaigning, with a active blog, and Facebook and Twitter accounts. His video urged people to get behind him and support his campaign, but it failed to achieve this, as Haskins was eliminated from the election after the forth count.

3) Michael Dolan 

A country song, called Dolan For The Dail attempted to support Michael J Dolan's campaign to be elected for Fianna Fáil. The song attempts to promote Dolan as a new option, but it didn't work. He fell early in the race, being cut after the forth count.


4) Michael Conaghan 

Not technically a video, but still one of the more unusual attempts at promoting a candidate. Created for Michael Conaghan, running in Dublin South Central, the song is a remake of Horse Outside by the Rubberbandits, called Rest Outside. Not long after the song hit the web, the Rubberbandits slammed the effort, and insisted that they in no way supported the candidate, or were asked permission for the use of the song.

Despite the controversy, Michael Conaghan was still easily elected, picking up over 10% of the first preferences.

5) John Dillon

Also taking the form of a country flavoured song, Independent John Dillion recieved support in the form of "Dillon's Gonna Win". Despite the optimistic name of the song, Dillon didn't win, coming in fifth in the three seater constituency. 

6) Martin Heydon 

Possibly the most bizarre of all the videos to surface during the campaign was for Martin Heydon. Running for Fine Gael, in Kildare South. An overtly apocalyptic assessment of Ireland's state, it takes huge swipes at Fianna Fáil's record, and references Superman, Johnny Cash and the Terminator.  

While it's impossible to tell if the video helped Martin Heydon's campaign, it certainly didn't hinder him. Heydon topped the poll and was elected on the first count, taking a third of the votes.