Commentary

A Picture Worth A Thousand Words, Er, Cheers

by Joe Mandese @mp_joemandese, August 25, 2023

That's what a new Lincoln Project spot seems to show the moment the twice-impeached former president's mug shot flashed on CNN on a large screen in a crowded bar. Turns out it was a fake video utilizing a 2016 video of crowds reacting to a British soccer victory.

While there no doubt were actual cheers and boos in contrast in other bars in other parts of this acutely divided nation, Lincoln's mashup spot seemed to capture the moment.

Another well-time ad was a political fund-raising email sent by the Biden Harris campaign, especially its "Apropos of nothing" headline, which dropped the moment the mug shot appeared on screens across America.

Editor'snote: This column was updated from an earlier version thanks to comments from readers.

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4 comments about "A Picture Worth A Thousand Words, Er, Cheers".

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Kevin Killion from Stone House Systems, Inc., August 25, 2023 at 1:32 p.m.
Sorry to crush your glee, Lincoln Project and Joe Mandese. The video is fans at Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol, celebrate England winner against Wales at Euro 2016. Here is the original video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvmmkx1dtmA
Reply

Joe Mandese from MediaPost Inc., August 25, 2023 at 2:16 p.m.

@Kevin Killion: Even better! Thank you for setting the record straight.

Scott Robertson from Ampersand, August 25, 2023 at 2:54 p.m.

While we imagine that people would react like that to Trump's mug shot, the reality is, that it is not that big a deal...4th indictment, 1st mug shot. People are passionate about Sports, about this type of thing, not so much.

I showed the video to my son. He (like Kevin's note above) said that is was from a soccer game and that it has been used many times to show extreme crowd reaction. The Trump mug shot is just the latest.

Dan Ciccone from STACKED Entertainment replied, August 25, 2023 at 4:38 p.m.

@Joe Mandese -it was just a few months ago that you had a commentary condeming the "deepfake video" the RNC created "Nightmare in America." In fact, you referred to the ad and the way it was created as "dangerous" due to the way "the republicans" were using the technology...even though you actually mislabeled the video as a deepfake as it certainly is not.

https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/384736/rnc-uses-100-ai-dystopian-ad-to-attack-biden.html

Yet here you are promoting the brilliance of a fake video from the Lincoln Project with its sole objective to make it seem like people celebrated Trump's arrest when all they did was fake this video?

For a publication that is supposed to report on the media at large, the complete loss of objectivity is astounding when it supports your political leanings.