Amber Lee Ettinger

One of the most obvious cases of this in recent years came in 2007 when the popular YouTube channel BarelyPolitical debuted their Obama Girl character. The channel’s first viral hit, an original music video called “I Got a Crush on Obama,” comedically told the story of a woman who was attracted to the then presidential candidate not only because she found him to be good looking, but also because she agreed with his politics. Lyrics such as “You’re into border security/let’s break this border between you and me” commented on his physical attributes. Other lines from the song, such as “Universal health care reform/it makes me warm,” indicated Obama Girl’s support of Obama’s political ambitions. The viral video, which starred actress Amber Lee Ettinger as Obama Girl, achieved considerable success and cultural impact. As of December 2016, 26.9 million people have seen the video on YouTube. After the successful introduction of Ettinger’s Obama Girl, NBC’s famed television series “Saturday Night Love” invited her to perform in a small cameo role. The video even caught the attention of the Obamas themselves. In an interview with the New York Times, Michelle and Barack Obama admitted that “Crush On Obama” was the source of some awkward and uncomfortable conversations with their then preteen daughters. “I guess it’s too much to ask, but you do wish people would think about what impact their actions have on kids and families,” Obama told the famed newspaper. This past election cycle…