By Ken Liebeskind

MINNEAPOLIS --

Most of the established presidential candidates have run videos on their websites and at YouTube to announce their candidacies. Now comes competition from a 10-year-old girl, a single issue candidate whose videos have also run as TV ads on CNN and CNN Headline News.
    Susie Flynn is actually a fictitious 10-year-old created by Fallon/Minneapolis, the agency behind the campaign from the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), whose goal is to promote children’s health insurance. In the videos, Susie bemoans the fact that nine million American children are uninsured and claims she is running for president in support of the issue.
    Citizens can “vote” for her by signing a petition at ElectSusie.com in support of children without insurance.
    “The objective was to create intrigue around her and her cause,” said Simon Roseblade, a Fallon copywriter. “We wanted it to grow organically, so we started it off online.” The campaign began in February with videos playing at YouTube and a new one added each week. The TV spots started April 2.
    The videos were shot in Washington D.C. near the White House, the Lincoln Memorial and on the streets in front of a motorcade during the State of the Union address. “We produced a wealth of footage,” said Fallon’s producer Michael Aaron. “We did one shoot for a couple of days and ended up with several hours of footage. We’re editing the spots now and have run eight videos so far.”
    The spots show Susie discussing the insurance issue in the nation’s capital, the perfect place for discussing a political issue and announcing a bid for the presidency.
    Susie was found at a casting call in Minnesota that was conducted at schools. “We weren’t looking for a professional actor, we wanted a normal girl with genuine excitement,” Aaron said.
    The spots were directed by Barbara Kopple for Nonfiction Spots/bicoastal. Kopple is the Academy Award-winning producer and director of Harlan County USA and American Dream. “There was a lot of excitement on Barbara’s end,” Aaron said. “She identified with the cause and was passionate about it.” Kopple shot the spots in documentary style with a Panasonic HVX200 camera.
    The spots played online before they aired on TV, and ElectSusie pages were created at Facebook and MySpace.
    The video and Internet campaign will promote “grass roots organizing,” according to Nayyera Haq, a CDF spokesperson. She said the organization hopes to collect nine million signatures that will be used to support The All Healthy Children Act, a bill recently introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA).

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