November 4, 2008; 08:52 AM
NORFOLK, VA, November 02, 2008 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Penguin
Search Engine Services, Inc. (Penguin SES), a Norfolk, Va.-based domain
name investment and development company today announced the acquisition
of one of its domains, http://www.WhyIVoteDemocrat.com, by the
VerticalBlu Film Company (VerticalBlu). VerticalBlu will use the domain
name to help promote two of its recent, short, election-oriented films
and expects that the films will help spark further debate concerning
the best choice of presidential candidate on election day. Terms of the
domain name acquisition were not made public. "We are excited to work with Penguin SES in acquiring this very
relevant domain name," said Daniel Gourley, president of VerticalBlu,
â œand weâ re hoping to showcase our work as filmmakers, in addition to
getting people to think critically about this election." Tim Morse, president and CEO of Penguin SES, explained that his company
registered WhyIVoteDemocrat.com in early July with the thought of
marketing it to an interested party as the election cycle ramped up.
The Web address is one of more than 600 domain names in Penguin SESâ s
domain name portfolio
(http://www.penguinsearchengineservices.com/PenguinSES-Domain_Names_For_Sale.html).
Morse stated that Penguin SES had hoped to find a buyer earlier than
one week before the presidential election, but said that both companies
agreed that the timing for the deal seemed opportune. He added that
with the ability to aggressively promote the URL, any owner would have
a decided advantage in getting recognition for its message. "With the intensity of the presidential race and the amount of voices
crying to be heard, both in traditional media and in new, online media
outlets, we felt strongly that having a proactive, and somewhat
provocative, "in-your-faceâ domain name like WhyIVoteDemocrat.com
would definitely be a feather in the cap for the right organization,"
Morse said. â œOf course, it helps that VerticalBlu has an engaging,
witty message," he added. Morse acknowledged that viewers will have strong feelings about the
films, one way or another. He anticipated that a certain demographic
will be pleasantly surprised, but speculated that other viewers could
be put off by the films. â œWeâ re not sure exactly how the McCain
campaign and the talk radio crowd will perceive it. Talk show hosts
like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, et al. have a big
impact with conservative voters, and it will be hard to anticipate what
kind of feedback they will share with their listeners," Morse added.
â œIt could actually stir things up a bit." Gourley explained how the first short film made its way to this point.
â œInitially, we produced the short film â ˜I'm Voting Democratâ as a
marketing piece for our company, and as a response to another video
that was pointed at the republican party" Gourley said. But Gourley
also acknowledged that the film has served to help people get facts and
think for themselves as they look toward voting. â œThe lesson we would
love for folks to take away is that you canâ t believe what you hear on
TV anymore, and that it doesnâ t matter necessarily who you vote for,
but that you educate yourself on the issues."
While the film has been widely viewed to date, Gourley was surprised to
learn the extent of his audienceâ s commitment to promote it. â œWe
didnâ t expect the level of response from other communities and
countries regarding the interest in this video," Gourley said. â œOf
course, we have equal amounts of people who hate it and love it, but we
have also had the movie translated by a young man from the
hearing-impaired community, as he read the lips of our actors. He has
posted it, with the transcript, on a Blog for the hearing-impaired."
According to Gourley, this fan told VerticalBlu that there are 33
million people with hearing disability and he felt they are never
adequately reached by the campaigns." "Weâ ve even had someone translate our script into Spanish for
non-English speakers who want to know what our video is about. It' s
been posted on Spanish-speaking Blogs as well," he added. "The
feedback weâ ve gotten so far is that large numbers of viewers from 21
different countries, including Brazil, Russia and Israel, have seen
it." According to Gourley, VerticalBlu' s new short films will speak
to all types of voters, but he feels that younger voters will be
especially able to engage with the films. "To a great degree, I think
younger voters accept what the "media' tells them," Gourley said. â
œBut with the advent of YouTube and other forms of viral marketing,
clever, well-produced films like â ˜Iâ m Voting Democrat' can really
reach an audience and make a difference.' "Our generation are also very good about spreading the word online,
so we may see quite a bit of viral activity if these Web users choose
to share a link to the URL," he said. Gourley is hoping that his
companyâ s other political short film, â ˜Sen. Obama, I Have One
Question...will gain exposure by being posted on
WhyIVoteDemocrat.com, as well. "To see the two short films, visitors
will have to scroll down the page bit," he added, â œsince weâ re
promoting a new, non-political film at the top of the page." About Penguin Search Engine Services, Inc.: Penguin Search Engine Services, Inc. (Penguin SES -
http://www.penguinses.com) is a niche domain name investment and
development company which specializes in acquiring domain names
primarily in the areas of technology, healthcare, and emerging trends. About VerticalBlu Film Company: VerticalBlu began making films in fall of 2007 and is a movement based
on the belief that great movies don't need to come from Hollywood. By
joining together the skills, resources and efforts of like-minded
filmmakers, movies can be created that speak to our souls, our lives,
and our communities. To find out more how you can invest and
participate in VerticalBluâ s latest feature â œLife in Transit
visit VerticalBlu.com.
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