This election season, voters can let their voices be heard like never before, thanks to “Smack A Candidate” – a real-time social event that combines Twitter, puppets, boxing and trash talking.

The innovative project was created by Marcus Wesson and Michael Miller, alongside producer Kevin Roth, who brought on Ignition (www.ignitioncreative.com) and Duck Studios to turn the idea into reality. The Twitter-fueled experience invites constituents to control two robotic puppets designed to pummel each other until the last man is left standing. The first bout will take place in tandem with the Republican National Convention on August 27th.

Ignition brought the puppets Duck Studios created to life using Arduino microprocessors and the Processing programming language. “The goal of the project is to showcase how software, hardware, and social media can be blended together to create a unique digital experience,” said Evan DeHaven, President, Executive Creative Director for Ignition. Viewers can watch the event play out live on the website via a GoPro Hero2 and the Livestream Broadcaster. Each and every tweet using hashtags #SmackRomney and #SmackObama will deliver a single punch or combinations based on the frequency of hashtag usage. A real-time score card and live Twitter stream are also present on the site so you can see when your punch is being thrown. The winner of each round will be decided by the number of punches/votes their opponent receives.

The “Smack a Candidate” campaign will take place over several rounds beginning with the Republican National Convention, building up to the main event, election day on November 6th. Visitors don’t have to trade punches along party lines, either. They can switch corners, and rack up tweets for either opponent for a more bipartisan bout.

Sure to be filled with low blows, liver shots and rabbit punches, participants can release their frustrations over taxes, unemployment, healthcare, Obama’s Dumbo ears or Romney’s dog whispering skills by simply including the hashtags in their tweets. Which presidential palooka will go the distance? As Sonny Liston once said: “It don’t matter, as long as he can count to ten.”

CREDITS

Michael Miller- Creator and Creative Director, Writer
Marcus Wesson- Creator and Creative Director, Art Direcror
Kevin R. Roth - Senior Producer
Video edited and mixed by FotoKem
Video music provided by Incompetech

Mark Medernach - EP
Roger Chouinard - Sculptor
Yoriko Murakami - Costumes and rigging
Andrew Halpern - Sales

Evan DeHaven - Executive Creative Director, Engineer
Matt Webster - Developer, Lead Engineer
Dru Bramlett - Design, UX
Greg Batha - Lead Developer
James Cobo - Director of Strategy
Jamie Somphanthabansouk - Producer
Lindsey Shaw - Social Media Coordinator
Amber Eyerman - Social Media Coordinator