This case study encompasses various organizations and online media activism that started with California’s Proposition 8 ballot campaign during the 2008 U.S. election and continued with several proceeding cases of anti-LGBT rights campaigns (predominantly centered around marriage for same sex couples).

Proposition 8 was a California ballot measure during the 2008 presidential election that sought to define marriage in California as strictly between a man and a woman, effectively overriding the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in California (through the courts) about six months prior to the election. The combined funds raised by the Yes on 8 campaign (banning same-sex marriage) and the No on 8 campaign (maintaining marriage rights for same sex couples) made Proposition 8 the most expensive ballot measure in U.S. history. A great deal of the funding went into several rounds of official TV ads each campaign promoted.

Alongside the official campaign ads, however, emerged several online ads and ad parodies by established and fledgling organizations as well as individuals users that gained some traction throughout the campaign. The majority of the “creative” ads came from those opposing Proposition 8 (aka pro-marriage equality).

Clicking through the paths in this case study will lead you through the various organizations and pieces of media that served as a counterpart to the more mainstream and officially (campaign-)produced content.