The contest: Develop a :30 national TV spot for US Presidential Candidate Barack Obama in one week with no budget that had to be both meaningful and accurately reflect Obama's promise of 'hope.' Good luck.

That was MoveOn.org's challenge to people everywhere in April 2008. The spot you see here was the product of virtual collaboration between two people on opposite sides of the continent. Jake Mathew, a hugely talented motion graphics designer in San Francisco, and Jim Mitchem, a copywriter in Charlotte. The entire project was developed and deployed in a true virtual environment despite Jim being at Disney World with his family, and Jake getting married in New York. Not too shabby.

The ad didn't garner enough votes to make the finals of the competition, but we think it does an excellent job of communicating Obama's brand in a way that doesn't negatively attack the competition.

Hope. It floats.