Im going to start this post with a disclaimer: originally this video was NOT intended to go viral – in fact the incident itself, I’m sure it’s safe to say, was not intended either. 

Regardless of this, videos of Obama swatting a fly during and interview with CNBC have struck a chord with thousands of people. A search on Youtube reveals 273 results for an incident that happened on Wed the 17th, and most of these videos have over 70,000 views. 

Now the question I’d like to ask is - why did this go viral? Yes there are obvious answers like "it was the president of the USA - and how often do you swat a fly first try?" but I think there is a deeper reason. In my eyes the video reveals, in quite a humorous and human way, just how cool Obama is. If I were on Obama's team I would be making full use of this video. Others have also taken advantage of the video. Apart from appearing on mainstream Italian TV, there are some awesome spoofs out there like this one by Barely Political who are using the video and its viral traction to promote their own site.  

Very clever I think, and they are not the only ones doing it - Asathecomic have actually recreated the whole episode in a rather harsh spoof.  And to top it all off apparently after the interview Obama used a serviette to pick up the fly saying "I always clean up after myself."  

What a smooth guy....