vp txt msg - or Hail to the SMS!

If you've been hiding under a rock lately, you missed that the first-ever text message announcing a Vice Presidential running-mate of a major political party was sent early Saturday morning.

A press release sent out by the company, dated Aug. 23, proclaimed Sprint customers who support Obama were "the 1ST 2NO" of the candidate's pick for VP. And, Sprint Nextel, the carrier used for the message, also gets in on the OTHER party's candidate announcement, too. McCain is set to distribute his pick. Sprint Nextel also is planning to have a high profile at each party's conventions, providing expanded network coverage in both Denver (Democratic) and Minneapolis (Republican).

I find this a savvy marketing move by Sprint - their forward thinking got them into a truly historical event. You can bet the losing party of this election will be a prime target by SMS carriers for a similar marketing move in 2012.

So does Sprint start branding themselves as "The Carrier of Presidents," or some such? Does it make a candidate open to selling their VP choice or other important communication to the carrier that ponies up the most dough?

I think Sprint stays relatively safe here, as they are providing "equal time" to both candidates. They only stand to lose if it comes out they are contributing more to one than the other. It will be interesting to see how Sprint takes advantage of this in the coming weeks. I see at least 2-3 TV ads in the future about this. Especially on election night when the winner is named.

The backlash? McCain (and all carriers other than Sprint) will be positioned as the "me too" choice and will be playing catch-up in this now technologically-upgraded arena. Oh, and people may still associate Obama with Britney because she dumped K-Fed via SMS.

Another thought on the VP candidate: Didn't he have a stint on SNL and voice some characters on The Simpsons? He looks a helluva lot like Phil Hartman.