Shirtless young men and bikini-clad young women toss Frisbees and footballs, workout and frolic on the beach in a new television spot soon hitting Southern California airwaves.
The tanned and toned beach-goers aren't promoting a new brand of suntan lotion or the latest rum drink.
They're backing Republican presidential candidate Fred Karger.
"I wanted to make it fun and sexy," Karger said outside the Capitol as he swung through Wednesday to tout the new spot, which he launched online ahead of his upcoming cable buy, and kick off the final leg of his campaign.
The Web version of "Sexy Frisbee," which ends with two men sharing a kiss, has already caused a bit of a stir for Karger's shoestring campaign. The 60-second version, posted below, had been flagged as inappropriate and taken off YouTube by late last night. It "magically reappeared" this morning after he shot off complaints to YouTube and parent company Google.
"A little racy, but nothing compared to 'Baywatch,' " he acknowledged of the ad's content.
But Karger, who is the only openly gay candidate in the GOP contest, thinks the spot will strike a chord with young Republicans, his target demographic for California's June 5 primary. He says he got a good response from other videos featuring his campaign's signature swag, including a spoof of the 2010 "Demon Sheep" video called "Demon Frisbee."
"One of my great appeals has really been to younger people," he said. "They don't care about the gay thing. They're much more interested in jobs and education reform, foreign policy, so it messages to them."
While his chance of winning the state slim to none, the moderate Republican said he wants to serve as a "voice of opposition" to expected Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
"There are many people that are unhappy with his far-rightward move, with the far-rightward move of the Republican Party, that want a reasonable, moderate Republican who's looking to the future," he said.
Karger said he plans to spend the coming weeks touring the state in a decked-out luxury van (a full bus is out of his budget), conducting precinct walks complete with bagpipe music and speaking to "anybody who will have me." He's focusing on turning out GOP voters in heavily Democratic congressional districts in hopes of picking up some delegates to use as leverage to secure a speaking slot at the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
"If I can get three delegates, or six or nine, I could be more of a force or factor in the Tampa convention," he said.
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