NEW YORK – All this week Donald Trump will be featured as a superhero on a 55-foot digital billboard in New York's famous Times Square.
Designated as "Super Trump," the animated image of the GOP presidential nominee in a Superman-like outfit will appear to soar through the air, right fist aimed forward, in a larger-than-life plea to "Make America Great Again."
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The "Super Trump" animation on the digital billboard located between 46th and 47th Street is designed to play for 15 seconds, with repeated showings approximately every two minutes, intermixed with other messages for four consecutive days, Tuesday through Friday. The superhero message will be in constant rotation 24 hours each day.
"Super Trump" is the brainchild of Hollywood-based filmmaker Joel Gilbert, noted for his previous feature films, now available on DVD and online streaming, "Dreams from My Real Father," produced during the presidential campaign of 2012, and "There's No Place Like Utopia," produced during the 2014 mid-term election.
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In addition to the animated billboard version of "Super Trump," Gilbert has produced a poster version that he expects could go viral on the Internet.
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"Imagery is critical in politics," Gilbert, who considers himself the conservative counterpoint to Michael Moore, told WND in an exclusive interview.
"Today the right image can quickly go viral," he said. "Instead of a picture being worth a thousand words, in the Internet age, an image can quickly be worth 100,000,000 words!"
Gilbert told WND he came up with the idea of "Super Trump" as he watched Trump campaigning.
"I watched Trump jet around the country in his airplane, flying 'with the greatest of ease,' dropping into city after city to spread his messages," Gilbert continued.
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"I was particularly impressed with Trump's foray into Detroit and his highlighting of the plight of urban America," he said.
"My recent film, 'There's No Place Like Utopia,' focuses on explaining how progressive policies since LBJ's 'Great Society' have destroyed our inner cities with their massive expansion of social-welfare programs. Listening to Trump speak in Detroit, I thought it was almost as if Trump had seen my film – his themes and my themes were about identical."
Gilbert explained he designed his image of the superhero because he could envision a large number of Millennials voting for Trump, and he wanted to appeal to a younger audience. But he also felt older Americans would appreciate the Superman takeoff because many who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s watched the television show in which Superman, played by actor George Reeves, fought for "Truth, justice, and the American way."
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"Thank you, Dr. Bob!"
Dr. Bob Shillman of San Diego, California, a member of the board of David Horowitz's Freedom Center, financed the showing of "Super Trump" in Times Square with a donation to a pro-Trump superPAC.
"When I was a kid, Superman was my idol," Shillman explained to WND. "The digital billboard concept was appropriate for Trump because Trump is bringing change to presidential politics, just like the digital billboard concept is innovative, bringing presidential politics into pop culture."
Shillman also mentioned he liked debuting the "Super Trump" billboard in Times Square because New York City is Trump's home base of operations.
"The billboard animation was designed to appeal to everyone who loves America and wants to see this country restored to its former greatness," Shillman said. "I'm proud to have the opportunity to sponsor it."
The Committee to Restore America's Greatness, a super PAC supporting Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, sponsored and paid for the Times Square "Super Trump" billboard animation.
