Campaign stores play a key role in elections, and this election season is no exception. Many have become an incredibly recognizable part of the campaign itself such as Trump’s bright red “Make America Great Again” hat. But, some of the items being sold are very odd to say the least. Let’s start with Republican Candidate Ted Cruz, who sells a shirt saying “I applied to Trump University and all I got was this shirt.” Cruz supporters can also buy a #45 football jersey with the last name Cruz or an ugly Christmas sweater with Ted’s face on it. Hillary Clinton’s store features a t-shirt called the “Everyday Pantsuit Tee”. Marco Rubio’s has a $30 Ru(BAE)o shirt for those looking to call a Presidential candidate Bae (He also sells a sticker). Rubio also sells a broken Trump watch which has the description, “AS SEEN ON TV: "If Donald Trump hadn’t inherited $200 million, he’d be selling watches like these in Manhattan." -Marco
NOTE: You won’t actually get a broken Trump watch, but your $10 donation will help Marco stop him.” But, the most cringeworthy item of all belongs to Jeb Bush. Jeb is selling a blank black guacamole bowl for a ridiculous $75 because Jeb and Carmela enjoy making guacamole.
NOTE: You won’t actually get a broken Trump watch, but your $10 donation will help Marco stop him.” But, the most cringeworthy item of all belongs to Jeb Bush. Jeb is selling a blank black guacamole bowl for a ridiculous $75 because Jeb and Carmela enjoy making guacamole.
The role that campaign stores play I believe serves two purposes, to raise awareness/recognition for the candidate and to raise money for their campaign. But, some of the items sold may be going a little too far.
I leave you all with a few questions to discuss. Do you think that campaign stores fill the dual role of raising awareness and money? Why do you think many of the campaigns have items that are so out there? Are you in the market for a guacamole bowl?
6 comments:
Brandon,
I think, as you said, that these products are very out there because its a reflection of the young campaign workers that they employ, who are thinking differently and trying to intertwine pop culture with politics. I'm not sure how much money Jeb's guacamole bowl raised for the campaign, but products like that can to a degree build a repetoire with younger voters, and can make a candidate seem more likable, more appealing, and more personable. I think its important for a candidate to get the word out, and for their name to be seen. However, I do feel kind of "sketched out" by how much the candidates are being marketed towards people. After all, the American people should be interested in a candidate's policies and ideals, not the apparel they put out.
I also want to note the slanderous, rude nature of some of the products, especially coming from Cruz and Rubio. I understand that they want to undermine Trump's advances, and are trying to convince Trump's supporters with simple tactics, but it comes off as childish and unprofessional. I think that the GOP could learn a thing or two from the way that Sanders and Clinton have conducted their competition appropriately and respectfully.
This new turn in campaign merchandise is cringe worthy, and as Brandon says, unprofessional. People have been trying to intertwine pop culture and serious avenues for a long time, but while some are successful, the ham-fisted approach that these presidential campaigns have been taking is not. Good use of pop culture is inciteful, or funny, or original. At least in the case of Trump's red hats, he wasn't making too much of a fool of himself. Who in god's name is going to pay seventy-five dollars for a guacamole bowl? No one. Getting to the heart of the issue, the main problem is groups trying to make use of the internet and popular culture without understanding how to make something the least bit appealing about their money and/or publicity-grab. It's all too barefaced. People trying to cash in on popular culture brings to mind faceless corporations using twitter to attempt to connect to consumers. Strange, almost funny, yet ultimately wrong. It's like the uncanny valley effect; the eyes are all wrong. You cannot fake a vibe, and the vibe of the over-priced guacamole bowl is both desperate and infuriatingly absurd. It's like Hillary's attempt to appeal to the youth over twitter through emojis, or the restaurant chain Denny's internet presence in general. It's kind of stupid.
I think that these new products reflects how each candidate is trying so hard to stand out. They are all attempting Trump's method of gaining followers by doing and saying ridiculous things. As ludicrous as this may seem, we have all heard about each of these products, joke about them, talk about them, and some of us even own them. So clearly, the strategy is working to some extent. However, I don't think that the whole country constantly joking about the candidates is a positive sign for our future; it just reflects how silly and superficial this entire election has been In addition, I doubt enough people are buying these items to make a dent into the price of campaigning. Overall, as much as it does raise awareness and money, it does not raise enough money to be worth it, nor does it raise a respectable type of attention.
I certainly believe that campaign merchandise raises both money and awareness for a candidate. Selling these products generates revenue for presidential campaigns, and these items do a great job of reinforcing a person's support of a candidate. If someone bought a Bernie or Trump poster to hang on their wall, they would not only feel a sense of pride knowing that they made a contribution to a political campaign, but they would also have a constant reminder to ensure that they go out and vote on election day and actively support their candidate of choice.
In addition, I agree with Stephen on the fact that many of these products contain slanderous messages, but I believe that when candidates sell merchandise with controversial quotes on them, it is an attempt to make candidates seem more gutsy (after all, Trump has been doing great in the polls by making belligerent and inflammatory statements, so it's worth a shot to mimic his behavior). Rather than feeling ashamed about saying something like "Trump would be selling watches in New York City if he didn't get a loan from his father," Rubio's campaign puts this stuff on merchandise to make Rubio seem just as guiltless and unabashed as Trump. This election, many voters are looking for gutsy candidates, and so people like Rubio have found that it is better to embrace their slanderous statements than actually apologize. This is because if they try to take back what they say, they will look like they have no backbone, which may be fatal in an election where many GOP voters are attracted to candidates with a shameless sense of bravado.
Personally, I do not believe that I am in the market for a guacamole bowl. As much as I love guac, $75 is a ridiculous price to pay for a product from a campaign that no longer exists, and my mom already got me a nutribullet for Christmas that is great for pureeing avocados.
Well Brandcow, I certainly am in the market for guacamole bowls. I appreciate that Jeb! has an eye for quality that has recently escaped the guacamole bowl industry. These products are way too often gimmicks to pander to a young voterbase or appeal to possible viral internet support as a Bernie "bowl" of another kind did. That Rubio shirt saying Ru(BAE) is frankly a joke and very cringe-worthy. It is clear that these candidates are not self aware of the voterbase and make themselves look weaker of demagogue-like in the process. Additionally, I think that it is often silly to invest in apparel of a candidate before he or she gets the nomination because if that candidate loses, the product loses much if not all of its appeal. I would much rather directly donate to a candidate so they get the money directly and don't have to spend some of it on products. I do regret, however, not purchasing a Lincoln Chafee sticker before it was too late. He was a man too innocent for this race.
I agree with Caitlyn B that these items are a desperate attempt by the candidates to make themselves stand out. Clearly they have done their job well because everyone talks about them far more than they do the generic campaign paraphernalia and thus their goal of spreading their name is achieved. As for why these outrageous items are when they are, I think that it has to do with the people working on the campaign. Most of the campaign workers are young people looking to get a start in politics. Therefore these young minds are using young slang such as "bae" in the marketing. While this is wildly amusing for other young people, older generations may be confused and disapproving, which therefore makes this a bad strategy when appealing to the majority of the voting population but at the same time a good way to get more young voters interested. As for the guacamole bowl, I do not know anyone who would pay $75 for such a thing and I think it is a bad idea for Jeb to be selling it in the first place because it is a symbol of how different and better-off he is than the lower-class Americans to whom he will have to appeal to if he wants any chance of staying in this race. The candidate merchandise that I would most look forward to buying is the "Donald Drumf" hat which is not a product of the Trump campaign, but a brilliant discovery by John Oliver.
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