by Jennifer Giorgi
Follow Jennifer on Twitter @jejoagio
A candidate’s brand is more than a series of logos and words; it is an expression of their identity. Their name and logo should convey a message to people who aren’t as familiar with them.
Although the two major presidential candidates, Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic Nominee Hillary Clinton, have name recognition on their side, it could also work against them as they are two of the least-liked candidates put forward by the two major parties in all of history.
With Libertarian nominee, Gary Johnson, the initial lack of name recognition could work as a positive as he works to build his brand from the ground up.
Let’s take a quick look at the different campaign merchandise currently offered by Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian presidential candidates and discuss how it could effect who it is representing.
1. Shirts
Polo shirts are super versatile. From the office to the golf course, many people love to rock polos. Although all three are pretty simple, Gary’s in the only one which evokes any party pride using a part of the Libertarian party Logo.
2. Attack Shirts
If there is one thing inescapable this election season, it’s the negative campaigning and hate flinging. Such is displayed through the selection of merchandise on the two major candidates’ websites. Hillary has many items available with the slogan “Love trumps hate” expressing a compassionate, yet snide, message. Trump takes a shot at Hillary’s email scandal with this particular attack tee.
Johnson doesn’t have an attack shirt.
3. Attack Buttons
There are many attack items available from the Clumps. Here are some of the many buttons available. Clinton’s appear to be calling Donald a rich, spoiled brat. Donald’s more directly seem to attack Hillary for many of her scandals.
Johnson doesn’t have attack buttons. This isn’t an accident. Even looking back to the “primary” season, Johnson essentially refused to get involved in negative campaigning and still sticks to that strategy to this day.
4. Pride
Hillary had many LGBTQIA+ items available for sale with many different designs. Trump, surprisingly, had some available for purchase, although extremely limited. Johnson’s shirt wasn’t expressly solely for the LGBTQIA+ crowd, but instead made it clear that you can be whoever you’d like to be, socially.
5. Yard Signs
The yard signs are pretty straight forward. All three incorporate the traditional color of their respective party. Johnson’s is, again, the only one using any actual symbolism from his party.
6. Miscellaneous
The two major parties both have an extensive selection of miscellaneous merchandise. Hillary’s largely seem to call to the female demographic with traditionally more feminine designs and houseware. Trump’s all essentially looks as though it was meant to be handed out at a high school homecoming pep rally with pompoms and other red, white and blue do-dads.
While Johnson’s selection isn’t quite as extensive, which isn’t surprising for a campaign with far fewer resources, they seem to be demographic neutral as far as who they try to target.
Over all, the selection of merchandise seems to be pretty representative of the candidates and their respective campaigns. Even more interesting than the official gear is the unofficial merchandise out there up for grabs designed by supporters and haters alike…. I mean, who wouldn’t want to plaster Hilldawg’s face all over their torso?
