Candidates use merchandise for publicity boost
The season is here — presidential primary campaign season, that is — so Cyber Monday offers you the chance to outfit your Donald Trump-loving uncle or your Bernie Sanders-quoting aunt with just the right political campaign swag.
By visiting presidential candidates’ websites, you can buy a U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio “Marco polo” shirt ($45-48); a Hillary Clinton “Hillary charm bracelet” ($20); a Ben Carson Christmas sweater ($30); a Donald Trump “Make America Great Again” golf visor ($20); or a U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders “Feel The Bern” coffee mug ($15).
For your edgier cousin, there is the wall poster of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, created by Los Angeles street artist Sabo. It features a shirtless Cruz, covered in tattoos, a cigarette dangling from his lip, and the caption, “Blacklisted & Loving It” ($55).
For your Epicurean brotherin-law, there’s a Jeb Bush “Jeb! and Columba Guaca Bowle” ($75).
And for the kids, nothing says Christmas like U.S. Sen. Rand Paul gym socks ($15).
Campaign merchandise is not sold without strings attached. Purchases qualify as campaign contributions. A portion of each sale goes to the campaign’s coffers. And the buyers can expect to have their names and addresses added to the campaign’s list for follow-up cash solicitations.
Not every campaign has merchandise for sale. Those of Republican Carly Fiorina and Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are among the more prominent that don’t. However, Fiorina’s independent super PAC, Carly For America, has plenty of items, ranging from clothing to tote bags to a “Hillary No Thanks” dog shirt ($27.)
Campaigns say the merchandise is moving quickly. Some are offering sales, though most candidates — Carson being an exception — are not calling them Christmas sales.
“The Marco polos have been selling really well since we first introduced them a couple months ago,” said Rubio campaign spokesman Alex Conant. “The whole purpose is to raise money for the campaign. We try to keep our costs as low as possible and our margins high.”
Funny items can be important, said Jordan Zimmerman, founder and chairman of the Fort-Lauderdale based Zimmerman advertising agency. “It shows the normal side of the candidate,” he said, allowing the contender to tell people “I’m just a normal guy or a normal gal that’s running for office. And I can kid with you like I can kid with my friends.”
There is a serious side to such merchandising, Zimmerman said.
“It’s huge on two fronts. It accentuates the brand in a bigger, more robust way, and that’s very important today. But it also is a revenue generator,” he said. “They’re so brilliant, because they’re touching the consumer in ways they haven’t been touched before.”
Zimmerman said candidate-branded goods aren’t going to sway people’s votes. But, he said, they can help advance their brands by starting conversations about the candidates.
There also is the important purpose of raising the candidate’s visibility, added Audrey Scagnelli, spokeswoman for Carly For America. A Carly T-shirt is a walking Fiorina campaign ad.
Other campaigns, such as those of Trump, Bush, Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Democratic Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, have stuck to basics, offering small lines of standard shirts, hats, bumper stickers, lapel pins and maybe a trinket or two.
Still others, including those for Clinton, Rubio and Paul, vary from wine glasses to jewelry to teddy bears.
The Paul campaign in particular offers unusual stock, such as a “Hillary’s Hard Drive with Wiping Cloth” ($59.95) or the autographed “Zombie Clown Target” he shot at a New Hampshire gun range ($1,000).
If you’re on a tight budget, you might consider supporting Carson or Sanders, whose prices are consistently lowest. You can get a Carson hoodie for $30, half the price charged by Rubio, Bush, Clinton or O’Malley. You can get a Sanders ball cap for $20, while most other campaigns charge $25-$35. And if it matters to your aunt, the Sanders campaign also contends it is the only one that guarantees all items are union-made.