Political pundits have offered up a myriad of reasons for newly inaugurated President Barack Obama's victory in November's election - the economic crisis, plummeting public support for George W. Bush, concerns about the Republican ticket and so on. While I'm sure any number of factors played a role in the Obama-Biden ticket's victory, it's undeniable that the ticket's campaign staff deserve some of the credit for executing a highly effective campaign marketing strategy. That strategy appears to have now lasted well past Election Day, as multiple companies have blatantly converted the campaign's slogans and icons over for their own gain. While on the surface there's nothing particularly wrong with imitating a successful marketing campaign, these efforts have the potential to completely commercialize the American presidential campaign.
Some of the most blatant imitations involve Obama's now iconic slogan "Yes we can." The D.C. Statehood Fund, for instance, paid for the posting of new campaign signs around the city that read "Yes We Can! D.C. Statehood Now!" People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has based part of its 2009 campaign on the slogan "Yes we can go veg." Meanwhile, Pepsi's new ad campaign slogans include "Yes you can" and words like "joy" and "change." They've also unveiled a new logo that ABC and other news media have noted bears a striking resemblance to the Obama "O" logo.
Then, of course, there is the endless supply of Inauguration-related memorabilia that seemed to inundate every store and every downtown street corner in D.C. during the past week. During my time as a runner for ABC over the four-day weekend, I saw everything from Obama hand puppets, bronze medallions and Inauguration-emblazoned American flags to sketchy-sounding "Obama water." Apparently someone has even bottled air from the National Mall and is selling it on eBay.
I'm certainly not judging anyone who wanted to make money during what many consider to have been an historic occasion - news media predictions of an "Obama bump" in the area's economy would be a welcome respite given the current state of the economy. And as a collector of political memorabilia myself, I don't begrudge people the opportunity to buy something to commemorate the Inauguration.
The problem is that as companies try to attach themselves to the nascent Obama presidency, they risk turning an important part of American government and history into yet another commercial meme.
It was all well and good to engage in Obama nomenclature during the election season - I thought it was one of the more entertaining things to come out of 2008. Words like "Obamathon" and "Barackroll" may become an enduring part of the political lexicon. But now that America is no longer ostensibly in campaign mode, will those words fade into the background? Will they continue to play a roll in pop culture, as if the 2008 campaign never actually ended?
Obama is now in office and his first hundred days have already begun. The campaign is over, and it's now time to start tackling the important issues. Slogans, campaign ads and "Obamarama" should take a backseat to public policy - at least until the 2012 presidential primary season begins.
Jimm Phillips is Editor in Chief of The Eagle. You can reach him at jphillips@theeagleonline.com.
