Washington
At 8 p.m. last week, Donald Trump left Fulton Prison in Georgia. Less than two hours later, his campaign organization was selling T-shirts ($34) and mugs ($25) emblazoned with his mugshot with the caption “Never Surrender,” though in the facts, that’s exactly what he had just done when he showed up at the prison, accused of having tried to rig the 2020 elections. ex-president? Apparently a lot of people, judging by the hundreds of products offered on the internet adorned with the famous mugshot, the forensic photo.
Because Donald Trump is not the only one to capitalize on his run-ins with the law. For example, there is a parody of the Trumpist red cap on the Etsy site. The slogan “Make America great again” (the famous Maga, which means “to make America great again”) is replaced by “Fulton Prison” followed by P01135809, the number assigned to the former president. So much so that one of his advisers threatened to sue individuals who exploited the photo for profit.
“The sale of promotional products in the countryside is a very American phenomenon,” said Cary Jung, director of the Association of Collectors of Political Articles. And it goes back a long way! “Already during the election of George Washington, the first president, we sold copper buttons on which was engraved “Long live President GW”” continues Cary Jung, who collects pins bearing the effigy of Obama . He owns 5,000 of the 30,000 issued in 2008 and 2012. Over the years, political logos have appeared on all sorts of unusual objects, including thimbles during women’s suffrage in 1920, condoms at the time of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, and today a brush for scrubbing toilets whose yellow bristles represent the hair of Donald Trump.
But in recent years, merchandise has become a must for campaigns, especially since the huge success of the ex-president’s red Maga cap. It is a means of spreading a message, raising funds, and collecting information on buyers – mobile number, email, etc. – which make it possible to establish lists of potential voters who can then be solicited to donations. The online store also helps recruit the 50,000 donors needed to qualify for the next debate.
“In the past, we sold three items: a sign to put up in front of your home, a pin and a T-shirt, explains Ben Ostrower, founder of the Eye Wide agency, responsible, among other things, for the development of the brand and campaign product design for Hillary Clinton and Vice President Kamala Harris. But today, the candidates are more and more creative and try to distinguish themselves. It was Barack Obama in 2008, he says, who “changed the game” by showing that a political campaign could be designed in the same way as a campaign for the Nike brand. In addition to the logo that has become iconic, he has launched limited editions of posters, has teamed up with chic designers to design bags…
Obviously, this year Trump’s rivals are having a bit of a hard time competing with the mugshot lineup. Next to that, their offer looks a little bland: a baby bodysuit that reads “Joe Biden makes me cry” at Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida; Senator Tim Scott socks; a pin displaying “Let’s finish the job” at Job Biden… The Republicans are catching up by attacking the favorite themes of the left. “I identify as non-Bidenarian” (a play on the words “Biden” and “non-binary”), proclaims a sticker of businessman Perry Johnson. Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, created a mug with three crossed out words “transidentity, climate skepticism and wokism”.
“At the time of Tik Tok and Instagram, the novelty (in the slogans, editor’s note) is that there are more attempts at humor, self-mockery to reach the young electorate”, continues Ben Ostrower. In 2020, during a televised debate, a fly landed for a long time on the head of Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s vice-president. Joe Biden’s teams immediately put a fly swatter on the market with his logo, which sold out in the blink of an eye. This year, Doug Burgum, the obscure governor of North Dakota, is offering t-shirts with the words “Doug who?”. All hope that one of their creations will go viral.
Like “Dark Brandon”. Joe Biden has taken over a parody that depicts him as a demonic character with red lasers instead of eyes. It emerged following Republicans chanting “Let’s go Brandon,” the veiled meaning of which was “Fuck you…Biden.” Sweaters and mugs bearing the image of “Dark Brandon”, which have become very popular among Democrats, account for more than half of the income of the President’s store. And all the articles are “Made in America”, assures the site, an obligation for the candidates who defend the American worker. But a serious headache for the campaigns. Failing to find a manufacturer in the United States, Barack Obama had to give up producing a basketball.
