Politics and brand marketing share much.
Last March, the online magazine Salon.com ran an interesting piece by Jeff Yang called Brand-aid. It argued that “on top of everything else it represents, the current presidential election is something like an ad agency review - - a chance to put a set of potential stewards for “Brand America” through their paces, to see the creative and strategic directions in which they’d take our product.”
In Salon's view, if Clinton were a brand, she would be Microsoft or Martha Stewart Living. McCain would be Winston cigarettes or Hummer, while his Republican rival Huckabee would be restaurant chain Applebee's.
Obama was seen then, as he clearly still is, as the coolest candidate, since he gets to be Apple or Nike.
But here’s a picture of the 44th POTUS that’s not very Nike or Apple.
Much is said about Barak Obama's Blackberry dependency. But far less is reported about his hard to break smoking habit. We hear he’s trying to quit. Once a heavy smoker, he publicly gave up the habit, per his wife’s request, to run for president. But last June, he admitted to having “fallen off the wagon”.
Some even claim it’s a habit that could be part of his appeal. Another online magazine, Slate, suggested that there are “plenty of reasons for Obama's magic voice: where he grew up, how his parents talked, how he breathes. But perhaps most important is one Obama doesn't want to talk about: cigarettes. Smoking over time transforms a person's voice by thickening and drying out the vocal chords.” Now there’s one benefit the tobacco industry has not leveraged.
Image-makers have no doubt created a compelling brand for Obama. Cool and in control, “no drama Obama”. But the smoking doesn’t fit. Which is perhaps why there’s only one picture of him smoking (that I know of) on the web.
How times have changed.
Humphrey Bogart was cool and smoking.
And, In Quebec, smoking was part of Rene Lévesque’s brand.
So how cool is smoking among Quebec youth today?
The Youth Smoking Survey provides reliable data on trends in tobacco use. Findings from the 2006-07 survey reveal that 21% of Canadian youth in grades 5 through 9 have ever tried any type of tobacco product. This represents a 50% reduction since 1994. That’s the good news. But Quebec still has the highest prevalence of youth smoking.
In 2006-07, the percentage of youth that had ever tried smoking cigarettes ranged from lows of 13% in Ontario and 14% in Prince Edward Island to a high of 29% in Québec.
And cheap cigarillos are apparently now more popular with Quebec youth than cigarettes according to a Quebec government survey.
Last December, Ontario passed a bill to outlaw flavored cigarillos and require that non-flavored cigarillos be sold in packages of 20. To my knowledge, there is no such law in Quebec.
- -
Back to Obama’s smoking habit. If he actually quits for good, there’s a brand that should consider rubbing off Obama’s brand. Obama apparently regularly chews Nicorette while not at events, and the release of a doctor's note from his primary care physician indicated that it has brought him a level of success. And while they’re at it, why not borrow the slogan as well?
“Yes he could.”
Comments