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.”
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