Trump and the Impact on Ad World

Trump has been in power for 1 year and 177 days by the time this post is published (17th July, 2018). It is safe to say, regardless of your public opinion, been a bumpy ride that unfortunately has seen a country become further divided as a result. His latest offering was to praise Russian president Putin even though America’s own secret service can now positively say that Russia did, in some way, effect the 2016 U.S. election. It was even by his standards, a bad day at the office. 

As a result of “that evening” back in 2016 when Trump’s win sent shock waves throughout the world, Ad land has changed. Traditionally, many brands tend to stay impartial to political messaging, ensuring that they do not alienate any one group. After all, brands want to ensure they sell to the majority. But this changed, and changed quickly.

Trumps first big promise was to build a wall and ban certain flights from entering the U.S. from select countries. The start of the social divide had begun. Shortly afterwards we had the marches across America, but most famously in Charlottesville where White Supremacists marched and where met with counter protests. After 2 days of unrest, Trump said there where “very bad people on both sides”. A shocking statement by any man or woman of power, but this was the President of the United States. There was also the continuing tussle with the NFL with players kneeling in protest of their sitting president (not those serving the armed forces). 

Brands could no longer look away.

The 2017 Super Bowl saw some brands go with the traditional “wow, I can’t believe they got celebrate X in that ad” but we saw many talk of their immigration roots, their multiculturalism and stories of equality. Budweiser and AirBnB seemed to capture the sentiment head on whilst 84 Lumber aired their water downed ad (note: a request made by Fox Entertainment) and caused their site to crash. 

Since then we have seen the Nike Equality basketball ad and LeBron James wear his bespoke trainers. Dove ran a #AlternativeFacts campaign, TIME have done a number of activations in OOH and of course on front of their iconic magazine. This is just a small taste of the creative shift from brands in the new "Trump Age".

But more importantly is the media ad spend impact. Fox News, no secret to their loyalty to a more right wing agenda, have continued to support Trump through all of last year and fail to condemn him at any level. Brands have started to pull or reduce their ad spend with Fox which in turn has seen some of their “talent” move on or sent on holiday to return when the dust has settled.

There has seen a rise in #Boycott behaviour, (especially towards NRA partnerships) where a brand has publicly made their feelings known, resulting in a backlash from the opposing side. 

This very public opposition has even transitioned across the pond to Europe when Trump recently visited the UK Prime Minister and then afterwards Putin in Helsinki. In the UK, brands such as Moonpig (with some backlash) mocked the arrival of the president. And whilst some smaller brands followed suit, it was predominately the news outlets that found ways to continue the mocking tone. Though it was Finland's national paper that was the most impactful, running a series of ad placements in OOH locations. 

Some may argue that this very article has no place on LinkedIn. That "politics" should not be shared on this channel. But when brands take action and we ourselves want to know where they stand in these more turbulent times, we must and should discuss them. Let's ensure we stand on the right side of history. Push our clients (where suitable) to show they embrace diversity and equality. To not let the dark clouds of Trump consume a better and brighter world we all seek.

*apologies for the deeper and slightly darker post, but feel it's important to have an open and healthy conversation regarding this and the impact of brands and politics.