2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Creative, Global Concerns, public relations • May 14th, 2008

McCain goes green and conservatives see red

by Chris Lato

This guy just can’t catch a break with conservatives.

The John McCain campaign has unveiled what it calls eco-friendly campaign items for sale on its website. And some conservative commentators are apoplectic about it.

Geez, settle down, people. Some of these guys are looking for something, anything, as a reason to tear McCain a new one. To those people, the question remains: would you really rather have Barack Obama? Seriously? This is hardly a case of high treason against the conservative cause.

I think it’s absolutely ingenious. From a pure marketing standpoint, the ‘green’ movement is white-hot. Heck, the whole issue is hot, and there is room for everyone to get into the debate over whether the climate change folks are right-on, or are alarmists blowing a lot of, ahem, hot air. People are talking about it, people care about it. To simply dismiss it out of hand is short-sighted and out-of touch, and McCain recognizes this.

McCain is making a move to steal a key issue the Dems claim to dominate on, and make it his own. He is working to defuse the rhetoric that he will aid and abet the big polluters, who of course are all Republicans who sleep on beds of hundred-dollar bills.

McCain’s ‘green’ collateral is a great example of brilliant thinking when it comes to campaign promotional items. On the flip side, this reminds me of a couple of minor brouhahas that erupted back in the day. Great examples of how bad choices in collateral can totally ruin your day.

Brouhaha #1: The sale of Republican-themed shirts at a GOP booth at the Wisconsin State Fair a few years back. Turns out the shirts were made in, I believe, Mexico. A local TV station was tipped off by a Democrat operative, and things took off from there.

Brouhaha #2: When I was a radio news reporter in Madison back in the late 90s, Wisconsin celebrated its 150^th year of statehood with a special ceremony that included handing out small bells to ring. Only problem: the bells came with a small “Made in China” sticker affixed to each one. Oops!

The moral of the story, if you’re doing anything even remotely political: consider ‘buying American.’ Yes, I know, Americans are involved in design, production, sales, etc. of products that are ‘made’ overseas, but what it says on the label will make a symbolic difference. Let’s face it, you don’t want to be put in the position of trying to explain the nuances of global commerce.

Bottom line: The McCain campaign seems to get the messages it needs to send out. The underlying McCain policy will be what tells the real story, but for now this is a clever, funny and audacious move. I’ll recycle a plastic bottle in their honor today.

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