Spring Break
Barack, the Brand
Obama: President or product?
Hunter Patterson
Issue date: 3/4/09 Section: Opinion
Hats, flags, scarves, shirts, finger puppets, cooking aprons, posters, cardboard cutouts., each emblazoned with the smiling face of President Obama. Walking out on The National Mall, vendors were on every single corner. Most weren't on the sidewalks, walking up and down the close streets selling their Obama wares. A casual observation that there must have been one vendor for every 10 people, and there were over one million there. Seeing all of this, this unregulated capitalism on the streets that Obama seemed to be against, was just moving up and down the grass. Obama had become more than the President, he had become a symbol, a brand, a slogan on a t-shirt.
All of this started some time ago, before the election when Obama was just the presumptive nominee battling Hillary Clinton and his own party. It started with the Pop Art style "Hope" poster that every kid has modified for his or her own profile picture. It started with "Yes we can". It started with "Change". All of which, after over year of continuous campaigning and chanting, had become more than just words; they had been stripped of their original meaning to become someone more. They had become symbols, brands, and slogans on a t-shirt.
All this led to me one conclusion: Barack Obama was not a man, was not even idea. He was a brand.
I went to test my theory. Walking on the mall I met and spoke with two vendors who both had similar views to mind, though both seemed not to share my concern for it in the least. The first man I met was T. T was a vendor who had come down from Detroit to sell beanies and key-chains. When I asked T if there was a danger that Obama was becoming more of a brand than a person, he answered "Yea…" he then launched into a argument that I'm sure he thought was completely grounded in economic theory: claiming that Obama was intentionally allowing his name and face to be used as a brand. T thought that in a time of economic "depression" Obama was not only providing an emotional buoy to the American people but an economical one as well. T seemed to think that Obama was going to single-handedly save the American economy.
The next person I met was a bit more reasonable. Pat, who had a table set up outside of the OAS building selling just about everything, seemed to agree with T that Obama was becoming more and more of a symbol. Pat, who would later remind me that he had a college education, told me that he believed that many people saw Obama as a superhuman, and that the American people saw him as someone whom they could trust.
T and Pat both seemed to agree on one basic premise; President Obama was going to solve the ills of the nation. Not as a President, but as a product.
As Obama, Inc. gets off the ground, a question remains. Will the American people continue to buy him as the cure-all to all of our ills? Will the t-shirts and hats, aprons and buttons actually bring about an economic recovery? That's not something I can really invest in, and I don't think the American people should either.
All of this started some time ago, before the election when Obama was just the presumptive nominee battling Hillary Clinton and his own party. It started with the Pop Art style "Hope" poster that every kid has modified for his or her own profile picture. It started with "Yes we can". It started with "Change". All of which, after over year of continuous campaigning and chanting, had become more than just words; they had been stripped of their original meaning to become someone more. They had become symbols, brands, and slogans on a t-shirt.
All this led to me one conclusion: Barack Obama was not a man, was not even idea. He was a brand.
I went to test my theory. Walking on the mall I met and spoke with two vendors who both had similar views to mind, though both seemed not to share my concern for it in the least. The first man I met was T. T was a vendor who had come down from Detroit to sell beanies and key-chains. When I asked T if there was a danger that Obama was becoming more of a brand than a person, he answered "Yea…" he then launched into a argument that I'm sure he thought was completely grounded in economic theory: claiming that Obama was intentionally allowing his name and face to be used as a brand. T thought that in a time of economic "depression" Obama was not only providing an emotional buoy to the American people but an economical one as well. T seemed to think that Obama was going to single-handedly save the American economy.
The next person I met was a bit more reasonable. Pat, who had a table set up outside of the OAS building selling just about everything, seemed to agree with T that Obama was becoming more and more of a symbol. Pat, who would later remind me that he had a college education, told me that he believed that many people saw Obama as a superhuman, and that the American people saw him as someone whom they could trust.
T and Pat both seemed to agree on one basic premise; President Obama was going to solve the ills of the nation. Not as a President, but as a product.
As Obama, Inc. gets off the ground, a question remains. Will the American people continue to buy him as the cure-all to all of our ills? Will the t-shirts and hats, aprons and buttons actually bring about an economic recovery? That's not something I can really invest in, and I don't think the American people should either.
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