Believe me, there is so much more going on in America than politics.
A famous actor is standing trial for shooting someone while making a film, a Louisiana woman who dumped her children has been arrested after her one-year-old child was found crawling along a highway three days later, and big announcements revealed Cruise Missiles are again returning to US German air bases while Dave’s Hot Chicken – the greatest spicy sandwich ever – is opening dozens of franchises in the UK.
But around the world, these tales of crazy celebrity, poor parenting, military muscle-flexing and the ever-onward march of high-calorie fast food industry don’t register on the global news barometer – perhaps they are just the things international audiences expect from the land of the free, part of our national brand expectation.
But one story which does grab the headlines everywhere is the progress and adventures of America’s 45th President, hoping to be its 47th also.
Trump, who is a brand as much as he is a political candidate, is undeniably global box office.
Like any one of a multitude of top brands, he commands column inches everywhere he goes and with everything he says.
And Trump watchers will have noticed he is increasingly switching his followers’ branded merchandise, iconography and campaign shorthand from MAGA – Make America Great Again – to the fifteenth primary number.
At first blush, it might seem that the idea of switching from the previous identity to a new one is just reflecting the march of time and aligns with the four-year cycle of presidencies.
But, as brand managers and campaign directors will know, it is considerably more complex than that.
Trump and his savvy campaign team grabbed the number 47 very early in the phoney war, long before Donald Trump had even declared as candidate for the Republican nomination.
It was a quick way to move beyond the backstory of 45 – his earlier Presidential number – one linked to a term in office which ended in defeat.
His team will have wagered it was a sure way to help create collective amnesia about the tribulations, shortcomings and failings of Trump the President and focus on Trump the Campaigner, creating a sense of inevitability that his selection and election would be a done deal.
Brands are big business and political brands are no different.
If you attend a Trump Rally – and why wouldn’t you – you will be presented with a wide range of merchandise to signal you belong to the tribe.
Like aging rockstars on one final money-spinning world tour, the merchandise on offer allows you to express your personal preferences from the artist’s back catalogue.
Trump fans can still show their love for the classic – the MAGA Red Hat, the number one best seller. This was the hat and brand which launched the Trump insurgency. At its peak, sales of this hat were making the Trump campaign $80,000 a day, at least according to Campaign manager and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Wearers of this hat, especially if its slightly sun-bleached and weather worn, can claim they were there at the start. Much like owning a white label pressing of a future hit album, Trump MAGAs are the OG. These are the hard core Trumpers, the most nativist and nostalgic for a Mayberry version of America which never existed except in Hollywood, advertising, and in the minds of those who seek racial purity,
Less popular but still available is the successor to MAGA – KAG – Keep America Great.
The wearers of this foxy little number joined the gang after the first album went platinum when Trump was President and were expressing their support for the man who was, and in many of their eyes still is, their President.
This hat causes brand managers to be jittery.
Its intention at the time of launch in 2019 was to signify that Trump’s first term in the White House was such a success he had completed the previous mission of Making America Great Again and the job in hand now was maintaining this state of nirvana.
It was intended to support Trumps’ 2020 re-election, but as we all know that didn’t happen as planned.
If there is one thing good brands don’t do, it is to remind you of a product, service or candidates failings and shortcomings. In the way that some albums and tracks deemed duds don’t make it into the rock star’s play list for the final stadium tour, the KAG hat isn’t widely promoted or celebrated.
It’s the ginger-haired stepchild in the Trump brand portfolio.
Trump’s notoriously thin skin doesn’t allow him to acknowledge the defeat, learn from it and move on. Rather, he is purging the loss to Joe Biden in 2020 as ‘a stolen election’ failing to recognise that he was voted our comprehensively having failed to do any of the things he promised on the campaign trail.
For those who still want to celebrate Trump’s first victory, there is a range of branded merchandise celebrating 45 – Trump’s existing Presidential number. I’m worried by this, to me it feels a little like buying last season’s replica kit from the club shop just because its discounted. Bargain-bucket Trump Merchandise – can you think of anything worse?
Of course, for many fans, hating the opposition is just as important as backing your man, team or party. Trump rallies also sell a lot of Let’s Go Brandon stuff – the humorous meme spawned by NBC’s Kelli Stavast’s mishearing of a rather cruder chant.
But the new merchandise being promoted online and through the network of resellers is 47 – the number Trump will assume if, as seems likely, he wins against a beaten and befuddled Joe Biden in November.
This will mean Trump will be President 45 and 47, but he isn’t the first to have two non-consecutive terms in office. Grover Cleveland was President 22 and 24 winning the 1885 and 1893 elections.
47 is now the campaign’s main brand.
It has been co-opted into all things Trump – mock sports jerseys are emblazoned with the number, NASCAR-style jackets carry the logo, and flags bearing 47 have been seen fluttering at BBQs, sports events and on the nations beaches this Summer.
But now 47 has taken on genuine political currency.
Trump has launched Agenda 47 – his political plan for the next Presidency – and it has a range of wild, wacky and scary ideas.
One eye-catching proposal is a competition to build 10 ‘Freedom Cities’ on federal land which would contest the Saudi Arabian plan for Neom, the 170km long, one block wide city as perhaps the strangest planning proposal of all time.
He also outlines plans to develop flying cars, pay a bonus to Americans to have babies, and reintroduce mandatory praying in school.
According to the document the border will be closed and trade barriers with China and others will be erected. What Trump calls ‘Deep State’ and we call democratic government will be dismantled, the death penalty will be reinstated for drug dealers and human traffickers, and the National Guard will be permanently stationed in America’s largest urban conurbations.
So, when you see someone wearing a 47 hat, take the time to find out if that’s in favour of the 47th President whoever that may be, or the rather sinister mishmash of populist policies masquerading as a manifesto.
Trump’s march to the White House seems unstoppable today.
The idea of a self-serving egotist in the top job is worrying enough, the last thing we need is him – or those shadowy figures who have surrounded him – to actually start having political ideas and aspirations.
For me, I cling to the fact that 47 is also the atomic number for silver – traditionally the metal associated with those who come second.
