Nearly one in five pieces of official Trump campaign merch is indictment related
Nearly one in five pieces of official Trump campaign merch is indictment related
Plus: the new Smokey Bear PSAs helped me find the Smokey Bear in me, and you can too
Hello, in this issue we’ll look at…
Nearly one in five pieces of official Trump campaign merch is indictment related
Here’s how much the 2024 campaign is projected to cost
The new Smokey Bear PSAs helped me find the Smokey Bear in me, and you can too
Scroll to the end to see: why it’s important to register to vote. Happy National Voter Registration Day! 🥳 🗳️ You can check your voter registration status here.
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Nearly one in five pieces of official Trump campaign merch is indictment related
Since former President Donald Trump’s campaign shop introduced its newest line, “Trump Colorblock,” nearly 20% of merchandise available for sale on the storefront is indictment themed.
The Trump Colorblock image is an Obama “Hope”-style rendering of Trump’s mugshot, and it’s available on $36 t-shirts, $25 18x24 posters, $25 mugs, and more. The new Shepard Fairey-inspired merchandise brings the total number of indictment-themed items in Trump’s online storefront to 27 out of 137 total items, or 19.7%.
(Sidenote: Trump won’t be getting a real portrait from Fairey, other than the single art he made for the 2016 Franz Ferdinand single “Demagogue.” The artist told me in 2017 that otherwise, he believes Trump is a “negative-energy amoeba” who grows stronger the more you hate him.)
Trump’s campaign began selling merch showing a fake mugshot in April, following Trump’s arrest in connection with falsified documents related to hush money payments to adult actress Stormy Daniels. No mugshot was taken for the arrest.
After a real mugshot was taken and released in August, in the Georgia election interference case, his campaign began selling items featuring the image. Trump’s campaign said it raised $4.18 million the Friday after he was booked, its record-highest haul in a 24-hour period so far during the campaign.
Trump’s campaign has also released “I Stand with Trump” t-shirts with the dates of most of his indictments, beginning with his first, on March 30, 2023, in the New York hush money case.
The campaign has since put out new editions of the shirt for two of his three indictments: June 8, 2023, the date of his federal indictment in the classified documents case, and Aug. 14, 2023, the date of his indictment in the Georgia election interference case.
The campaign does not, however, have an “I Stand with Trump” shirt for Aug. 1, 2023, the date of his federal indictment in the 2020 election certification case, currently on its site. The campaign did not respond to a request for comment about why.
Trump has been charged with 91 criminal counts across his four indictments.
Here’s how much the 2024 campaign is projected to cost
It’s expected $10.2 billion will be spent on ads on broadcast, cable, radio, satellite, digital, and connected TV, or CTV, during the 2024 campaign cycle, according to a report from AdImpact.
The ad tracking firm said $652 million has been spent through August 2023, pacing 75% ahead of 2019. The growth is being driven by the Republican presidential primary, according to the firm, with more than $100 million spent as of early September, the earliest that milestone has been reached in a primary.
Seven swing states are expected to receive the lion’s share of advertising in the general election presidential race next year: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
The priciest state, however, is expected to be solid “blue” California. Spending in California is expected to reach $1.19 billion because of ballot propositions, more competitive U.S. House races than any state, the state’s expensive media markets, and a competitive U.S. Senate race due to the state’s top-two primary system.
Broadcast is expected to make up more than 50% of the spending, followed by cable at about 18%. While consumers continue to cut cords, CTV spending is expected to only increase from 12% in the last cycle to 13% this cycle.
The report projected $5.1 billion will be spent on broadcast, $1.9 billion on cable, $1.3 billion on CTV, $1.2 billion on digital, $361 million on radio, $210 million on network cable, and $100 million on satellite.
The new Smokey Bear PSAs helped me find the Smokey Bear in me, and you can too
If you’re easily triggered and not paying attention, the first few seconds of the new Smokey Bear PSAs might alarm you. If you do pay attention and learn something, though, then you, my friend, deserve a merit badge.
In the 30-second spot “Friends,” Smokey Bear reminds a pair of male campers breaking camp about the proper way to put out a campfire: “Use the shovel and bucket of water, remember? Drown, stir, drown, feel. Then make sure it’s cool,” the bear says… in the voice of a woman.
Has Smokey gone ~woke~? Or is there a Mrs. Smokey we’re only now just learning about? No, as the camera cuts from the campers back to Smokey Bear, viewers now see a female camper who was shown briefly at the beginning of the ad. The bear viewers see is actually the spirit of Smokey, who lives within the heart of every American he, she, and they.
(Actually, the bear viewers see in this particular ad uses animatronics: “To give Smokey a more lifelike look, we rebuilt his costume from scratch,” FCB executive creative director Ida Gronblom said in a statement. “By using animatronics to move his mouth and eyes, we gave true emotions to America’s favorite bear.”)
The woman in the ad tells her friends she learned the tips on smokeybear dot com, and the spot ends with text on screen showing the campaign’s tagline: “Smokey Bear Lives With Us All.” In “Geared Up Granny,” a second ad in the campaign, a gray-haired woman on a hike is revealed to be Smokey Bear after she helps a man fix loose tow chains, which can spark a fire.
The spot is from the creative agency FCB, and the concept is a literal take on the Smokey Bear slogan “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires.” Je suis Smokey.
“What better way to continue his legacy and illustrate the power we all have in preventing wildfires than by showing the public how Smokey is within all of us,” USDA Forest Service National Wildfire Prevention and Community Mitigation Branch Chief Maureen Brooks said.
The “Smokey Bear Lives Within Us All” campaign will be distributed across television, radio, out-of-home, and digital nationwide. You can learn more wildfire prevention how-tos at smokeybear.com.
Have you seen this?
Taylor Swift calls Swifties to action on National Voter Registration Day. "I've been lucky to see so many of you guys at my U.S. shows," Swift said. "I've heard you raise your voices, and I know how powerful they are. Make sure you're ready to use them in our elections this year!" [Rolling Stone]
Johnson & Johnson is ditching its longtime script logo for a modern sans-serif logo. The company’s former script logo has been used since 1887 and it was based on co-founder James Wood Johnson’s signature. The new sans-serif logo is part of a pivot to focus on pharmaceuticals and medical devices, but the script logo will continued to be used on some consumer products. [Associated Press]
What do you think of the new logo?
The artist who stole $84,000 from a museum and called it “conceptual art” now has to pay it back. Danish artist Jens Haaning called his work “Take the Money and Run.” [Vice News]
MTV’s Video Music Awards stage should have gotten its own award. The stage was created by lighting designer Tom Sutherland, whose resume includes American Idol and the Brit Awards, and set designer Matt Steinbrenner, who’s worked on the VMAs since 2010. Steinbrenner said he was inspired by visualizing audio waves. [Fast Company]
🔒 YELLO subscriber exclusive:
History of political design
Vote…and the choice is yours! This voter registration poster from the League of Women Voters, was made in cooperation with the American Heritage Foundation, the Advertising Council, and the League of Women Voters.
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