If the Twitter feeds of consumer brands are indicative of any larger trends, then voter turnout should be huge today. From Skittles to White Castle to Kenneth Cole, big companies were tweeting their civic pride — while carefully avoiding anything in the way of partisan rhetoric.
Be it a sporting event, a holiday, or even an election, brands these days do not pass up on an opportunity to indulge in some real-time marketing — sometimes to their benefit, but more often to their disadvantage. Here then are the good, bad and ugly brand tweets that attempted to walk the line between patriotic and promotional … right on into the polling station:
Good
Grey Goose
#Election2014 pic.twitter.com/6vMQT9gy0l
— Grey Goose (@GreyGoose) November 4, 2014
Are you encouraging people to get drunk and then vote or vote and then get drunk? Either way, the clean lines with just a tiny brand logo and a glass in the middle is a design winner, if nothing else.
Sherwin Williams
Are you exercising your right to choose bold colors? Happy Election Day! pic.twitter.com/nC4aNhMBCw
— Sherwin-Williams (@SherwinWilliams) November 4, 2014
While blue and red hardly qualify as “bold colors,” we get the smart brand promotion there, Sherwin Williams.
Patagonia
Will these images convince millennials to #VoteTheEnvironment ? We hope so! https://t.co/4f1fTiXS5f pic.twitter.com/S1EgZUwSft
— Patagonia (@patagonia) November 3, 2014
Finally one brand that isn’t promoting a product, but a cause—and even putting in the effort to use original art for it. Kudos, Patagonia.
Bad
Staples
.@Twizzlers or @MMSChocolate? Ready. Set. #Vote! #ElectionDay #NationalCandyDay pic.twitter.com/fsjmYSN7lH
— Staples US (@Staples) November 4, 2014
So Twizzlers represent the Republicans and M&Ms represent the Democrats? There is so much happening here that it’s downright confusing.
KFC
Wings or Tenders with your Favorites Bucket? #GoVote2014 pic.twitter.com/rUQfikLZ77
— KFC (@kfc) November 4, 2014
We’ll opt for the green party: a nice salad.
White Castle
Cast your #vote for the #Crave. #ChooseSliders #ElectionDay pic.twitter.com/uQgecFLN8R
— White Castle (@WhiteCastle) November 4, 2014
Where is In-n-Out when you need it?
Starburst
What would get your vote for best Starburst flavor?
— Starburst (@Starburst) November 4, 2014
Again, it’s not about you Starburst!
Skittles
Vote Rainbow for Senator from the great state of Give Me All Your Skittles! I’ll represent.
— Skittles (@Skittles) November 4, 2014
This tweet is undecipherable, but comes close to hinting at a message of equality for gays. We think?
Ugly
Cole Haan
Which ballet flat has your #vote: Red or Blue? pic.twitter.com/NDGBPQTBOX
— Cole Haan (@colehaan) November 4, 2014
You’d expect a classy brand to roll out classy social content. You’d be wrong. Really Cole Haan?
More in Marketing
Hyve Group buys the Possible conference, and will add a meeting element to it in the future
Hyve Group, which owns such events as ShopTalk and FinTech Meetup, has agreed to purchase Beyond Ordinary Events, the organizing body behind Possible.
Agencies and marketers point to TikTok in the running to win ‘first real social Olympics’
The video platform is a crucial part of paid social plans this summer, say advertisers and agency execs.
Where Kamala Harris and Donald Trump stand on big tech issues
The next U.S. president is going to have a tough job of reining in social media companies’ dominance and power enough to satisfy lawmakers and users, while still encouraging free speech, privacy and innovation.