Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump has made himself a “yuge” fortune. Now other businesses are cashing in on him.
Trump and his slogans are popping up everywhere in ads. Just about everyone knows Trump wants to “Make America Great Again!” Now the famous Strand Bookstore in New York wants to “Make American Read Again,” and real estate website RentHop.com thinks it’s time to “Make Renting Great Again.”
Then there’s Manhattan Mini Storage. The company has a reputation for racy ads that play off current events. It has several of them at the moment playing off various Trumpisms.
One billboard reads,”Enough space to make Donald go, ‘Wow, that’s really YOOOGE.'”
Another ad says: “Plenty of space to store all of Donald’s unsold steak.” (It’s a reference to the controversy over whether Trump steaks are still for sale. In March, Trump posed on the campaign trail in front of a large pile of them and said they were available at his hotels.)
“We never rule out fun comments on topics that grab our attention,” says Meghan Weber, creative director of Edison Property, the parent company of Manhattan Mini storage.
Will Trump sue?
RentHop.com decided on its “Make Renting Great Again” ad after noticing an infographic on its website of political contributions by zip code (example: where are all the Trump donors?) was skyrocketing in web traffic. It was edging out its other popular map of neighborhoods with the most dog poop on sidewalks.
The ad has generated a lot of attention since it started running on New York City’s subway. RentHop.com cofounder Lee Lin told CNNMoney that he’s heard from people he hasn’t spoken to in years who saw it. He’s also heard from haters.
“Most realized it was a pun, but some were convinced Trump would sue us for plagiarism,” Lin says.
Trump has trademarked his “great” slogan. Last year, he threatened legal action against online T-shirt company CafePress for printing “Make America Great Again” shirts, coffee mugs and baby onesies.
But there’s likely little Trump can do to stop his meme from taking off, especially outside the Election 2016 context. Trump only holds the trademark in a very specific case: for what the U.S. government calls “political action committee services.” He’s applied for wider legal rights.
Presidential slogans have often gone viral
The growing popularity of Trumpisms in business ads — not to mention social media memes — is nothing new. Obama’s “HOPE” campaign poster in 2008 was also picked up widely. There was even a website where you could turn your own photos into what became the iconic red and blue style.
“I remember friends of mine getting married that year used that [Obama] font on their wedding invitations,” says Shachar Meron, a lecturer at the University of Illinois department of advertising.
Meron says Trump’s slogan is easily adaptable to just abut any category or format. It’s not surprising that it’s getting picked up. The trick is to ensure it doesn’t backfire like President George Bush’s “Read my lips: no new taxes” slogan.
“‘Read my lips’ because an easy catchphrase adopted by some businesses and individuals back in the early 1990s, only to have it later become synonymous with broken promises,” Meron says.