On March 23, on this website, I authored an essay titled, ‘How brands can avoid the Super Bowl and Olympics trap during America’s birthday celebration.’ The thesis of the article was that there will be so many promotions regarding America’s birthday that it will be difficult for one brand to differentiate itself from others, similar to what happens during the Super Bowl and Olympic Games.
As I was writing this in early June, many brands had already started their America’s birthday celebrations. An internet search revealed, “Major consumer and retail brands have already launched limited-edition products, commemorative merchandise, and national campaigns to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.”
Examples included:
- Coca-Cola: Rolled out Coca-Cola Collectible Cans and Bottles featuring 52 custom designs (one for each state, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico) and launched the “Paint the Nation” mural initiative.
- Mountain Dew: Temporarily rebranded its flagship drink to “American Dew” with patriotic flag-themed labels and launched a sweepstakes for $250 cash prizes.
- Oreo: Teamed up with Popsicle to create Firecracker Pop cookies featuring blue raspberry, lemon, and cherry-flavored creme.
- Cheerios: Released a limited-edition Birthday Cake flavor in bright red, white, and blue boxes.
- Clorox: Launched a summer portfolio-wide campaign with America 250-themed packaging across Hidden Valley Ranch, Kingsford, Glad, and Burt’s Bees.
- Apparel & Retail: Disney has launched an exclusive “Americana” collection (available on the Disney Store), while brands like New Era and Fanatics are selling limited-edition 250th anniversary hats and jerseys.
- A ShopRite campaign highlights America’s 250th birthday with seasonal red, white, and blue tags across their “Fill the Grill” advertising slots and digital platforms.
- Stop & Shop’s holiday messaging is primarily focused on “Feed the Moment,” they also carry various limited-edition red, white, and blue snack items and 4th of July party recipes.” (Personally, I think most shoppers would celebrate more affordable food prices at these and other grocery stores.)
To say that promotions like the above offend me is untrue. What is true is that they show as much creativity as the chair I’m sitting on as I write this. What does offend me is the patriotic promotions of sports leagues which have been going on for many decades.
While all leagues are complicit, the National Football League’s patriotic displays, in my opinion, are, and have been, the most hypocritical.
Here’s why:
Hypocritical because a 2015 report released by former Sens. John Flake and John McCain revealed that America’s sports leagues charged the Pentagon almost $7-million to allow “paid patriotic” displays at games, with NFL teams receiving the largest chunk of the taxpayer’s pie — more than $6-million, according to a USA TODAY article on Nov. 4th, 2015.
The league itself returned $723,734, which it deemed inappropriate use of the Pentagon’s money. Said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that an audit uncovered that over the course of four seasons $723,734 “may have been mistakenly applied to appreciation activities rather than recruitment efforts.” Say what? The money was returned only after “paid patriotism” articles were published.
But, in my opinion, the tackiest patriotic promotion belongs to Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball teams try to demonstrate their patriotism by honoring a “Veteran of the Game.” That’s commendable. Our veterans should be honored for their service. But what makes the ceremony a laugher, in my opinion, is that some teams present a flag that has flown over their stadium to the “Veteran of the Game.” Baseball has a long history with the United States. But it never occurred to me that a stadium is a patriotic site, unless it’s the stadiums at the U.S. military academies. (According to MLB.com, “All 30 Major League Baseball teams honor military veterans and active-duty service members, with in-stadium game-day recognition being a standard practice across the league.)
Also not “honoring America” is NBCUniversal’s televising of the Olympic Games from totalitarian countries with their Olympic broadcasting team “forgetting” to mention the human rights and atrocities committed by host states that are rivals of the United States.
In addition, sports leagues allow television commercials touting products during games that research has found are harmful, including alcoholic beverages and betting.
Unlike brand TV commercials that just want your money, those on sports telecasts stand alone: They can harm your health and your wealth.
Public relations agencies tout their creativity; so does our kin, the advertising business. Thus far, when writing this essay, I haven’t seen any America’s birthday celebrations that demonstrate creativity, but that might change. If it doesn’t, A.I. might also refer to PR and advertising practitioners.
