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Can You Guess Which Brand Names Are Associated With Each Candidate?

Sep. 26, 2012 11:45pm Becket Adams

Word association games are not only amusing, they’re revealing. The words someone associates with certain persons or places speaks volumes about the respondent and it says a great deal about how things are perceived.

And a word association game involving the 2012 presidential candidates, their spouses, and brand name products is no different.

“Presidential candidates are advertised as heavily as consumer products, so it’s little surprise that voters have opinions on how President Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney compare to consumer brands,” writes Martha T. Moore for USA Today.

“In a survey by Landor, a brand-identity firm, and pollsters Penn Schoen Berland, likely voters were asked to associate the two men with brand names in a variety of categories,” she explains.

What did Landor and Penn Schoen Berland hope to find with their survey?

The survey results “tell us exactly what people think they know about the candidate,” managing director of Penn Schoen Berland Billy Mann told USA Today. “Who you think you know is how you vote.”

Now keep in mind this survey reveals nothing factual about the candidates. Instead, it reveals how they’re perceived by the general public or, rather, how the general public chooses to perceive them.

So what does the survey tell us? What products do people associate with President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney?

Magazine & Game

Respondents associated President Obama with People Magazine and chess, Gov. Romney with Bussinessweek and Monopoly.

Search Engine & Social Media

Respondents associated President Obama with Google and Facebook, Gov. Romney with Bing and LinkedIn.

Sport & Season

Respondents associated President Obama with basketball and summer, Gov. Romney with golf (really???) and winter.

Clothing Brand & Car

Respondents associated President Obama with Nike and Ford, Gov. Romney with Armani and BMW.

Coffee & Dessert

Respondents associated President Obama with home brewed coffee and apple pie, Gov. Romney with Starbucks and apple pie

And for good measure, the survey asked respondents to associate the spouses of both candidates with popular brands:

Spouses: Department Stores & Clothing Brand

Respondents associated First Lady Michelle Obama with Macy’s and J. Crew, Ann Romney with Saks Fifth Avenue and Ralph Lauren.

The funny things about this survey is that the roles have been reversed from 2008. Back then, respondents associated then-Sen. Obama with “yup-scale brands” such as BMW and Terra Chips, USA Today notes. It was Sen. John McCain who was associated with the “middlebrow” brands such Ford and Cheetos.

“Four years later, the Gucci loafer is on the other foot. Compared with Romney, whose wealth has been a focus throughout the campaign, Obama is associated with middlebrow brands such as Ford, Budweiser and J.C. Penney,” Moore writes.

“It’s Romney, the survey says, whom people associate with high-end and high-life brands: Ritz Carlton, Armani and Saks Fifth Avenue,” she adds.

Again, as mentioned in the above, this is their public perception. So what does this say about how the candidate’s have been marketed to the public?

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

(H/T: Landor; Penn Schoen Berland; USA TODAY; photos courtesy the AP.)

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Comments (31)

Dury
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 8:42pm
The only things I can associate with Obumbler are: Das Capital; Pravda; Koran; Jihad etc!

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mash4077
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 5:56pm
what a waste of time and money!

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FatManChew
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 2:31pm
Anyone else notice that the things associated with Romney has to do with work and anything that has to do with Obama involves goofing off?

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- DrunkGOP_Hack
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 3:54pm
  BO is a LAZY SLACKER.
  
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wingmom
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 1:20pm
Hunh… Obama not associated with golf? Isn’t that what he has been doing almost non stop for the last three years??? What a crock…

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teddrunk
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 12:28pm
Ford? You mean GM. Oh that’s right, Henry Ford disliked Jews too. But then again, I wouldn’t call the Bavarian Motor Works car Jew friendly either.

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ColoradoMaverick
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 12:19pm
Let’s see, what companies would I associate with Barack Obama? GM comes to mind, Solyndra, Ambulance chasing law firms, PETA, Freestuff.com, what else??

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- mrb419
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 2:46pm
  Trojan, KY (maybe, maybe not)…..
  
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The_Cabrito_Goat
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 10:14am
How many more days left again?

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QuincySmith
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 9:58am
It appears that oblama’s policies have not only lowered our living standards, savings, options, and outlook; but his own image as well. Good job, barry.

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- Winedude
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 11:51am
  I find it quite interesting that the stock market is approaching its record levels from 2006-2007. Moreover, corporations are reporting record profits and unusually high amounts of cash on hand. Yet employment rates are not keeping up with the growth in population. This should be pretty good evidence that “trickle down” economics doesn’t work. And, don’t blame it on a fear of new regulations or Obamacare…that’s just a smoke-screen for greedy executives…sad!
  
  Report this comment
- Maj_Jack
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 2:34pm
  @Whine
  
  One of the reasons large companies and corporations are sitting on unusually high amounts of cash is due in some part to the uncertainty in taxes and the implementation of Obama Care. (I’m not going to get into a long diatribe on Obama Care. Suffice to say, it isn’t what they said it was and it cost considerably more then what they claimed and it DOES NOT reduce the deficit over time).
  
  They have not known from year to year what their taxes will be. Why would you hire a bunch of people when you can’t tell what the cost will be the next year? Corporations have a responsibility to the stock holders. Most do not do anything without knowing the long term consequences of their actions and how that will affect the bottom line.
  
  Most people, who have a problem with “greedy executives”, suffer from wealth envy, but given the chance to switch places with that executive and live the lifestyle he or she has they would do it.
  
  Report this comment
HuskerDave
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 9:22am
What a useless survey.

And associating Obama with Ford? I do believe Ford was the only American car company that Obama DIDN’T forcibly turn over to the unions with taxpayer money.

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- Klingon00
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 10:54am
  Exactly, it’s GM (Government Motors) that Obama is photographed in. It is his administration who has been encouraging government organizations to buy only GM vehicles for their fleets. I simply do not understand the connection to Ford at all.
  
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Displacedsoutherner
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 8:53am
I must have missed the department at Macy’s that sells $6800 women’s jackets.

Ford? The one company that told BHO no thanks, we’ll handle our own problems. Aren’t there any Muslim car companies with which Obama could be associated? Oh, I forgot, cars didn’t exist in the 9th century so it’s an offense against Islam (what isn’t?) to build them now.

This survey is unfortunately a testament to the spin power of the media which resides snugly in the pocket of BHO’s custom tailored pants, you remember those pants…the ones with the presidentially sharp crease that so impressed David Brooks.

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Gonzo
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 8:11am
“Respondents associated President Obama with Nike and Ford” Ford? Really?
What brand of cigarettes do these imbeciles associate with Barry?

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- Dan_o
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 9:15am
  That’s the first thing I thought, too. The same Ford that said NO to the handout?
  
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- DrunkGOP_Hack
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 3:55pm
  DAN that just shows how STUPID liberal Democrats are.
  
  CLUELESS, UNUSEFUL IDIOTS!
  
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Mannax
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 6:54am
That is funny, though I would have chose Chutes & Ladders for Obama’s game.

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- Dano.50
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 9:28am
  Actually the version I was thinking of is “Snakes” and ladders.
  
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NOTMOHAMMED
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 4:43am
Why wasn’t ScottTissue mentioned? Best bumwad around.

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Spyderco
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 2:53am
Obama is more like Jenga, when it all crumbles down, and Dodge, which means “to avoid”.

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Riccy102
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 1:47am
My daughter called me today. She’s in college. She’s livid. To make a sorry story short, large numbers turned out for Michelle Obama, and her apprearance made the front page news. Paul Ryan also stopped off to speak but got no mention in the press. Students my daughter hears airing their political views are mostly in favor of Obama and think Romney will raise taxes on the middle class. It makes my stomach turn. But the media and all its lies are winning among accedemia. I harken to the words of Christ on the Cross….”Lord forgive them, They know not what they do.”

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- lassiegirldawn
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 3:45am
  Hitler got his agenda through the youth also, history repeats it’s self.
  
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- TreeTrimmerJim
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 6:16am
  “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.” ~ Adolf Hitler
  
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s13iLLuminati
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 1:19am
No. Obama can’t have chess, he would surrender all his pawns and then hope for a stalemate. I’ve got a better game to associate with him: SORRY!

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thevikinghelmetwithhorns
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 12:36am
huh?

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BurntHills
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 12:22am
American TAXPAYERS spent $1.6 billion (BILLION) on obama’s luxurious extravagant dictatorial life style last year. …………..sort of makes Mitt’s $250mil estate over his lifetime look a little ghetto, don’t you think?

we drive FORDs — and take offense at those idiots who were polled… their god obama is more prissy little commie obama-weeblecar CHEVY VOLT and his precious little blue bikie than any -masculine- AMERICAN FORD.

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vic138
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 12:02am
Obama and Ford?? What about GM? The rest of the list is even worse.

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- crusaderx9
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 12:19am
  Yup, more c r a p that has nothing to do with obama’s abysmal record and numerous failures…
  
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independentvoteril
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 11:59pm
OK that tells me that OBAMA is still where he started his adult life at and ROMNEY has made it and moved up..

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