The Trump Brand: An American Success Story
How brilliant marketing affects our politics
P.T. Barnum once said “A sucker is born every minute,” referring to the people who came to his shows. Personally, I think Barnum erred on the side of caution. From my observations, I think they are born more often than that. They come ready and willing to believe. When they are confronted with facts that contradict what they believe, they are dragged screaming and kicking into reality.
A number of years ago I worked a part-time job at a Target store in the grocery department. In the evening before the store closed, one of my tasks was to refill the coolers with gallon jugs of milk. At that time, Target carried only two brands of milk. They carried Kemps and their store brand, Market Pantry. The Kemps brand came in a sturdy plastic jug with a visually appealing label bearing their name. The Target brand came in a thinner plastic jug, and the bore a much plainer label.
In time I began to suspect the Target brand milk was the same milk that came in the Kemps containers, though I had no real proof of it. When milk was delivered to the store, both brands came on the same truck on the same day at the same time. I also realized that Target Corporation didn’t own and operate dairy farms or own cows. How could they? They had to be getting their milk from…
