USA’s Brand Is Tarnished

I’m starting to think America’s brand has been tarnished. Like Mongoose bikes. Mongoose used to be one of the best BMX bikes on the market. If you were a kid who owned a Mongoose, other kids respected and/or envied you. Either way, they thought you were cool.

Then Walmart struck a deal with Mongoose and the quality went to hell. A hard-earned reputation was soon destroyed by those who were looking for a quick cash-in on a trusted name.

America struck a deal with Walmart and even more unsavory actors long ago.

Tylenol had a brand problem in the 80’s. They said it was good for a headache, but thanks to someone tampering with the bottles, if you took one you might end up dead. America’s like that now. If you drink the water in Flint, or get on the wrong seat on an airplane, or if you live in East Palestine, Ohio, it could be all over for you.

Tylenol worked diligently to repair their reputation, beginning with designing tamper-proof packaging to ensure that the contents within would be safe to the consumer. Perhaps someone might come up with a tamper-proof lid for the United States, but I’m not confident that’s going to happen. We’re busy selling bullets in vending machines now, so it’s evident that safety is not our top priority.

See, that’s what I’m talking about. Selling ammo in vending machines might be good for short-term profits, but it takes some of the luster from the overall brand. Now when people are asked about the United States, people will say: “Isn’t that the country where people can buy bullets out of a gumball machine?” In Europe and elsewhere, people used to love watching John Wayne and Clint Eastwood pull out their big American guns and fight the bad guys. But now guns in the U.S. have come to be associated with psychopaths walking into schools and shooting little kids. America’s gun-toting brand has lost its cachet, and I’m not sure any actor or Hollywood movie studio will be able to recapture the magic.

Democracy is one of the products America most likes to promote overseas. But one look at one of our campaign ads is likely to turn anyone off. And if they were to walk the aisles of Democracy R U.S., the only thing we have on our shelves is two rotten onions for people to choose from. More and more, people are opting to just go hungry…