You might remember the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling. (Wikipedia shortcut: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 08-205 (2010), was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court holding that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited — because of the First Amendment.)
2012 will be the first Presidential election in which corporations are free to spend as much as they would like behind candidates.
I think this posses for a particularly interesting kind of stimulus that will impact brands (corporate, subsidiary and other related brands).
No doubt the press will report how the money is flowing. I wonder to what extent customers will judge marketers and brands based on this new information.
Let’s see.
- Got to Influence Explorer. It is a great site to see how a company, a lawmaker or a prominent individual is influencing the political system.
- Type in a company or person or brand you like and explore how they are spending their money in support of candidates or political parties.
- Do you feel the same way about that brand? Do you feel closer or further away from it?
Do report back.