Every store is a purple store

I use the phrase "greater good" above for maximum effect, because my more politically-inclined friends still insist that being an activist for your preferred candidate somehow improves the world. I've never really bought into this on an individual level. And I'm downright positive that it's totally untrue when applied to retailers, hotels, restaurants and other commercially-driven private and semi-public spaces. Pick a candidate, and you alienate some portion of your customer base. If your guy wins, you've essentially locked in that alienation for the next four, six or eight years, depending on the office. If your guy loses, your customers' memories of your activism will likely fade more quickly, but you still haven't encouraged any additional loyalty. Unless there are considerable political favors to be had if your candidate prevails (which I understand is a big no-no), it's a lose-lose situation for the retailer.
Gas stations and retailers are in the spotlight
Gas Station TV (which sells ads on pump-top digital screens) was in the news recently for coming to this very conclusion. Apparently, the Obama campaign approached the company about buying ad time to talk about the energy crisis behind $4/gallon gas. However, Gas Station TV made "a conscious decision not to run political ads" and eventually refused to accept the placement. It doesn't take much imagination to guess what might have happened had they run the ads. Regardless of where you lean on the political spectrum, it's not going to be very comforting to hear about why gas is so expensive while you're right in the middle of pumping that expensive gas into your car. And that discomfort might get transferred to the station or brand of stations playing the ads, which could easily translate to future lost sales.
The nation's largest retailer, Walmart, has taken a different approach to handling political ads. Instead of explicitly endorsing one party or another, they've decided to air voting-oriented public service announcements on their in-store TV network. Arranged like a series of old-school gym posters, the "Exercise Your Right to Vote" campaign will be seen by 136 million customers and 1.4 million US store employees every week. Superficially, at least, the Walmart behemoth appears to be doing good and encouraging the democratic process. Conspiracy theorists, on the other hand, think the retailer has a preferred candidate and a good understanding of how core shoppers are likely to vote, and believe that the latter might help get the former elected if enough of them can be encouraged to go to the polls. If that theory is true, Walmart could score a major coup by getting their choice for president elected while never running a single political ad in their stores -- all the while encouraging fair play by airing public service announcements instead.
Taking sides is unlikely to pay off
When I was growing up, discussions about religion and politics were generally off-the-table at our family gatherings. (Things were loud and fractious enough without broaching those topics.) That same rule definitely carries over into the retail space, as well it should. Unless a retailer has a significant vested interest and a predictable upside in seeing a particular candidate win office, they're much better off avoiding the entire debate. And while a mom-and-pop operation probably isn't going to run into too many problems supporting their man (or woman) for the city council, that doesn't carry over to national retailers. When you have to present a unified image and message to multiple idiosyncratic audiences in cities and towns all around the country, the game changes considerably.
Say what you will about capitalism trumping politics. I'll take ads for Pop-Tarts over presidential candidates any day.
Did Gas Station TV and Walmart make the right decision to avoid politically-charged ads? Leave a comment and let me know your opinion.
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