A tale of two campaigns in one photo

Any time Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney talks about how he wants to “get tough on China” and create jobs in America, just think of this photo.

On the left is a hat from the Romney/Ryan ticket with its “Made In China” label, while the hat on the right from the Obama/Biden campaign shows it was “Union Made In The U.S.A.”

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7 thoughts on “A tale of two campaigns in one photo

  1. “Mitt: ‘China, you’re a liar and a cheater and a manipulator. But I would totally sleep with you.'” –Mindy Nettifee

  2. Blaze isn’t quite a bastion of journalistic integrity given it is Glenn Beck’s brainchild. What precisely does “official” mean? Can anyone simply use the Romney/Ryan campaign logo or a near representation of such for anything they please without the permission of the Romney campaign? So, the logo on the tan hat isn’t copyrighted or trademarked? So, the logo is free for commercial use to anyone who chooses to make a buck off it. I think not. One second of research may not be enough, Squid. You might have to combine your one second of research with one second of actual thought.

    In order to reproduce the Romney Ryan logo one must receive permission as a matter of international copyright and trademark law. If the campaign did not give permission for use of their logo on this hat, then Romney/Ryan supporters are not only ideologically inconsistent, they are criminal profiteers. And you know, illegally reproducing a logo is kind of a big deal. Have you ever tried to reproduce a logo when you didn’t have permission to use it? The printer/manufacturer is liable and responsible for verifying permission of logo use – kinda standard practice. So, whoever it is printing these caps would most likely have to prove that this was either not a trademarked Romney campaign logo or that they had permission to use the logo from the Romney campaign. Either way the Romney campaign would have to verify one or the other. Don’t expect the Romney campaign to ‘fess up either way because either way the Romney campaign is on the wrong side of the issue.

    The Obama Campaign Committee hasn’t allowed unauthorized vendors to reproduce their logo in the holy name of “free enterprise.” The campaign sued Washington Promotions and Printing and its “Demstore” for trademark infringement not too long ago. The Romney campaign could do the same thing if this is an “unofficial use” of the logo – Romney could, if he so chose and was so committed to American jobs. If the Romney campaign is oblivious to protecting its own copyright or its own brand, Romney definitely can’t be trusted to be a steward of the nation’s commercial interests. If he’s allowing an unauthorized vendor to compete with his own official merchandise he’s not too wily in the ways of his own economic model or in politics 101 – capturing all those lost contacts that would have been purchased through the official Romney site. I don’t believe for a moment the campaign is that dull. The other and most logical possibility is that the campaign licensed the logo for commercial use without vetting the vendor or without caring if that vendor would manufacture its promotional goods offshore. If this isn’t a case of copyright infringement (i.e. the logo on the hat isn’t the Romney/Ryan campaign logo) it is still a matter of branding and integrity. If Romney didn’t know someone was making a buck off his name and much of those bucks were going to China, he surely does now. I suspect he’s fine with that, and he wouldn’t file any lawsuits on something like PRINCIPLE. Maybe do some one second searches over the course of the next year or so – see if it happens. It won’t and the Conservative propagandasphere, including Blaze, will be sure you forget about it.

    Trump was recently busted on Letterman for the same thing – bloviating about China, but oblivious to his own commercial interests overseas: His personal line of Trump-wear is manufactured in China and Bangladesh, and he was unaware of it. Hypocritical profiteering – again. Face it, Conservative ideology and Conservative economic policy furthers profiteering and exploitation and does less than zero to create conditions of stability in the United States. If Romney can’t even control something as minute as his logo or his brand, then certainly he can’t or more accurately won’t control the U.S. economy if he were elected. He’ll leave it up to the infallible and highly nebulous “market forces” with his grand plan of doing absolutely nothing.

    1. Congratulations, you’ve prattled aimlessly about a photo that you can’t even prove wasn’t photoshopped. At least I assumed that it was simply unofficial; I have no idea what point you were trying to make. My guess is that you think Obama is omniscient and has no unofficial gear available.

      http://www.zazzle.com/once_you_vote_black_you_never_go_back_tee_shirt-235622093680652737

      Oh, lookie there, it’s IMPORTED.

      No really, thanks for the good read though.

  3. the Romney / Ryan hats in the viral photo have been proven to be KNOCK_OFFS, FAKES, etc. etc. the campaign website does not even offer hats made in that style or color and never did. (chinese companies have been copying all kinds of stuff for years to make money off of us, what makes you think they would not copy these hats? and i’ll bet if you look for them you can find Obama or bidden hats made in china too!)
    IMHO it is just another attempt by opponents who will stoop to any level of trickery to try and get your vote!

  4. Boy, that’s one brilliant yahoot proving my point. As Andrea Saul stated all “official” campaign merchandise is made in the USA. You do realize “official” isn’t a legal term. It doesn’t mean “exclusive.” She neither confirmed nor denied whether or not the “official” logo was licensed to third party vendors in order to manufacture unofficial merchandise. Convenient omission. For a candidate like Romney making fallacious claims about “getting tough” on China, gee you’d think maybe he’d get a little tough on China by tightening up his own organization starting with his brand and knock offs thereof. Point is, he really can’t given a free enterprise system gone out of control. Thanks for the link: Zazzle POD retailing is a great example making the authenticity of the photo posted above entirely moot. It really doesn’t matter if that photo is doctored because we all know there are thousands of knock offs in circulation. Obama can’t entirely control his brand either, but he has a demonstrated record of trying. Romney has no record of doing so. To claim Romney can control an out of control market by getting tough on China is just lying. He can’t even control his own brand. Again – his surrogate, Trump, is a prime example – completely oblivious to how his name is branded. You are right in pointing out the questionable authenticity of the photo which makes your desperate Zazzle equivalency so hilarious. The bottom line is it doesn’t matter if Zazzle carries copyrighted Obama merchandise manufactured overseas. Obama does enforce copyright. Check out the Romney/Ryan knock offs on Zazzle – there are retailers all over the world using Romney’s brand. Vendors in Europe, vendors in Asia… but like I said, all in the name of Free Enterprise…. the free enterprise that’s killing America….

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