Obama as the Joker: Bad Marketing?

I can think of a few comparisons between the Joker and Obama…

* The Joker said he was like a dog, if he chased a car and caught it, he probably would not know what to do with it. Which is kinda like Obama right now — he chased the presidency, caught it, and doesn’t really know what to do with it.

* The Joker lit a huge pile of money on fire, and Obama seems to be doing the same thing with his insane monetary policies

* The Joker surrounded himself with criminals and law breakers… so does Obama

OK, I’m having too much fun here, I better stop haha

Ben

I’m happy to see the American people are finally waking up!
How could this nightmare happen in our country? I’ve always thought that Americans had more sense than this…
Lorraine

I’m happy to see the American people are finally waking up!
How could this nightmare happen in our country? I’ve always thought that Americans had more sense than this…
Lorraine

Ryan,

I think the poster serves it’s purpose remarkably well. It creates doubt about Obama… that he is not who he campaigned as. He fooled many, like the Joker would have. And, yes, the poster hits at a gut level.

The people who are still enthralled with Obama will continue to be enthralled by him. For the rest of us, or those “on the fence”, that poster serves as a reminder… the President, like the joker, is hiding behind a mask. He denies his true self.

The poster did it’s job.

Thank you Ryan, for this great post. I love the picture. I never thought about the fact that the Joker was an anarchist, I just thought he was a criminal.

I’m tired of the adoration of the man. I’m totally shocked also, at the speed with which he is destroying our nation.

I’m sure you will get grief for showing this but thanks!

@Ben – You have a great knack for drawing comparisons. I especially see the logical connection in your 2nd bullet. Thanks for such a well thought out comment.

@Lorraine – I’ve asked the same questions myself.

@Margo – You’re welcome. Thank YOU for leaving a comment. :-)

@Bob – Great point about Obama hiding behind a mask. I hadn’t thought of that.

FOR THE RECORD:

For anybody reading this, I dislike Obama just like I disliked McCain. I don’t discriminate in my distaste of career politicians.

Back during campaign season, I was posting my concerns about both Obama, McCain, and Sarah Palin. I didn’t vote for any of them.

ALSO, IN CASE YOU’RE INTERESTED:

I got my fist unsubscribe because of this post. Here is what the ex-subscriber says:

“I am an Obama supporter and DO NOT appreciate you posting such negative remarks about him…I no longer want to hear from you. You are entitled to your opinion and I am also entitled to mine. I did not like this post.

“p.s. I WAS really a big fan and follower of you and your IM work. Not anymore.”

Funny how certain individuals take politics so seriously. My brother and sister-in-law voted for Obama — and we’re still family… and we’re still friends. :-)

Ryan

Ryan,
Take it as a compliment that the guy unsubscribed. When you write from the heart, you’re gonna’ tick a few off. You do a great job.

RT @healymonster: Obama as the Joker: Bad Marketing: In case U missed…a doctored image of Obama as Joker went viral: http://bit.ly/q8ceU
This comment was originally posted on Twitter

Ryan my friend are wrong!

You’re an educated guy. But most of the American populace aren’t. All they know about the Joker is that he’s one messed up dude. This poster is an example of what’s called “Cultural Jamming” and it is absolutely powerful. This is brilliant marketing – sheer genius.

And also funny how it seems some people can’t make one more logical connection — Obama, like the rest of us, is human and can screw up. I’m Australian btw, so I have no real emotional involvement in the guy.

Not everyone is out there to fool you and get you in their taloned clutches from whence you cannot escape!

Although good marketing does this frequently… ;-)

“p.s. I WAS really a big fan and follower of you and your IM work. Not anymore.”

Ryan, I think you should email him back and ask:

“Why so serious?”

As a political statement, which is what I believe this poster to be, it’s brilliant.

I grabs attention big time. And it does it at the visceral level, which in this type of campaign, it must do.

In the end, down the road, intellect comes into play. At first it’s all gut though.

So I considered unsubscribing, nah, not really. :)

I’m at the point, I believe the political situation in the US has gotten to the point, it’s all downhill from here. But that’s a subject for another day.

And as far as someone unsubscribing because they don’t like this content, even though they used to admire you, until you did this despicable thing: they were just looking for an excuse.

Well you certainly know how to fire people up Ryan.

But seriously, I’m Canadian and when I came across this poster it got my blood boiling too.

It’s insulting and powerful at the same time.

And I got a good laugh out of Ben’s comment:

“* The Joker lit a huge pile of money on fire, and Obama seems to be doing the same thing with his insane monetary policies”

As an outsider, I agree, maybe it’s none of my business?

However, artists have something powerful to teach us copywriters, salesman and marketers. To paraphrase Robert Collier… when it’s action you want go for the emotions every time.

As for the unsubscriber… good riddance.

Gwar har har!

Courtney James

I’m mentioned by name so I’m compelled to respond…

@Ryan: I’m pretty certain we’re not political opposites. I’m a small-L libertarian (classical liberal, Jeffersonian Democrat, whatever you want to call it) in terms of ideology. I typically pull the lever for the LP candidate and I voted twice for GWB (and regretted it almost immediately in 2004). President Obama is the first Democrat I’ve voted for in a partisan election.

I abhor hyper-partisanship in issues politics, but admire masterful campaigners. I grew up in a household that watched gavel-to-gavel coverage of both national party conventions… pre-cable. My father was a Reagan Democrat who never looked back and my mother campaigned for Bobby Kennedy.

I have a general mistrust of government, but I’m not so naive that the private sector is always more efficient or the better choice when it comes to serving me and my neighbors. The market for private security personnel, for example, excludes most people so I gladly pay taxes so my community has a police force. If I waited for private enterprise to fix the potholes on my street, they’d never get filled. If nothing else, government is quite good at writing checks… and that often has an uncanny ability to get things done.

Also, the president’s hardly a socialist, no matter if you’re looking at it economically or politically. He’s a garden variety modern liberal, with a healthy dose of Midwestern (read: Chicago) political pragmatism mixed in. But calling someone a liberal just doesn’t work like it did against Mike Dukakis. The socialism tag came from the right wing echo machine in an attempt to win a few more votes last fall. When that didn’t work, they moved on to fascist after January 20, 2009. When that didn’t work, they moved on to the birth certificate conspiracy. It’ll be something else soon enough.

@Ben: Monetary policy isn’t what you think it is. The Federal Reserve sets monetary policy — which regulates the supply of money, among other things — and operates much the same way the Supreme Court does: whoever’s president at the time appoints the people to the body as vacancies come open, but they don’t answer to him. The Fed is independent within government. So, really, the logical connection Ryan touts on your behalf doesn’t exist.

As for points one and three, the least you could do is exercise a little intellectual honesty here. Time and again, the people who get elected to the office have chased the job and been over they heads once they have it. The presidency, quite honestly, is a living, breathing exemplar of the Peter Principle. And the halls of power usually attract criminals and the morally bankrupt. In the first case, President Obama’s no different than any other president, theoretically; as a practical matter, he’s actually been more prolific in accomplishing his legislative goals within six months than any other modern president. And in the second case — right, wrong or otherwise — he’s no different than any politician at any level.

@Margo: I think it’s unfortunate that fearmongering has you believing that health insurance reform means that seniors will be euthanized. The people who’ve been pushing this notion have acted immorally by doing so.

I’ve read about 75 percent of the original House health care bill and there’s plenty in there to be concerned about if it survives the reconciliation process and gets signed into law. But the truth is nowhere does it give anyone the authority to decide your end of life should you become terminally ill. That someone who purports to share your values told you that it does… well, what does it say about them that they’ve lied to you to stoke your emotions through fear?

@Bob and @Mike: You’ve both hit the nail on the head. The poster worked because it’s visceral. I find it amusing. After all, I do admire masterful campaigners and this poster is the work of one.

Obama a socialist? NOT. He won’t even discuss single-payer health care, which almost every civilized country enjoys. He redistributes wealth from those who are suffering to those who are already wealthy, just slightly less extremely than his predecessor, he continues the illegal war. Oh yes, and he buys “toxic assets” in such a way that the risk shifts to the government (that’s OUR money, folks), but the profits stay in the private sector.

Socialism would be quite an improvement, under the circumstances. At least the kind they have in places like Denmark.

Obama as the Joker: Bad Marketing: In case you missed it, a doctored image of Obama as the Joker went viral yes.. http://bit.ly/q8ceU
This comment was originally posted on Twitter

@ Ryan — only 1 unsubscribe? John Manley lost at least 10 with his Obama post last year… you gotta turn it up. ;)

@Ben — “Ryan, I think you should email him back and ask:
“Why so serious?”

L O L !!!

Hi Ryan,
Thanks for your insightful comments. “President” Obama is indeed a socialist, which is legalized theft, and which makes Big Government the new religion of our degenerate, effeminate populace.
Using the same headline (SOCIALIST), I think an even more powerful image would be him dressed up like the Pope (a religious dictator antithetical to America’s Christain Protestant heritage), or Count Dracula (whose socialistic, degenerate liberal policies will ultimately suck the life-blood out of businesses all across the country.

With Obama at the helm, we’re not only on the road to serfdom, but national bankruptcy.

PS: It was the liberalism of George Bush (a fatal, anti-Christian virus) that ultimately destroyed his presidency. Because he was, in fact, a liberal, he will go down in history as one of the worst presidents. I say this as a man who voted for him not once, but twice. The Republicans have lost all credibility. The salt has lost its savor.

Ryan

I love reading your post and this time the opinions on board jars abit to my european sensibilities. Socialism is not communism and generally it does not exist in its pure form or meaning. Most of the countries that adopt socialism tend to temper it with capitalism.

I agree agree with Rob of Denver and ultimately Obama is a politician and no different from any other. Then again, what was the alternative if not him, McCain? He is not a well man and there is also a slight chance that should he not survive the presidency, Ms Palin might become the President. That is definitely putting the cat amongst the pigeon, if it did happen.

As to the comment…”The Republicans have lost all credibility. The salt has lost its savor.”

I disagree. They have made some mistakes, and have lost some credibility.

But there seems to be a ground swell of anger against the wild spending of the Dems in power…and more support for a Republican/fiscally responsible way of thinking.

Americans are scared that the administration and Congress don’t seem to care what the majority of Americans think or want any more. The Dems are hell bent on getting their way, and are spending like drunken sailors. There is no way to correct the economy by not cutting taxes and inspiring growth.

People are “seeing through” Obama, Pelosi, Reed and the others in charge. The distrust is building… which is why the Joker poster hits home.

I talk to a lot of Democrats who now regret their vote for Mr. Obama. They feel cheated; he is not what they voted for. Again, the poster relates to their feelings.

Good post. I think we probably just are over-analyzing. When I first so the poster at http://www.infowars.com I didn’t get it. Joker, Socialism, Obama? My mind was trying to figure out all the connections. Well, I get the socialism-Obama connection all too well… just the rest, as you say, isn’t too tightly woven.

But it seems to be working. And most people don’t think so hard, so it working, as you say, on an emotional level. The Joker is just a villain we all know. He’s up there with Lex Luther.

If anything, Lex may have been a better choice… but I think may be the symbolism of the “Joker” being a mask, a joke, a disguise, a farce…

John got it right. We are over-analyzing. The poster does what it was designed to do. To get attention and make a political statement.

And I’m with Ryan. The republicans and democrats are both equally able to spend ‘like drunken sailors’.

It’s likely we’ll come to greatly regret the deficit spending. And so will our children.

And indeed, in my opinion, the Republicans have indeed lost all credibility. It’s just that the Democrats haven’t had any in years.

Dang. It will be interesting to watch.

yeah, its bad marketing and bad joke on the joker.

@Rob in Denver:

Thank you so much for being the premiere voice of reason in this thread. I am tired of the conservative hysterics going on right now., and can’t help but remember that just a few short years ago anybody daring to speak so brazenly of Obama’s predecessor would have been shouted down as a “traitor”. But now that there’s a new administration we’re all supposed to just laugh and make jokes at the voters’ expense.

We need to pray for Obama and his admistration, not revile them.

Gina,

Why would you defend a man who sends union thugs to punch old women in the face?