If you want to reach a large audience, you should consider running a commercial during next year’s Super Bowl. Of course, that’ll cost you roughly $7 million for 30 seconds of airtime, so I hope you have deep pockets.
But here’s something you might not have considered: I can get you an audience the exact same size as the Super Bowl for a mere fraction of the cost. Seriously! If the only metric you care about is reaching the greatest number of eyeballs, you can replicate the Super Bowl’s reach for mere pennies on the dollar: Just buy a bunch of ads on the top 50 or so “adult content” sites.
Last year, 123.7 million people watched the Super Bowl. You can absolutely 100% match those numbers with adult websites. Billions of people visit them. PornHub alone has 10.8 billion monthly visitors! (Yes, I know, not you or any of your friends — it’s everyone else who’s keeping that multibillion-dollar industry afloat. I know, I know.)
But most brands don’t want to be associated with sexually graphic garbage. There is no way in hell, for example, Disney would ever promote its latest multicultural remake on PornHub or whatever, even if it was extraordinarily cost-effective. No price would be worth the cost, because it would negatively tarnish the House of Mouse. It would constitute a brand-crime.
And that’s the little secret about the price of Super Bowl commercials: It’s really not about the number of eyeballs. That’s NOT what companies pay a premium for! Instead, the value is having your brand affiliated with the most popular sporting event in America.
That’s the true power of positive association.
Of course, the opposite is also true. Some associations are toxic — and if you don’t believe me, let me ask you this: When was the last time you used the word “niggardly” in public? Damn straight! The word itself is totally innocent: “Niggardly” is derived from the Middle English word nigon, which was a euphemism for stingy. It has been part of the English lexicon since the 1300s, whereas the N-word was first used as a derogatory slur in the 1770s.
Doesn’t seem fair to punish an innocent word, does it? But that’s reality.
The symbol of the Swastika had an even longer history than “niggardly” — most of which was highly positive — but outside of India, the savagery of the Nazis has ruined that connotation. Similarly, the word “niggardly” has totally lost its functional utility. It’s just too phonetically similar to a vile epithet. The purpose of language, after all, is to help us communicate, and using that word would only detract from your message.
This takes us to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
The true value of his endorsement isn’t the eyeballs he reaches or the number of voters who supported him. It’s not about that at all. Instead, PR battles are a competition of dueling narratives: The available facts are assembled in such a way as to present the most appealing — and most marketable — version of reality.
And here’s where RFK Jr. can really help.
By joining the MAGA train, RFK Jr. is helping Trump craft a narrative where The Donald is open-minded and forgiving of his former rivals. It shows he’s capable of attracting independents, moderates, liberals, practically anyone — hell, even a Kennedy joined Trump!
It also makes a powerful statement via omission: By snubbing Kamala Harris and choosing Trump, others will be more likely to follow RFK Jr.’s lead. By definition, trendsetters set trends. Kennedy is blazing a trail for others to follow. He’s either the last of the old Democrats or the first of the new Democrats.
Either way, it’s the beginning of a movement.
It also blunts the Kamala Harris post-convention bounce. Instead of everyone speaking about her big speech, people are talking about Kennedy’s.
Over the next few weeks, the Democrats will target RFK Jr. at least as much as JD Vance. They have to: It would be PR malpractice to let Kennedy skate. The crazier and more fringe he seems, the less valuable his endorsement.
The PR bullets are (metaphorically) about to fly. Fortunately, the RFK Jr. endorsement gives Trump extra ammo to fire back.
And if that doesn’t work, well, I guess we could advertise on PornHub.
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