The Biden Conundrum

It's a problem as old as marketing: how do you get the public to see your product the way you want them to see it instead of the way they already do?

The classic example of how to do it right was after the Tylenol poisonings of 1982. Future business classes might someday teach that the classic example of how to do it wrong is Presidentish Joe Biden's reelection campaign. 

After seven people died in the Chicago area from poisoned Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules, it wasn't just government authorities who lept into action — so did Tylenol maker Johnson & Johnson. It quickly expanded the citywide recall to the entire nation, pulled products from store shelves, and even paid for advertisements telling people not to buy or take any of its products containing acetaminophen.

Tylenol's market share dropped from 35% to 8%. But after J&J introduced new security measures to its production lines, reintroduced Tylenol in triple-tamper-proof packaging, and offered nice discounts, its market share quickly rebounded.

This is the way: admit there's a problem, work with total transparency to fix the problem, and do everything in your power (almost no matter the cost) to win back customers.

Had Johnson & Johnson done anything differently, hardly anyone would remember Tylenol today. 

PJ Media's own Matt Margolis covered this part earlier on Thursday, about Biden's ill-fated Monday appearance on "Late Night with Seth Meyers." The goal was to show that Biden could still handle the rigors (!!!) of a friendly talk show interview, but he failed at even that. But ultimately it didn't matter — for good or for ill — because the public wasn't watching. Ratings for "Late Night" were down a whopping 32% compared to the same night last year.

For three years we've been told that the border is secure, that the economy is booming, that inflation was illusory, transitory, a high-class problem, and over already (pick one or all four!), that Biden is a foreign policy genius, that Iran could be trusted... I could go on, but you get the point. Everything you see with your own eyes is an illusion. What Biden tells you is the truth. The problem is you, comrade.

Then there's the boogyman, Donald Trump. It's been a three-year-long effort on the part of the Democrats to brand the competition as dangerous, anti-democratic, criminal, corrupt, senescent (really!), and even fascist. All the Jan 6. hype and trials, the mock insurrection, the lawsuits — they all serve the same purpose: marketing Trump as the inferior product. 

We've been fed three years of Biden's tainted Tylenol, but the entire Democrat-Media Complex is devoted to making people believe that Trump is the real poison.

This is not the way: refuse to admit there's a problem, use the press and friendly photo ops to make it appear as though you're fixing the problem, and scare your customers into believing that the competition is even worse. 

Another complicating detail is that Biden has changed persona once already. Biden's performance in office is not what the press sold us during his basement campaign. He went from 2020's "Kindly Moderate Joe" to the current "Moves Slow and Breaks Things."

How many reboots is the public supposed to buy?

The Biden we've grown used to (and all too weary of) is the Biden that even the White House marketing machine is stuck with. So maybe 40 years from now, hardly anyone will remember Joe Biden — certainly not fondly.

Recommended: Google Still Doesn't Get It

P.S. Help PJ Media keep getting the truth out by becoming one of our VIP or VIP Gold supporters. You need independent news and analysis and we need to keep the lights on. You can join here and don't forget our massive 50% off SAVEAMERICA promo code.