Brands Playing Major Role in Election

Brands playing major role in election - Companies back involvement, not candidates
By TED JOHNSON

Like many other stars this election season, Virginia Madsen traveled the country, taped a public service announcement and gave extensive media interviews to promote voter registration. The effort is in the name of the League of Women Voters — and Botox, for which Madsen serves as a spokeswoman.

This marriage of celebrity, campaign and consumer product is quite commonplace this election year.

Companies such as Pizza Hut, Mountain Dew, McDonald’s, MTV, IFC and Lifetime have weighed in — careful to promote voter involvement but not to endorse any candidate.

Corporate America is turning to this election as a marketing opportunity, a way to engage consumers with their brands. The conventional wisdom that the election is generating a new level of interest — particularly among younger voters, women and African-Americans — is driving many of the efforts to catch some of the campaign season’s star dust.

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