Marketing

Brands want you to know they know it’s Presidents Day

By Saya Weissman  •  February 17, 2014  •  3 min read  •

Today is, of course, a holiday — a fact that many brands feel compelled to bring to our attention.

Whether it was part of a stunt or not, Groupon may have won the day this morning by sending out a Presidents Day promotion for $10 off a $40 purchase from local businesses in honor of “President Alexander Hamilton.” Of course, Hamilton was never, like, you know, actually president. When called out on it, the company replied “you’re certainly entitled to your opinion.”

If it was a ploy for attention, it worked. The company subsequently sent out tongue-in-cheek press release and pointed its Twitter followers to a newly created account @PrezHamilton, which has in the Twitter bio “Maybe bad with pistols. Lover of a good deal.”

And of course, Groupon isn’t the only brand that’s using the presidential holiday as social media fodder.

Check out these other examples other brands getting in on the Presidents Day Twitter action:

Airbnb

Airbnb has gotten good at sending out rental listings at just the right moment, as it did for those complaining about poor lodging conditions in Sochi. Apparently George Washington was known for sleeping around, so this probably isn’t the only place you can share a bed with the first president.

Dove Men+Care

Those of us sitting at work are having a difficult time indeed remaining irritation-free, Dove. And you’re not helping.

Hostess

Pretty cute, Hostess, with your little rhyme. And plus one for upping the stock art game here.

Quaker Oats

We had to look up who “Larry” is — apparently “Larry” is what Quaker “insiders” call the Quaker dude featured in the brand’s logo. He is apparently based on William Penn, the Quaker founder of Pennsylvania, whose name is not Larry. What remains unclear is who his old friends might be, since Penn died when Benjamin Franklin and George Washington were still kids. Not a great tweet.

AT&T

AT&T got creative with Vine. Pretty cute, actually.

American Airlines

This was an appropriate way to chime in about a holiday and tie in a vintage image that has to do with the brand’s heritage. It’s also a pretty cool photo.

McDonald’s


Is this supposed to be a riff on a presidential quote? Who is that a picture of, anyway? Looks vaguely like a young Robespierre, which, you know, wrong continent. How about you just stick to tweeting about the Olympics and chicken nuggets, OK?

Denny’s


If this is supposed to be clever or funny, it’s neither. Better luck next time, Denny’s.

https://staging.digiday.com/?p=65217

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