Cards Against ______? Trump

Cards Against Humanity by their own definition "is a party game for horrible people."  It seems that they also think the President of the United States, Donald Trump, is the worst of these horrible people.  Cards Against Humanity is on a mission to let everyone know that he is the target of all of their scrutiny.  Statements and videos are being released about Cards' plan to stop Donald Trump.  Or all of this commotion they are causing could be a genius marketing strategy that is currently going viral.

This is a very good marketing move in the fact that both sides of the political spectrum are talking about Cards Against Humanity.  Coincidentally, they alienated themselves from the Republicans in a major way.  One of the biggest thing that made this campaign huge is that they bought a piece of land along the Mexican border.  Cards said that their plan was to "purchase a plot of vacant land on the border and retained a law firm specializing in eminent domain to make it as time-consuming and expensive as possible for the wall to get built."  Selling their cards is going to fund this piece of land, and share it's ownership with the customers that bought this special pack.

In the short term this move is very successful.  A few hours after this campaign, the card set that they were selling was sold out.  In the long term, they potentially dug themselves a big hole in getting any Trump fans and many Republicans to purchase their product.  It will be interesting to see if they even try to get back on the good side of Republicans in the near future.  So far, this is the biggest stance that an American company has taken against President Trump.  Cards Against Humanity is not backing down on it's political statement either.  They are taking on comment's that are saying they shouldn't be politicizing their business.

Overall, this is a big turning point in Cards Against Humanity's life.  It will either be a catalyst that propels them to a new level, or it could be the beginning of the end for them.  If the property they bought on the Mexican border actually becomes a big obstacle for the wall, then this marketing tactic could have big political and legal implications.          

   

  

Black Friday... Today?

In two weeks one of the biggest shopping days in the U.S. will occur, Black Friday.  Many spend weeks and maybe even months preparing to save big on deals at some of their favorite stores.  But this year the game is changing, and many people didn't see it coming.  After Halloween many Black Friday deals started to come out for certain stores.  What does this mean for when Black Friday actually comes?

Stores could have something in store for all the shoppers this year that we've never seen.  Many could be selling all of their products that they would be selling on Black Friday right now.  They are advertising it as "Black Friday sales", but it could really be a better deal for the stores as long as people are buying it.  As long as people are getting excited and the money is coming in, the stores don't care what date they sell their products.  Or some stores could have other tactics up their sleeves.

 

Many stores spend plenty of money advertising and paying people to work during the holidays.  So they could be trying to save money and not open on Black Friday at all.  They could be putting sales online now to get free publicity so they don't have to spend their money on advertisements.  Other possibilities are out there such as giving shoppers a taste of what's to come on the day after Thanksgiving.  

We can't figure out their plans until the dust settles after Black Friday, but these companies have put plenty of research into this and know what they're doing.  Many people are already going crazy and buying the first good deal they see.  These companies are taking advantage of that.  As marketers we have to learn from times like this and figure out the lesson that needs to be learned.  Right now it looks like it is very smart to start these "Black Friday Deals" as soon as possible.