Maker’s Mark Is Capturing Election Fever With A Presidential Prediction

For any number of reasons, I don’t often write about client projects. If you’ve ever wondered why, the reasons can include the client’s permission, legal approvals and issues with the client or the contract we have with them, the fact that sometimes recommendations are only partially adopted and I don’t want readers pointing out obvious flaws in strategies that would have been avoided had full recommendations been adopted and, of course, frequently spamming you with my own stuff undermines my credibility.

Today, though, I make an exception to share something pretty fun with everyone.

This morning, the Maker’s Mark News Network‘s coverage of the presidential election starts. The effort is a faux news effort Maker’s Mark has put together to support its partnership with Rock The Vote which is two-pronged. First, special, limited edition, triple-wax-dipped bottles of Maker’s Mark are being sold with special Rock The Vote reminder hang tags. There is a red-on-white-on-blue dipped bottle and a blue-on-white-on-red (pictured). The second prong is there will be a Maker’s Mark-wrapped bus traveling the country until election day to facilitate voter registration. It’s in Denver for the Democratic National Convention this week and will travel to Minneapolis/St. Paul for the Republican next week. It winds up in Louisville for Election Day. And yes, they’re bringing it to Vegas the same weekend as Blog World Expo. (More on that later.)

The Maker’s Mark News Network is a fake news cast video blog with the content jokingly inferring the anchors can predict the outcome of the presidential election based on the number of red-topped versus blue-topped Maker’s Mark limited edition bottles sell. You can even influence the “voting” by picking which bottle you like best on the site. Though said repeatedly and admitting the voting is just for fun, Maker’s Mark can’t predict the winner of the election and has even joked that someone may log in and fudge the numbers. The site more importantly serves as an information point so you know where the bus will be and when. There’s also a political quiz based on the hang tags on the limited edition bottles that contain some fun, presidential factoids in addition to reminders to Rock the Vote and register.

Here’s the pilot episode, featuring some familiar faces to those of you who have seen some of my colleagues on The Daily Idea and Food Rants.

Obviously, Maker’s Mark is a client, so I’d love it if you would share the site or the video with your friends if you think it’s fun or funny. They’re hoping to drive a fair number of eyeballs there to remind folks to vote and have a little fun while they’re at it. And please comment on the blog or the video and leave feedback as well.

And since we’re talking about social media and the spirits industry, let me give you a head’s up on one thing. You’ll notice you have to enter your birthday to see the content. Maker’s Mark is a spirits company and it’s marketing, content and product are not appropriate for anyone under the legal purchase age for alcohol. This is standard in the spirits industry as it should be. Even if they could take it down, they wouldn’t because it wouldn’t be right. I’m pretty sure you understand.

Enjoy and pass it along.