Desiree Rogers is most famous for placing a capital “D” in the word Diva. The former White Social Secretary is known for her acute fashion sense, exhibited by her spread in New York magazines and her visit to Fashion Week.
This is not to say that Rogers didn’t add her own festive mark to the role of White House Social Secretary. Her populist approach to the role transformed the traditionally snooty White House into the “People’s House” and introduced more young brown faces to the White House than ever before in history.
However, one cannot reflect on Rogers short stint as White House Social Secretary without recalling the criticism she imbued after a State Dinner in which she, while sashaying and upstaging First Lady Michelle Obama, unwittingly allowed two uninvited guests into the dinner and within a few feet of the President.
After the colossal security breach which exposed Desiree Rogers (and many in the Secret Service) as neophytes, reporter April Ryan took Rogers to task during a daily press briefing with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.
In the contentious press briefing, Ryan referred to Rogers as the “bell of the ball”and asked Gibbs if Rogers was more concerned with outshining Mrs. Obama than in doing her job.
What Ryan may’ve been eluding to, and what many already knew, was that Roger’s lasting legacy won’t involve security breaches, or State Dinner checkpoints, but her successful hand in the branding of the first African-American President.
Desiree Rogers failed at the job of White House Social Secretary because well, that wasn’t really her job. Rogers, a sleek Harvard MBA and marketing executive, was placed in the White House to build and protect what she herself called the “Obama brand”.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Rogers gloated “we have the best brand on earth: the Obama brand”. Since when is the President of the United States of America a “brand”? And, if true, what does that mean for the future of our democracy? Or the now muddied relationship between corporate America and government?
Two Words: Game Over.
Ever since the election, President Obama has endured criticism, mostly from Republicans, that he is more of a celebrity than a serious political leader.
And as Naomi Klein so aptly pointed out in a recent article for AlterNet, “the Obama team has marshaled every tool in the modem marketing arsenal to create and sustain the Obama brand: the perfectly calibrated logo (sunrise over stars and stripes); expert viral marketing (Obama ringtones); product placement (Obama ads in sports video games); a 30-minute infomercial (which could have been cheesy but was universally heralded as “authentic”); and the choice of strategic brand alliances (Oprah for maximum reach, the Kennedy family for gravitas, and no end of hip-hop stars for street cred).”
Never before have we seen a President so closely associated with celebrities and brand names than in the case of President Obama. Those in charge of branding Obama are banking on the fact that the American public will deem Obama a winner if he is associated with winners and the people we love even more than winners; celebrities.
How else would you explain Khloe Khardasian – who isn’t famous for anything but being Kim Khardasian’s sister, who isn’t famous for anything but being in a sex tape with Ray J, who isn’t famous for anything but being pop star Brandy’s brother -being granted a visit with the President?
So when we see Obama meeting with the L.A Lakers eight months after their NBA victory, there’s no need to wonder whether or not his handlers are making a mistake by playing into accusations that Obama is a celebrity. Instead, know that Barack Obama is not only President Obama, but a brand.
And we should treat Obama much the same way in which we treat all brands, choosing wisely but always reserving a healthy amount of skepticism with regards to what’s promised on the product label. Branding is a tool used for marketing, not a mechanism built for productivity, and certainly not designed for a “Yes We Can” type of revolution.
Yvette Carnell is a former Capitol Hill Staffer turned political blogger. She currently publishes two blogs, Spatterblog.com and GoGirlGuide.com.
