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Mike Pile is a California-based naming expert, and he says that the Clinton campaign slogan, “I’m With Her” may be the most tone-deaf campaign slogan ever written.
Pile is founder of Upper Case Branding, and has advised a wide range of clients on selecting the best name for a company, product or project.
He says that the “I’m With Her” slogan played to identity politics and her base, including many female voters. But it also caused people to choose being with her or against her, and was a turn-off to pragmatists who might vote for Clinton as the lesser of evils. Preceded by the early-stage slogan “I’m ready for Hillary” Pile gives low marks to the campaign team for its choices.
He also compares the Clinton tag line with Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, which ironically was focused on the voters, not the candidate with the bloated ego. While Pile is not a graphic design expert, he is also critical of the logo design of Clinton’s bumper sticker, with an H and an arrow pointing rightward.
While elections aren’t decided by catchy slogans, it’s clear that Trump understands Twitter and other intentionally simple modes of communication, and beat the Clinton team in this aspect of the campaign.