WIRED Staff

Brand President

In a survey, three groups of voters — Bush supporters, Kerry supporters, and undecided voters — were asked to associate various brands with the two presidential candidates. The survey reports: Among their respective supporters: Bush is associated with the positive attributes of established mainstay brands like Bud Light, IBM and Ford (“reliable”, “humble”, “heritage”, “solid”); […]

In a survey, three groups of voters -- Bush supporters, Kerry supporters, and undecided voters -- were asked to associate various brands with the two presidential candidates.

The survey reports:

Among their respective supporters: Bush is associated with the positive attributes of established mainstay brands like Bud Light, IBM and Ford ("reliable", "humble", "heritage", "solid"); Kerry is associated with the positive attributes of premium brands like Heineken, Apple, and BMW ("high-quality", "high-performance", "hip", "young."

But:

Among their respective detractors: In addition to Dunkin' Donuts, Kmart and McDonald's, Bush is again associated with Bud Light, IBM and Ford - but in this case because of their negative brand attributes ("down-market" and "outdated"); there is less cross-over with Kerry, who is once again associated with Starbuck's (its negative attribute being "expensive"), as well as the negative attributes of brands like BMW ("elite") on one end and Motel 6 ("lacking substance") on the other.