SIOUX CITY | For those who like a 2016 presidential candidate, a mere campaign button or bumper sticker is beyond passe. Why go Old School when a whole series of campaign swag can be bought online?
With the campaign merchandise race escalating in a field of 17 candidates running in December, a host of new options give incredible selections that trump, or Trump, an "I Like Ike" button. Logos are plopped on canvas tote bags and scarves for pet dogs are available.
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has “Chillary” can koozies and a T-shirt with an image of her infamous pantsuits.
Among Republicans, Jeb Bush has a guacamole bowl, or more precisely, guaca bowle. Marco Rubio has polo shirts called — wait for it — Marco Polos. And Donald Trump has a hat.
Yes, the red hat that became a phenomenon after mega-mogul Trump wore it on the campaign trail. The plain hat with plain writing of his campaign slogan, “Make America great again, ” has become a staple of his attire when stumping, and for which some Twitter parody accounts have been created.
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As a form of free advertising, campaigns love anything that displays the candidate’s name for many to see. The items are not sold to fill campaign coffers, but to show support as media members zero in on crowds nationwide, including in Iowa in the run-up to the Feb. 1, 2016 caucuses that are the first contest in the presidential nominee selection process.
"It’s a buy-in on the campaign,” said University of Iowa Political Science Professor Tim Hagle. “The fact you’re buying into that sort of commits you in a way other things might not."
Brad Anderson, who was the Iowa director for President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, said campaign merchandise now often matches the candidate’s personality, with that element first taking off in 2008, when Obama was first elected.
Anderson said he sees that in the 2016 campaign, noting Trump’s hat and some of Clinton’s merchandise, which he described as stylish.
Of course, some of the 2016 merchandise is similar regardless of the candidate, with logos affixed on T-shirts, coffee mugs, buttons and signs.
Then there are those who get creative, with some of the most notable below.
What it is: A guacamole bowl.
Cost: $75
Bush on the campaign trail has talked about his family’s “Sunday fun days,” when he and his wife, Columba, will make guacamole for their grandchildren. The Bush campaign website jokingly says the family guacamole recipe is “not included … yet.”
What it is: A hat with the campaign slogan “Make America great again” printed on the front.
Cost: $25
When Trump started making appearances wearing the hat, social media buzzed. It is not common for a presidential candidate to wear a baseball-style hat on the campaign trail. The Trump campaign store offers the hat in multiple colors and styles.
What it is: A T-shirt with a printed image of a pantsuit.
Cost: $30
Clinton has become known, particularly in satirical circles, for wearing pantsuits. (Watch the next time she is parodied on “Saturday Night Live," as it is a virtual guarantee the impersonator will be wearing a pantsuit.) Clinton’s campaign said the pantsuit tee has been one of the merchandise store’s best sellers.
What it is: A faux email server.
Cost: $60
The Rand Paul campaign has pointed sense of humor. The Paul campaign offers this item, taking advantage of questions surrounding Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time as U.S. secretary of state. The email server — presumably it is not real and just a decoration — comes with a “wiping cloth,” again poking fun at Clinton and questions about whether she wiped many emails off her server. The Paul store’s server is adorned with a sticker that says “Hillary’s hard drive” and the warning “Heavy use, now perfectly clean.”
What it is: A polo shirt.
Cost: $45-$48
The item itself is not terribly innovative. It’s just a plain polo shirt with the campaign logo, but the word play makes it noteworthy.
-- Erin Murphy contributed to this story.
