Contemporary Marketing, 2013 Update 15th Edition by Louis Boone ,David Kurtz

Exercise 21

Politicians and " Their " Music
As political advertising becomes increasingly big business, the branding that accompanies a campaign has come to rely heavily on music. This is not surprising, according to neuroscientists, whose research on the brain reveals that music has the power to infuse itself into our nervous system, triggering feelings and responses and, hence, our behavior.
While the earliest political marketers may not have known the scientific benefits of music, they recognized that music has power. Presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt used the song "Happy Days Are Here Again" during his 1932 campaign, when America was caught in the grip of the Great Depression and the nation's mood was desperate. The song's message enabled voters to envision a better day on the horizon and transfer that emotional response to their feelings about the candidate. After Roosevelt won the election, he reinforced the song's message in his inaugural address with the famous words, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
Years after his presidency, strains of Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" still conjure up memories of Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign. Pairing a candidate with a wildly popular song-sparked fervor among followers. However, when it came to a campaign song choice for Hillary Clinton's run for president, she picked a less wellknown song by Celine Dion called, "You and I." The song lyrics were criticized for being about "dreams" instead of her opponent's song lyrics about having "plans."
The use of music in political campaigns can have its pitfalls. Consider the glitch during Ronald Reagan's 1984 presidential run, when the Bruce Springsteen hit "Born in the USA" was selected as a campaign theme. Had Reagan or his handlers listened to the lyrics first, they would have recognized them not as the words of a patriotic song but the bitter memoir of a Vietnam veteran.
Of course, part of the issue stems from the unauthorized use of artists' copyrighted work. But that, apparently, is not all: musicians work hard to build their brand, and many are offended by the idea of a candidate they don't support glomming on to that brand. For example, the rock duo Heart was reportedly irritated when vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin used their 1970s hit "Barracuda" as her theme song, playing offa nickname from her high-school basketball days. As it turned out, however, the Republican National Committee had purchased the rights to the song.
Rand Paul, a candidate for the U.S. Senate from Kentucky, recently heard from the attorney for Canadian rockers Rush after Paul co-opted their music for his Web ads, a fund-raising video, and public appearances. Talking Heads co-founder David Byrne sued then Florida governor Charlie Crist for using "Road to Nowhere" in his campaign advertising for a Senate seat. In a letter posted on his Web site, Byrne claimed that while he licenses his work for dance companies and student filmmakers, he has never permitted its use in advertising. Rock guitarist Steve Miller got riled up when Crist's opponent, Mark Rubio, used the Steve Miller Band tune "Take the Money and Run" to underscore Crist's move from Republican to independent after accepting GOP money.
How does the use of music in a political campaign play a role in establishing a candidate's brand?