Reader: I was recently hired to run marketing for a very small company where I report directly to the CEO. I have learned that he’s ultraconservative and a Trump supporter. Except for me and one other employee, everyone else seems to align with the CEO’s values, and since we’re in a red state, they seem to assume we do, too.
Column by Karla L. Miller
We have an upcoming industry trade show during the week of the presidential election. The CEO wants me to have red giveaway swag printed with a message about our products that uses similar phrasing and the same font as the Trump campaign’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
Since I’m going to be the one staffing our display, I really don’t want to deal with people’s opinions and reactions that might be stirred up. So I told him I don’t think this is a great idea. He said he’s proud of his beliefs and is okay with upsetting some Kamala Harris supporters, and he thinks the display will be funny and appropriate for election week because our industry is mostly conservative. That’s true for a lot of the business owners, but not for most people I interact with at shows — technicians who work for them and vendors like me.
What’s your advice for what to say when it inevitably falls to me to have conversations about this with attendees at the event?
Karla: “Actually, our CEO came up with that design. I’d be happy to pass along any feedback. Can I tell you more about our product while you’re here?”
Translation: I had no effective say in this decision; I’m not the person to yell at about it; I’m just here for work.
You don’t need to be a political junkie or marketing maven to know that the sight of white capital letters on a red background has become the Rorschach test of our time. It instantly sparks revulsion or loyalty — rarely indifference. Your boss knows this, and he’s hoping to use it to become memorable to potential clients one way or another. Of course he is entitled to his views, and, as CEO, it is ultimately his call whether to risk letting his politics overshadow his business goals. (Apropos of nothing, anyone know where I can find some good bed pillows?)
Then again, your CEO is not the one who will be face-to-face with people who might object to his views. You are. I didn’t originally intend to out you as a woman because your question isn’t about gender, but I can’t ignore my concern about how those in-person interactions might play out for you as the most immediately accessible representative. When it comes to venting outrage at women in public-facing positions, no space on the political spectrum is misogyny-free.
If you feel up to making one last effort to talk your boss out of this idea, lean on your expertise: “From previous shows, I can tell you that most of the client representatives I interact with on the floor skew center-left. I don’t know if they’ll take this with the humor you intended. And I’m worried I’ll end up spending more time talking about our merch than our product.”
You could even invoke the specter of legal trouble for trademark infringement, but I suspect the legal team behind that campaign trademark is too busy defending its own music copyright infringement cases to worry about brand dilution.
The ideal option would be to land a position with a company where the CEO’s whims won’t cause these conundrums. But that’s unlikely to happen before your event, so you still need a plan in the meantime.
If your CEO remains unconvinced and insists on having his way, focus on anticipating and minimizing fallout for yourself. Practice verbal deflections like the one I suggested, in your style. Make sure you’re never staffing the booth alone, so you have someone to intervene or bear witness if an attendee gets confrontational. Do what you must to avoid having photos of you holding radioactive swag circulating on social media.
The best-case scenario is that no protective measures will be necessary. Your CEO may be right that most attendees will at least find his design amusing. And clients and competitors who don’t may just give your booth a wide berth as they seek out your competitors. In any case, I’ll be interested to hear whether your boss’s gimmick results in a surge in new accounts, or a shipping carton full of red Koozies gathering dust in the copy room.
Reader query: Have questions about handling election tensions at your job? Or just need to let off steam? Let me know at karla.miller@washpost.com.
