Retail of the Red, Hot and Blue : Commerce: Patriotism has a sweet ring for business. After the Gulf victory, manufacturers are creating items that wave the flag and celebrate the U.S. troops.
Yo, Bart Simpson. You could be in deep, deep trouble.
Ken Czar, vice president of one of the largest novelty manufacturers in the United States, says you’re not the hottest thing on the retailing block these days.
“Last year, we were racing to get the Simpsons, Ninja Turtles and New Kids on the Block onto store shelves,” says Czar, head of marketing for Button Up Inc. in Troy, Mich. “This year the product to promote is patriotism.”
With a cease-fire in the Persian Gulf and the troops on their way home, patriotic fervor--at least among retailers--is red, hot and blue. The bonanza of products and promotions has begun.
Businesses, including hotel chains, airlines and stores, are offering discounts to Operation Desert Storm veterans on everything from clothing to trips to the California wine country.
Some manufacturers of patriotic novelty products are contributing a percentage of sales to veterans’ groups and organizations like the American Red Cross. And consumers will soon be able to buy truckloads of products emblazoned with American flags and slogans like “Victory,” “Peace Through Strength,” “Welcome Home, Real American Heroes” and “Proud to Be an American.”
When the Gulf crisis began last August, manufacturers flooded the market with anti-Saddam Hussein products. Now they have done an about-face and--sometimes within a week’s time--are creating items that celebrate victory and the troops’ homecoming.
Laid Back Lifestyle Gifts, a novelty manufacturer in Oklahoma City, rushed to manufacture 20,000 Hussein voodoo dolls. Now the company is pumping out red, white and blue products. Among them are canvas porkpie hats ($14.95) decorated with a heart-shaped flag, gold stars, stripes and buttons that read “Freedom Is Worth Fighting For,” “Welcome Home” and “Don’t Mess With the U.S.” A 32-ounce insulated drink cooler ($6.95) is adorned with the American flag and the letters U.S.A.
Ben Enis, who teaches marketing at USC, says the fast turnaround of merchandise and the merchandise itself aren’t surprising.
“The story is not the merchandise, because you can predict if there is a demand for something, manufacturers will spring to meet that need,” Enis says. “The real story is the turnaround in the culture. I came of age during the Vietnam War. The memories that are most vivid are how much the soldiers were despised and how much the government was distrusted.
“With the end of the Persian Gulf War there is an appreciation for soldiers and support for government--all the things that were exactly the opposite at the end of the Vietnam era. Today, patriotism is culturally in demand. And the marketplace just mirrors the culture.”
“In the past we haven’t felt all that good about our government,” says Renee Florsheim, assistant marketing professor at Loyola Marymount University. “But we have heroes now. We are a nation that gets things done. This is the first time in a long time people have felt that way. And we need the newest T-shirt with the latest thing on it to show it.”
Creative Imaginations, a novelty manufacturer in Los Alamitos, produced Hussein punching bags during the Gulf crisis. These days, the company is busy making an inflatable stars and stripes “Freedom Walk Ball” ($6) that is weighted so “it wobbles in the air when you throw it so it looks like a fluttering flag.” It will be available in gift stores in about four weeks.
Michigan’s Button Up is producing a “Victory” line of merchandise that will be in the stores by late next week, Czar says.
Czar, whose company has been producing patriotic gear since the crisis began, says its bestseller is a yellow-ribbon T-shirt that reads “Till They All Come Home.” Since late January, Button Up has donated more than $9,000 to the Disabled American Veterans, Czar says.
At the 382 Clothestime stores across the country--more than 200 of them in California--storefront windows have been transformed into flag-waving displays of red, white and blue sequins on T-shirts and stars and stripes on denim.
There are seven styles of $10 T-shirts, featuring the American flag, shooting stars, glittered stars, stars over stripes and red, white and blue tie-dyed stars. Other garments include red, white and blue shorts and jeans and jumpsuits with matching oversized American flag shirts.
Norman Abramson, president of Anaheim-based Clothestime Inc., says this is the kind of clothing “the customers are demanding.”
Like some other businesses, Clothestime is offering a 15% discount to military personnel for an indefinite time. “A lot of our employees have husbands and family in the military, and this was one way we could help support our troops,” Abramson says.
He says the stores’ patriotic theme picked up steam after the war ended because “people are feeling prideful.” And he predicts the rush of patriotism will last until the last soldier comes home.
McCord Golf Ball Co., in Merrillville, Ind., has offered the “Bully of Baghdad” ball featuring Hussein’s head with the words “Hit Me!” on it.
McCord is frantically producing a ball for the returning troops. The ball, with a yellow ribbon printed around it, is decorated with an eagle and the words “Welcome Home.” The balls (three for $9.95) can be ordered through a toll-free number. Ten percent of sales will benefit the Camp Pendleton Auxiliary Navy Marine Corps Relief Society, says Bob Morgan, McCord’s spokesman.
Choice Hotels International has established the “Choice Yellow Ribbon Fund” to help families of soldiers in the Gulf, says Betsy Bromberg O’Rourke, vice president of corporate relations.
The company will donate $5 to the American Red Cross for every reservation made on its toll-free number. She says the money will be used to help military families meet financial obligations. More than 2,000 Sleep, Comfort, Quality, Clarion, Roadway, Econo Lodge and Friendship Inn hotels nationwide are participating through the end of March.
Patrick Ross, executive director of the Sonoma County Convention and Visitors Bureau, says troops returning home to Northern California will be invited to spend two free nights in the wine country.
The promotion, sponsored by the bureau, a dozen hotels, several restaurants and two wineries, will include free accommodations, bottles of wine and a banquet for the veterans of Desert Storm.
“We’d like for the troops to have a couple of days of peace and relaxation. It’s also very romantic up here,” he says. “We’re going to welcome them home with a big blaze of yellow ribbon and lots of American pride.”
