Naming and Selling Legislation

We wrote a lengthy post about "The Branding of Laws" way back in November, 2003.

The public has long been aware that advertisers attempt to connect the hearts and minds of customers with evocative brand names and catchy slogans. Ad agencies have earned well-deserved reputations, and unabashedly give themselves awards for the most creative advertisements cleverly designed to overcome the conditioned scepticism of the public.

The advertisee knows he's being sold something. Generally, he's cognisant of the fact that a product might or might not really be, "the best a man can get." Today, most informed consumers have some idea how advertising, naming and branding work to get them to buy or do something they just might not, without some persuasion.

But, do most people appreciate the extent to which the "laws of branding" understood by advertising agencies are regularly applied to legislation to sell any old "Bill of Goods" to the voting representatives and, ultimately, to the unsuspecting public? Our elected representatives are passing laws in our best interests, right? They're not trying to sell us anything, are they? Well, actually they are. But first, the draft legislation has to be sold to the legislators themselves. Legislation is packaged for passage; branded to sell to the elected representatives and in the end, to we the people.

A recent article in the LA Times follows up on this story, adding some interesting examples of recent laws that have been named to sell, with some candid admissions by legislators.

"You'd be surprised at how much taxpayer time is spent in offices coming up with clever names for bills," said Michael Franc, a former congressional staff member.

Though some bills in the past did have acronyms, they rarely grabbed the public's attention. The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, or OBRA, for example, is remembered by few people other than Washington's most die-hard number-crunchers.

Now, acronyms help explain what the bill is all about. They are proof that even bill names have become part of Washington's all-consuming political spin.

"If it helps people remember your legislation, I think it serves a useful purpose," said Sen. John E. Sununu (R-N.H.). "But I'm starting to think people are starting to spend more time coming up with a clever acronym than they are worrying about the substance and the impact of the legislation they write."

Read our post on Wordlab, and the recent article in the La Times, if you're interested in how legislators use naming and branding strategies to sell themselves, and us, on laws that might not otherwise be appealing.