Owning the O

I've recently been struck by how many people and ads are playing off the whole Obama O thing. But as I thought more about it, I wondered, does Obama own the O?

One of the first things when I think of an O, is the old jingle for Oreo Cookies... "Oh, oh, oh, who's that kid with the Oreo cookie...O-R-E-O."


And then while we're on the subject of food O's you can't forget the classic "Incredible O" Cheerio's. These have a good all-american O feeling to them too.


As a kid I went to a few Baltimore Orioles games, and loved cheering on the "O's." I got a kick out of yelling especially loudly on the "Oh! say can you see..." before the game started.


And you can't forget America's favorite lady O... Yes, there was Jackie O, but there's also Oprah. She has her own magazine that just goes by the single letter O, and that happens the first thing that comes up when you Google O. That lady really knows how to market.


Then along came Obama, the reigning king of the O. He branded it perfectly, made it available to the masses, and they embraced the O. It got incorporated into every word in his campaign.


Artists were empowered to design posters, many of which revolved around the Obama O.


And really famous artists who already had established themselves with a twist on the O, re-purposed their artwork for his purpose. You can see some of their art at a gallery show in New York going on now.



Then Pepsi got on the bandwagon, promoting their new "Refresh" campaign, and showcasing their new (and in my opinion, lacking) logo by placing it in words instead of the O's, just like Obama. Does Obama even drink Pepsi?


But nothing can beat the power of two O's together - "Ooh!" and now I wonder what position Obama will give Oprah in his administration. Is there a COO position open in the federal government? O & O apparently did have a heart to heart in '04.