Captain Morgan’s newly launched campaign to get millennials to run for President is not being received well by Twitter users, with many asking the rum company, "Are you drunk?"
The company launched its #UNDER35POTUS campaign on Tuesday with a full-page ad in the New York Times, a social media campaign, and a White House petition to lower the age to become President, which is currently 35.
The petition has garnered slightly more than 1,000 signatures since it was started on Monday. It has a month to get the required 100,000 signatures to warrant a response from the White House.
Captain Morgan is working with Taylor Strategy on the campaign, which runs through Election Day on Nov. 8. Taylor helped produce a video to prove the capability of under 35-year-olds that included several prominent members of the tech world and their achievements.
The U.S. Constitution forbids us from having an #UNDER35POTUS. Let’s amend that, together: https://t.co/AOfnzGZk12 pic.twitter.com/zaFR76IbS7
— Captain Morgan (@CaptainMorganUS) July 19, 2016
My latest work: @CaptainMorganUS's movement to amend US Constitution so under35s can be President. #UNDER35POTUS pic.twitter.com/gZaxK8eZXB
— Sam Saunders (@samboo73) July 19, 2016
Jim Sias, director of influencer, advocacy and integrated communications for Morgan parent Diageo, explained that the brand has launched this campaign to engage Millennials in politics.
"We believe that having more people engaged in the democratic process is ultimately a good thing," Sias said. "As a brand that’s never shied away from activating in culture, we saw this as an opportunity to enable a generation of voices to be heard on a national stage in a fun way that’s true to our brand."
In response to the negative comments the campaign has received, Sias said that even though there are those who are unsupportive, Captain Morgan is still creating a conversation, which is a good thing.
"People are very passionate about politics and we always knew there would be differing opinions on both sides," said Sias. "When people understand the context and that our goal is more than changing the Constitution, we’ve seen more support."
This is how social media users have been responding to the campaign this week:
@CaptainMorganUS Go home. You're drunk.
— Ron Bischof ? (@rjbischof) July 19, 2016
@CaptainMorganUS I'm under 35 and I'm also completely against this idea.
— Tyler Boliver (@TylerBoliver) July 19, 2016
@CaptainMorganUS just a bizarre thing to take a stance on
— Real Trent Flubbs (@RealTrentFlubbs) July 19, 2016
One user accused the company of trolling its customers.
@CaptainMorganUS this is literally the dumbest thing I have seen. But you knew it was dumb. Advertrolling.
— MWZH (@MWZH1) July 20, 2016
Some went so far to say that Captain Morgan lost their business because of the campaign.
@CaptainMorganUS Elect a leader with few life experiences? Not just crazy, it's a dangerous idea. You've lost me as a customer.
— JimThomJr (@jimthomjr) July 19, 2016
@CaptainMorganUS I will never buy Captain Morgan after this
— Real Trent Flubbs (@RealTrentFlubbs) July 19, 2016
This article first appeared on prweek.com.
