If you want proof that political climate of the United States is growing more liberal, you have to look no further than your TV set.  Perhaps not on Fox News, but on the networks that I watch on a regular basis such as CNN, ESPN, and the original major networks, commercials are a good indication of future trends because companies are investing their advertising dollars in the audiences who will buy their products going forward.

Lately I have noticed increasing number of commercials featuring mixed race couples.  Five years ago, such a commercial would have been very unusual.  Twenty years ago, no company would have even considered such a thing.  Today those commercials make good economic sense because many companies are trying to reach the young people who will soon comprise the largest generational groups in this country – the Millennials and Generation X’ers – who for the most part are very accepting of mixed couple arrangements.

According to the Pew Research Center, Millennials will overtake the Baby Boomers as the largest generational group in this country in 2019.  As the older generations continues to fade their after, Generation X is destined to overtake the Baby Boomers as the second largest generational group in 2028. One thing we know about the Millennials and the Generation X, over all they are far more liberal and accepting of people unlike themselves then the Baby Boomers ever were and the national companies with the best marketing departments are totally aware of that factor.

Companies with good marketing expertise understand that the Trump lead coalition is the last gasp backlash of the less educated members of a fading generation against changing demographics that they feel will marginalize them.  While Trump stokes fear among his followers, Millennials and Generation X members for the most part don’t share that fear and smart marketers are sending subtle messages to them in their commercials that say, “We are with you; we are on your side” to these younger people.

However, sometimes the messages aren’t so subtle. Niki shocked the marketing world by featuring Colin Kaepernick in its latest series of “Just Do it” commercials.  What initially looked like a very risky move by the shoe and apparel giant, ultimately will demonstrate their fine-tuned understanding of their market.  While Trump fumed on Twitter and his supporters burned Niki shoes on social media and vowed to organize boycotts, according to Market Watch Niki’s online sales actually grew 31% in 3 days following Labor Day as compared to a 17% gain recorded during the same period in 2017.

Niki obviously isn’t concerned about angering the aging Trump supporters who spend far more time in their stocking feet on their couches than they do wearing athletic shoes.  Niki is using its advertising dollars to cement their solidarity with the young people they hope will be buying their products for the next twenty years.

The country’s demographics are changing and as the young people of today start voting regularity, the Trump bubble will pop whether Trump continues to lead the movement or not.  As the baby boomer generation begins to fade and the Millennials and Generation X’ers start to flex their political muscles, the Republican Party will have to start catering more to women and minorities and eventually abandon its conservative doctrine or it will doom itself to being a minority party on a permanent basis.

Cajun   8/10/2018