Listen: Running by Helado Negro

Helado Negro wrote “Running” first as a piece of poetry to calm his anxiety. Now it takes shape as a lush orb of a pop song that you can carry with you as sort of a sonic worry stone wherever you go. Even if you’re feeling fine, it’s a nice little wind-down into the weekend. It’s part of his new album, This Is How You Smile, so there’s plenty more if you need it.

Design For Pete

Pete Buttigieg *would* have a sophisticated brand strategy. The hometown hero of South Bend, Indiana just announced he’s releasing an “online design toolkit” with his brand assets for 2020. That means his supporters, many of whom, this strategy presumes, are sufficiently arty, can use official colors, fonts, logos, etc. to make custom yard signs, rally signs, window signs… anything they might need to support their buddy Pete. Incidentally, most of the available design elements evoke Urban Outfitters tee shirts circa 2005– particularly the logo that reads, “Boot Edge Edge.” So mass-market and yet so down-home.

Google Traducir

Signs are cool and all, but how about reaching voters with policy messages? On that front we are not doing well. Turns out most of the Democratic primary candidates* are using Google Translate to make the Spanish versions of their websites, which… is not a foolproof strategy. Kamala Harris’ site used to read that she had “wasted” her life defending American democracy, and Julián Castro’s implies that he aspires to lead the continent of North America. Oh, and Amy Klobuchar’s mom appears to be a dude. But apparently they get partial credit for even participating; Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang and John Delaney have no Spanish websites at all, and Bernie and Beto only have partial ones. It’s almost as if their campaigns don’t employ any Latinx staffers– how auspicious.

*Cory Booker actually speaks Spanish and his site is, accordingly, solid. And Kamala’s site and staff are better now.

You know what time it is

Campaign merch time! And if we’re working to compete with the MAGA hat, then this campaign season should give us a whole museum’s worth of work. You can start with the Cory Booker “WeRise” tee shirt, the “Amy for America” baseball hat, and the “Bailey for First Dog” handkerchief (that’s for Elizabeth Warren). And if you want stuff for Mayor Pete… maybe look on Etsy? JK, obv they are selling their own merch, here’s a hoodie and a mug.

Sí se puede,

Margot

PS The other day when we ran the Dropps spot, the promo code wasn’t live yet. Sorry! If you want 30% off your first order of sustainable laundry pods, put the code LOREMIPSUM here— it’s working now.

Boot Edge Edge