What's In A Trademark?

There is a species of politician that takes narcissism to a higher level of practice. The ultimate exemplar would be Donald Trump for whom a new term, “malignant narcissism”, has recently been coined. He is the extreme of extremes – the Platonic archetype of self-involvement married to self-interest. But there are a legion of lesser practitioners. Lesser perhaps not so much in degree as in the universe, the field of influence, in which they ply their sickness. One thing that many such have in common though is a penchant for trademarks; things that have become emblems of their persona; features and symbol that they have found resonate with their public or provide them with a connection to continuity. Apart from the golf course or a 12 year old Pam Bondi, have you ever seen Trump in anything other than a 2-piece blue suit? Similarly, there was Pierre Trudeau and his yellow rose lapel garnish, Lester Pearson and his bow ties and George Bush with his cowboy boots and string ties (also evidence of something else on a broader cultural scale). The list can go on for a space – not indefinitely but with a fair amount of “and then there was(es)”.

To this cadre I would like to add Burlington’s current mayor, Marianne Meed Ward (MMW) and her trademark houndstooth coat and cap. I will also briefly mention her fetish for the colour red – but that is something far more recent and far less individual. Coat and cap have been part of MMW’s peculiar deshabillé for at least fifteen years. I first encountered them and their unusual Carnaby Street/Mary Quants aspect as part of the second Waterfront Committee and I was immediately taken by their quaint appeal. I was immediately taken in by MMW as well. However, some 13 years later, the appeal of all three has long since vanished to be replaced by the features of silly, tiresome caricature. Indeed, my almost immediate response when I see them today is “… what lady, again and still”! The latest outing was at the BPAC celebration of the Chinese New Year. There she was and there was “the coat”. I quickly penned a ditty and posted it as a comment to her photo op:

                  “Oh houndstooth coat, oh houndstooth coat

                  How many years has it been

                  Since you were new, no trademark yet

                  But an icon amongst her spin

                  Where be the cap, a mate to you

                  Has it sadly lost its glam?

                  And so discarded as were her oaths

                  So much flim with all her flam.”

Yeats it’s not but the point is made. Trademarks divorced from character and substance are tired, trite and silly. As for the colour red, MMW didn’t start wearing it so consistently before the 2018 campaign when one of her key advisors (initials are Dianne Leblovic) told her “… you look good in red”. And so, with the same lack of balance and perspective that has characterized almost everything that MMW’s does, ‘red’ became the colour of choice – in all things and for all occasions. It has earned her the labels of “the Req Queen” and, more recently, “the Scarlet Tinkerbell”. Neither were applied with fondness or good humour.

15 Years Later the Buttons are Pulling