The political marketing strategy of the rebranded "Freedom Fuel"
Plus: Trump won this parody “Participation Trophy” for the Iran war
When independent gas stations rebrand from one supplier to another, it’s called reflagging. A 76 station might become a Sinclair, and its pylons, signs, and branding on its canopy get swapped out for the new brand, with a dinosaur placed out front.
Gas stations reflag to tap into a recognizable national brand with its own advertising and rewards program. For the 25 gas stations that recently reflagged as “Freedom Fuel Network,” though, it was about tapping into a flagging political movement with a new, star-spangled brand.
The White House announced new “Freedom Fuel” gas stations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey on its official social channels and website earlier this month, as if it was a government program, ironic since Trump’s recent line of attack against Democrats is to accuse them of communism. In the video, people fueling their cars thanked the president for lower gas prices at the station, implying White House affiliation. It did not explicitly indicate what entity owned or operated it.
Documents obtained by Politico, however, show that the mystery brand was incorporated just a week before the White House announcement by Randy Brown, a Trump supporter and senior special teams coach of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, and Yoni Gontownik, a former commodities trader who’s fundraised before for Republicans. Politico also reports that a gas station chain owner, Shamikh Kazmi, who’s been sued in federal court over not fully paying for more than $1.3 million worth of gas, is linked to Freedom Fuel.
Newly christened Freedom Fuel gas stations use a logo of a golden-winged bald eagle that’s been temporarily affixed to reader boards showing gas prices, and canopies are decked out in U.S. flag imagery. The stations offer gas for a reduced price of $3.47 a gallon, or about 50 cents cheaper than Pennsylvania’s average gas price, and the White House said the 47 cents in the price was for Trump being the 47th president.
A review of Google Maps images of the 25 Freedom Fuel Network gas stations show that while a handful were once stations for nationally recognized brands like Shell, Sunoco, Exxon, Phillips 66, and Valero, many were previously unbranded or branded for lesser-known chains, like Gas N Go or BJ’s Gas. For these stations, reflagging to a brand promoted by the president with lower prices amid a sustained price hike thanks to Trump’s Iran war can draw in more customers than their old generic names.
For Trump, Freedom Fuel is an attempt to appear he’s doing something to drive down gas prices. Rather than a sustainable solution, though, it comes across as little more than a marketing ploy designed for social media content and Fox News segments. While a small number of motorists in the Philadelphia area could save on gas temporarily thanks to this reflagging, it does nothing to address the problem of the Iran war increasing the costs Americans pay at the pump nationwide.
This story was first published in Fast Company.
Trump won this parody “Participation Trophy” for the Iran war
Since President Donald Trump began the Iran war nearly five months ago, he has repeatedly said it’s almost over or that the U.S. has, in fact, already won. His resumption of the conflict is just the latest sign that neither of those claims are true.
While Trump’s antagonistic second-term foreign policy is unlikely to win him any actual peace prizes, he didn’t need to earn the new participation trophy on the National Mall. The oversized, satirical statue awards him a prize for just showing up.
Iran War Participation Trophy is a 10-foot-tall trophy made of wood, foam, and plaster by the anonymous protest art group The Secret Handshake. The group’s previous installations on the National Mall include a statue of Trump and Jeffrey Epstein frolicking hand-in-hand, and another that depicts the pair as if in the movie Titanic. The group has also created an arcade game about the Iran war that’s impossible to win. The trophy is up near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the Tidal Basin.
The piece is a loving cup-style trophy with two tall decorative handles, “#1” written on the cup’s front, and “Participant” written on the base. A plaque affixed to the display says the award is made out to Trump “for his enthusiastic involvement in the Iran war. While some concern themselves with military strategy, diplomacy, or measurable outcomes, President Trump demonstrated the courage to participate regardless of the final score.”
Another plaque that’s part of the display invites visitors to bring their own trophies. Plastic trophies are already set along its base.
“We didn’t make up the idea of a big dumb trophy as being important. He did,” The Secret Handshake tells me in an email. “And he even admitted when he didn’t win the Nobel Prize that he doesn’t feel the need to think about peace anymore. And now we’re out there literally destroying a nation. Lives are being lost. Iranians and Americans. Over seemingly the pursuit of recognition and shiny gold things.”
The group says the purpose of the work is to visualize the stupidity of the war’s justification—and to do so in a larger-than-life way. Its work parodies Trump’s second term by mimicking Trump’s own ostentatious style and affinity for gold, as seen in the president’s various side projects under development in Washington, D.C.
This story was first published in Fast Company.
Have you seen this?
Yes, Jon Ossoff’s campaign also bought the web address for a misspelling of his name. Ossoff told CNN’s Jake Tapper that his team did buy up the web URLs for both electjon dot com and electjohn dot com with an H. [Acyn/X]
Political ad overexposure is burning out voters, survey finds. One-third of respondents said overexposure to political ads makes them annoyed with a campaign. That points to a real risk of wasted spend and inefficient frequency for buyers who aren’t tracking household-level reach carefully. [Campaigns & Elections]
The municipal golf course hidden inside a national park. Presidio Golf Course sits within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and it’s also the former site of a military base. Originally, play was restricted to military officers and private club members, but after the base was closed, the course opened to the general public. [Hypebeast]
