Variety magazine, which endorsed Hillary Clinton for president and denounced Donald Trump as the “worst TV” of 2016, named the president-elect’s daughter Ivanka in its listing of the worst commercials of 2016.
“Within hours of an appearance by President-elect Donald Trump and his family on ’60 Minutes,’ a jewelry company associated with his daughter, Ivanka, began to promote a $10,800 diamond bracelet she wore during the segment,” Variety said in an article published Monday. “Reporters received a ’Style Alert’ email touting the bauble.”
“The email only served to raise further questions about how the financial interests of the Trump family would be intertwined with her father’s looming presidency,” Variety complained, going on to compare Mr. Trump’s eldest daughter to former first brother Billy Carter.
“Her company in a statement said a ’well-intentioned marketing employee’ was following ’customary protocol,’ but there’s something unseemly about family members trying to make a buck off the nation’s highest office, as anyone who remembers ’Billy Beer,’ a 1970s endeavor by President Jimmy Carter’s little brother, can tell you.”
By contrast, explained Variety, “The year’s best advertising seemed more like good content: The commercials had a good story, interesting characters and proved to be as entertaining as the stuff they supported.”
Among the commercials judged the “best” of 2016, Variety praised an Amazon spot involving a friendship between a Catholic priest and a Muslim imam. In the spot, the two elderly clerics order a pair of knee braces for the other so his friend can kneel in worship.
“In a nation as divided as America is at present, advertisers seem unified. They know they need all segments of the population to buy their products if they are to have business success,” Variety said of the Amazon ad and others like it which touched on themes of tolerance and diversity.
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