When Brand Betrays Us

Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times

Branding is supposed to be about truth, or at least a piece of it.

At its best, branding is storytelling, the kind that resonates, inspires, and speaks to who we are. But what happens when a brand warps into something sinister, built on lies, misinformation, and manipulation? What happens when a brand betrays not only our trust but our institutions?

Donald Trump created a brand that made him more than a businessman or even a politician. It was a brand so powerful, so relentlessly crafted, that it enabled him to shape reality for his supporters and make bold moves that, for anyone else, would seem absurd or laughable. It became a brand that bulldozed its way into the American psyche, in part because it was built on the very foundations branding experts understand: repetition, narrative, and consistency.

But unlike the brands we aim to build on values, Trump’s brand was anchored in something far more dangerous: a disregard for truth.

The gravest act of this branding betrayal was his attempt to subvert the very Constitution he swore to uphold. Trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election was more than a political move—it was a direct attack on the framework of American democracy.

For months, Trump’s brand machine churned out claims of fraud, broadcasting messages designed to erode public trust in the election system, even though there was no evidence to support his claims. It was a manipulation of power, a way to cling to authority by undermining the truth, and it worked because his brand had trained people to accept his version of events without question.

This brand wasn’t built overnight. It was meticulously crafted over years, based on an image of defiance, strength, and rebellion against “the system.” His followers weren’t just buying into his policies—they were buying into the image, the spectacle, and the stories he told, no matter how untethered from reality they were. And that’s the dark side of branding: it can be both powerful and dangerous. In Trump’s case, it wasn’t just a brand—it was a narrative of infallibility, woven so tightly that even the Constitution itself became a prop.

For those of us who work in branding, watching this unfold is infuriating. Branding is supposed to be about helping people find their voice, discover their values, and communicate in a way that feels real and impactful. Yet, Trump’s brand hijacked the tools of our trade, twisting them into a tool of misinformation and division. It leaves us questioning: Is this the power of brand, or a reminder of how it can betray us?

This is the ethical dilemma for anyone in this field: branding can empower, but it can also deceive. Trump’s brand isn’t just a lesson in how to build an indelible image. It’s a cautionary tale—a reminder that without honesty and accountability, brand can become a weapon that betrays us all.

And yes, I’m furious about it.

It’s taken me this long, well into the morning after, to feel the depth of this despair and fear. I went to bed around midnight, disbelieving, hoping that the surge we’d all counted on would take hold.

Mind-numbing roars of power saws woke me up before seven, felling a huge tree next door. I was furious, stomping around my house, cursing my neighbor for thoughtlessness, for entitlement, with a blind, unrelenting, and unwarranted rage.

They’ve stopped now. The tree is in neat slices on the edge of her fence. I’m left with the silence, the betrayal of an unseasonably beautiful late fall day.

I sit in the sun. I’m mad at it, too. I stare at my empty bird feeders. The only thing I can do, one foot in front of the other, is to fill them up again.

And so we go on…

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