Trump’s brand equity hits new low

… as in so deep you can’t reach it without the services of a bathysphere. S&G has argued for a long time, with demonstrable evidence, that Trump Entertainment Resorts has nothing to lose by dumping the Trump name from its two Atlantic City casinos. Heck, you could replace the giant T-R-U-M-P with D-O-U-C-H-E and not suffer. Now we have proof that the Trump “brand” isn’t just a nullity, it’s poison. You’ve probably seen whose oversized moniker pops up at 0:10 in this familiar campaign ad. It’s in the thumbnail, too:

Anything as doggedly focused-grouped as the Obama campaign wouldn’t be flashing Das Donald’s name up there if they didn’t know damn well that it sets off a gag reflex. In fact, it’s spatchcocked that exact same visual into a recut of its newest ad (“The Cheaters”) and done it so fast that the online version hasn’t been modified yet. But I saw it, clear as day, on NBC-TV this morning. The cream of the jest is that TER lead investor Marc Lasry is a superdonor to the Obama campaign. Yes, Lasry is essentially paying to slam his best-known employee, Donald Trump (the latter having fallen to the status of compensated spokesman for his namesake casinos). When your own boss is using your brand to smack you upside the head, maybe it’s time to take those five familiar letters off the marquee.

Update: It looks like somebody’s been singing from the Sheldon Adelson hymnal regarding the superiority of all things Chinese. Around here, it’s a familiar refrain.