âPolitical fashion is boring. Rand fashion is cool,â a banner on Rand Paulâs website pretentiously proclaims. âMake a statement. CALL IT COOL.â
The bannerâs text accompanies a photo with Paul sporting Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses. According to Paulâs website:
â$150 is more than you might normally pay for sunglasses, but these are Ray-Bans and even more, they are indelibly marked with the Rand Brand ⊠and as always, itâs a contribution to the Rand Paul for President campaign.â
Hereâs a screen shot of the banner with Paul in his Ray-Bans just in caseâŠwell, we wouldnât want anything to happen to it.
And if you want to look cool like Rand Paul while helping him stick it to the man in Washington, youâre in luck: You can order those Ray-Bans with Rand Paulâs totally stylinâ logo from his campaignâs online store for just $150.
Oh wait. No you canât. Alas, The Hillâs got bad news for both of you Rand Paul fans out there. Paul never got permission to sell his branded Wayfarers from Ray-Banâs parent company Luxottical. Needless to say, they donât think heâs cool at all. In fact, Corporate Communications head Jane Lehman told The Hill Paulâs campaign had removed the offending sunglasses at Luxottica/Ray-Banâs request.
âAfter a formal request from us, they promptly removed the product from their site and agreed to cease any further use of our trademarks.â
What is it about GOP candidates, trademark infringement, and the creators of cool stuff not wanting to be associated with them? Remember when Ann and Nancy Wilson from Heart demanded that John McCain and Sarah Palin stop playing the song âBarracudaâ at campaign events back in 2008?
Rand Paul Forced To Pull His Branded Ray-Bans.
P.S. Sorry, Rand Paul. About those Ray-Bans? Barack Obama wears it better.
Oh, and so does Tom Cruise.
And hereâs Rand Paul in his Ray-Bans fist-bumping Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (also wearing sunglasses) on the Senate Floor Wednesday.