Anyone else here remember Gerald Ford's "WIN" buttons?

[Archae]

"Whip Inflation Now?"

Turned out to be an empty slogan, that made money for the makers of "WIN" merchandise, that's all.

Likewise the slogan "Make America Great Again."

Makes money for the hat and t-shirt makers, but is just an empty slogan.

[cyclonefence]

1. The "WIN" campaign

created lists of suggestions consumers might consider to Whip Inflation Now. One of the more insulting advised housewives to consult newspaper ads and shop around for the cheapest grocery prices. I wrote a letter.

[rampartc]

8. turning consumerism into a full time job.

my wife at the time clipped coupons and ran to 4 different groceries to save a few pennies.

guess what? inflation still won.

[Wounded Bear]

11. Probably burned more in gas than it was worth...

[rampartc]

16. i would have told her so ('cause i sure thought it)

but sometimes best for a husband to consider it to be a more benign hobby than others..

[Wounded Bear]

17. Married twice, divorced twice, not very good at it...

but I know enough to know you're right.

[rampartc]

19. i managed to learn enough from the 1st one

that this second has been ok for 35 years.

[cyclonefence]

23. Not even counting the gas it took to go from store to store

[Dave in VA]

2. I remember them

They were the brain child of Gerald Ford and congressional republicans.

And then the media blamed President Carter for the high inflation!

[rampartc]

5. please see my question in reply 4.

I remember the carter years as a short interlude of peace and prosperity, and regard the former president as a great one.

[rampartc]

4. if you remember that era, as i do

how do you think jimmy carter came to be blamed for inflation, and for gasoline shortages? both were facts of life by 1977.

do you think that the 1970s version of the "deep state" gave carter the best intelligence available on iran? the best plan for a hostage rescue? or were they holding out on him?

one last question. are there any theories of how democrats could dominate the legislative branch while losing the presidency (with the 1 term exception of carter from 1968 through 1992?

[Midnight Writer]

15. Actually, Carter was given bad advice about letting The Shah seek asylum in the US.

Carter did not want to let him in. However, our Intelligence community, having installed the Shah in the first place, saw him as a sympathetic asset. So they told the always softhearted Carter that the Shah had life threatening medical problems that could only be treated in the US. When Carter reluctantly granted the Shah asylum, the Iranian people raged into our Embassy and took our people hostage, dooming the Carter Presidency.

Then there was Reagan's October Surprise, but that is a story for a different thread.

[gratuitous]

6. We're gonna whip inflation now

We'll all eat crow instead of cow
We'll even starve to death and how
So we can whip inflation now

And if you remember what magazine and cartoon that was from, your childhood was as misspent as mine.

[rampartc]

10. great poem.

was it MAD? hmmm but what cartoon would that be?

ok, just got back from 1976 to guess r crumb "fabulous furry freak bros."

[Archae]

12. Robert Crumb didn't draw the Freak Brothers.

Gilbert Shelton did.

[rampartc]

20. wow. i must have been high that year.

[gratuitous]

14. The magazine was National Lampoon

And you know the time frame.

[Midnightwalk]

7. Sorry made a dumb reply

Empty slogans aren’t necessarily a bad thing.

Hope and change was aspirational. Who could be against that.

Being able to win the sound bites war is maybe more important to winning the general than policy. Policy wonks will already have made up their minds.

Detailed explanations won’t get air time and won’t keep most people’s attention.

Short pithy even empty slogans are an important tool

Btw, my brain fart i deleted said ford won. Pretty dumb.

[MurrayDelph]

9. At the UCLA Computer Club

We sold buttons that said "LOSE," which stood for "Love Our Sinking Economy."


(I just read this post to my wife, and she told me she sound a bunch of them yesterday, ceasing out an old shed in our backyard, whose roof had disintegrated, destroying several thousand comics from the 50's to late 90's.)

[raccoon]

13. Those buttons should be recycled. Change the I to a T. "Whip Trump Now." nt

[superpatriotman]

18. We're In Need

Is what I remember the voting-age in my house saying

[andym]

21. It took raising the prime rate sky high to actually defeat inflation: Carter appointed Volcker

Short term pain of resulting sky high interest rates triggered a recession which along with Iran doomed Carter (he sacrificed himself ny appointing Volcker knowing it would damage the economy short-term). The recession lasted through Reagan's first 2-3 years thanks to Volcker's policies, but then inflation was broken and the economy came roaring back again thanks to Volcker. The Reagan economic miracle was really due to Volcker, and if by some miracle Carter had been re-elected he would be feted today for his great work to save the economy.

[susanr516]

22. I sure do

I was living in Austin at the time. Someone had a bunch of parody SIN (stop inflation now) buttons made and sold them on the UT South Mall. I bought one, but lost it in one of my later moves.