The 2016 presidential race is getting all too real for some Americans, who are fearful of a Donald Trump presidency. A survey by Vox.com said 28% of people in the US claim they will consider packing up and moving to Canada if the Donald wins the White House in November. And Google searches about moving to the Great White North have surged since he began dominating the Republican primaries.
Those anxieties are fueling some creative work from brands outside the political horserace. Streaming-music platform Spotify, Canadian startup Sortable, and Canada’s Cape Breton Island are a few of the brands playing up the alleged American exodus in their latest ad campaigns.
Spotify’s ad, which breaks on TV on Thursday (March 31), touts the perfect soundtrack for the move up north: Flo Rida’s “My House.” As part of a new ad campaign, Spotify mined its data (paywall) in search of unusual insights about its users. The track, the commercial boasts, was ”elected” to hundreds of moving playlists created by Spotify users.
The ad-tech firm Sortable, based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, also leveraged Trump fears to appeal to expatriates who are considering returning to Canada from the US. In “Feeling homesick?” the company laid the text over a Trump image to promote Sortable’s talent search. The firm made a broader appeal in another digital ad that appeared on Facebook and Instagram:
And an island in Canada created a website that jokingly invited Americans to move there if Donald Trump wins in November. Started by a local radio DJ in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, “If Donald Trump wins,” aims to attract more people to the area. The site links to the Cape Breton’s official tourism page and says:
Hi Americans! Donald Trump may become the President of your country! If that happens, and you decide to get the hell out of there, might I suggest moving to Cape Breton Island!
The island’s tourism board, Destination Cape Breton, told CNNMoney that it received 50,000 U.S. inquiries on its website during the first three days the site was available, more than all the traffic from the U.S. in 2015.
Meanwhile, a startup called SimpleCitizen—a ‘TurboTax for immigration” that guides US immigrants through immigration and visa processes—asks in its Facebook ads, “Nervous? Don’t be,” alongside an illustration of Trump’s iconic hairdo. The ad tells people that SimpleCitizen can help them secure their green cards before November, when the country’s next president will be elected.