Jeb Bush Basically Ripped The SEC Logo For His Campaign And Will Probably Win The South Vote Now

SteveHolt10 years ago

Jeb Bush knows how to pander to southern voters.

The presidential hopeful, who occasionally wears Rowdy Gentleman on the campaign trail, just straight ripped the SEC logo and replaced it with his own name — which is playing well with hardcore southern republicans and football fans. I have to say, even I like the move.

The actual conference isn’t as big a fan of it, however. It had to come out and make sure the fans knew it did not endorse any individual candidate for president while forcing Bush to take down some of his knockoff SEC merch. But it was already too late. The SEC fans love JEB.

Unfortunately, these koozies are no longer available.

From USA Today:

It seems everybody wants a piece of the Southeastern Conference, but even a presidential candidate can get carried away.

The SEC has negotiated with officials from Jeb Bush’s campaign to modify a logo that closely resembles the conference’s and make other changes in how the campaign aligns itself with the conference.

“The Southeastern Conference does not endorse candidates for any political office,” SEC spokesman Herb Vincent said Wednesday in a statement to USA TODAY Sports. “The SEC has spoken to the Bush campaign to ensure that their activities are within the bounds of our trademark requirements.”

As part of efforts aimed at Republican primaries March 1 in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas that are collectively being called the “SEC Primary,” Bush recently has appeared at tailgating events prior to football games at the University of Georgia and the University of Tennessee. He’s scheduled to do the same before games in November at the University of Alabama and Mississippi State.

Here is Jeb talking up the SEC in a Twitter post from last week:

OK, I take a few issues with his comments. The best rivalry is, by far, Auburn-Alabama, followed by Georgia-Florida. Ole Miss-Mississippi State is getting better, but because State has sucked for so long, it really isn’t in the conversation. Also, “Head Ball Coach” is the greatest nickname for a college football coach of all time, even if he is a quitter. “The Bear” doesn’t come close.

If there is more backlash that comes from Jeb using the conference logo, it isn’t coming from Ole Miss. They clearly don’t mind at all:

University of Mississippi spokesman Tom Eppes said via e-mail the school’s logo “appears to be an incidental backdrop for a fun, upbeat conversation about the SEC, one that portrays the university in a positive light. … We would encourage the Bush campaign and other campaigns to follow appropriate procedure in the future, contacting our licensing office in advance, but we’re not concerned about this usage and don’t intend to make an issue of it.”

In case you weren’t already aware, college football runs America..

[via USA Today]

Image via Twitter