Ivanka Trump’s brand of clothing, shoes and accessories has been at the center of a tempest since her father was elected president. On the left, calls to boycott retailers that carried merchandise bearing the Trump name crescendoed as a way to protest President Donald Trump. Earlier this month, the brand took its latest hit after Nordstrom became the latest retailer to drop Ivanka Trump-branded items.
But on Amazon.com this past week, the brand reclaimed a small victory: Ivanka Trump’s perfume suddenly jumped to the top spot on the list of the online retailer’s best-selling fragrances, as first reported Thursday by conservative news site Townhall.
As of Saturday morning, the Ivanka Trump Eau de Parfum spray remained the top-selling item in the “Perfumes & Fragrances” category on Amazon. A smaller, roller-ball version of the same scent came in at No. 3. (In between the two was an essential oils gift set that promised, among other things, “the ultimate state of calmness” and “relaxation and balance for the mind.”)
It is unclear how sales of Ivanka Trump’s perfume performed on the site before the past week. Amazon did not immediately respond to an email Saturday morning. (Jeffrey P. Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon.com, owns The Washington Post.)
A bevy of new reviews for the perfume also appeared on the product page. While some were apolitical, many indicated they had purchased the product – or at least were posting about it – in support of the president and his daughter.
“Amazing! Smells great,” wrote a user named “DeeJay,” who rated Ivanka Trump’s perfume five stars. “Get many compliments and questions on what it is and where I got it! Plus I am supporting President Trump and his family! Make America Great again!”
Still others had little to do with the actual product and seemed more a statement against those who opposed Trump.
“Very excellent scent,” wrote a user named “Ronald” who also rated the fragrance five stars. “it also helps keep the RATS (SJW, PC, SNOWFLAKE) whining cry babies away, almost as if you’re throwing holy water at mindless DEMONS while they pull their hair and eye balls out when they smell such a refreshing scent.”
The sales jump appears to be driven in part by a backlash to a boycott of Trump-branded merchandise. Since last fall, the Grab Your Wallet campaign has persistently encouraged consumers to boycott retailers that carry Trump-branded items. Stores that have said they would drop such merchandise have included Neiman Marcus, Kmart and Sears.
The boycotts have contributed to the drop in sales of Ivanka Trump-branded goods. As The Washington Post’s Sarah Halzack reported last week:
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Panjiva, a global trade data company, says that imports of products that bear the Ivanka Trump name were 54.4 percent lower in the three months ended Jan. 31 compared with the three months that ended Sept. 30, the period that represents the peak of imports of that brand in Panjiva’s records.
And on social media, the boycott campaign called Grab Your Wallet is gaining momentum. According to data from Captiv8, a social media analytics firm, there have been more than 496,000 “engagements” – likes, retweets, and so on – since October on Twitter and Instagram posts that use the #grabyourwallet hashtag. After a burst of activity in November and a cool-down in December and January, engagement on the hashtag soared to its highest level in early February.
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Most notably, earlier this month Nordstrom said it would no longer carry Ivanka Trump-branded clothing and shoes. The department store said it was dropping the line because of flagging sales, not politics.
President Trump lashed out at Nordstrom on Twitter shortly after that news broke, complaining that his daughter had “been treated so unfairly.”
“Terrible!” the president added.
Trump tweeted: My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!
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On the right, the retail news site Racked.com reported that the Grab Your Wallet movement has been met with Trump-supporting shoppers who have vowed to boycott stores that back away from Trump-branded items.
“I don’t shop, but I have a wife that does and she’s no longer shopping [at Nordstrom] because I’ve cut up the [Nordstrom] credit card,” Texas resident Tom Rinehart told Racked.com. “There’s plenty of other stores that she spends too much money in.”
(c) 2017, The Washington Post
