Trump Effectively Uses Social Media, Though Latest Publicity Stunt Appears to Fail

October 25, 2012
By: Ed Silverstein

Donald Trump was mocked in the media for his latest publicity stunt – offering to donate $5 million to charity if President Barack Obama would release his college and passport records, and college applications.

This week, Trump promised to donate $5 million to Obama's charity of choice in Chicago if Obama would release the documents.

Trump said his “major announcement” would “change the Presidential election.”

It did give an opportunity for Obama to joke about Trump on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show.

"We had constant run-ins on the soccer field,” Obama joked on the TV show, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. “He [Trump] wasn't very good and resented it. When we finally moved to America, I thought it would be over."


Image via Shutterstock

But there is a serious side to the matter.

“The real issue is that Trump demonstrated he still leads a very powerful brand as he accumulated more than 35,000 interactions on his Facebook (News - Alert) profile.  That in and of itself was an accomplishment for Trump and his brand,” claimed Kenneth Wisnefski, CEO at WebiMax.

Trump attached the statement to his Facebook page and it led to more than 19,000 likes, 7,400 comments and 6,100 shares.  There was both positive and negative feedback.

“Donald Trump demonstrated his effective reach on social media first and foremost, marking this move as a win for the Trump brand.”  Wisnefski further claimed. “Never mind the specific announcement, what we learned today is that he [Trump] was able to generate a significant amount of buzz on social media which was most likely his original intention.”

Last year and again in this recent address, Trump took credit for Obama's birth certificate release, The Tribune said.




Edited by Braden Becker


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