We know the Americans are famous for embracing the spirit of pioneering. And an underwear clad cowboy running for Mayor is yet another example of an American pushing boundary lines. Although near nakedness is Robert Burck's busker identity, I am still shocked at his lack of dressing while campaigning to be Mayor of New York. Running for Mayor seems to be too significant an event for so little clothes. Also, the fashion for political runners leans towards the conventional suit and tie.
Unfortunately, while his campaign lasted this poor cowboy did not realize he had to dress smartly. Robert Burck in all his naked glory does not give a convincing enough statement that he is serious about becoming Mayor of New York. I am guessing that even if he continues in his campaign, the public will not vote for him, maybe except cowboy lovers. So why do politicians need to look prim and proper? Dressing is a form of non verbal communication after all, and the image one creates does have a lot of impact on ethos. Looking at Robert Burck’s contending outfit alone, I cannot say I trust him to run a city. I sure do not want any leader of mine governing me in briefs.
Robert Burck’s dressing does some more harm to his campaign. Unknown to him his brilliantly white underwear steals most of the attention away from his stands on campaign ideals and policy. It definitely contributes to the ‘noise’ that prevents the public from hearing him out.
Nevertheless, we should at least give him some merit for being so bold and different. Some positive pointers from his campaign:
1) By using the guitar for campaigns he was seeking common ground with the masses. Music is considered a universal language and Robert Burck might have been setting the stage for better interaction with the public.
2) His dressing supports his slogan “Nobody has done more with less”, or rather the slogan supports his getup.
3) Nowadays Western youths are very open minded and Robert Burck might be trying to appeal to that.
It would be difficult though if Robert Burck wanted to campaign for Mayor again and succeed. While I’m glad he has realized the importance of dressing seriously, any effort to create a new image might be futile, with such a wild past image embedded in the minds of the people. Once a message has been sent, it cannot be erased, and people will probably remember him as the naked cowboy who sang through his campaigns.
Of course, this would only be a problem if Robert Burck’s ambition is to become a Mayor. He could have other motives and campaigning might just be a tool to promote himself and gain publicity.
I am not surprised that Robert Burck has pulled the plug on his Mayor bid. Since classical times rhetoric was the major influence in politics and Robert Burck's dressing alone already does not seem to be persuading the public to support and vote him for mayor. If I had one piece of advice for Cowboy, it would be to bear in mind his campaign is completely receiver oriented. Before he does, says, or wears anything at all, he should think of how the people will interpret and judge his actions.
News Link:
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/World/Story/STIStory_426170.html
Candidate’s Website:
http://www.nakedcowboy.com/
Unfortunately, while his campaign lasted this poor cowboy did not realize he had to dress smartly. Robert Burck in all his naked glory does not give a convincing enough statement that he is serious about becoming Mayor of New York. I am guessing that even if he continues in his campaign, the public will not vote for him, maybe except cowboy lovers. So why do politicians need to look prim and proper? Dressing is a form of non verbal communication after all, and the image one creates does have a lot of impact on ethos. Looking at Robert Burck’s contending outfit alone, I cannot say I trust him to run a city. I sure do not want any leader of mine governing me in briefs.
Robert Burck’s dressing does some more harm to his campaign. Unknown to him his brilliantly white underwear steals most of the attention away from his stands on campaign ideals and policy. It definitely contributes to the ‘noise’ that prevents the public from hearing him out.
Nevertheless, we should at least give him some merit for being so bold and different. Some positive pointers from his campaign:
1) By using the guitar for campaigns he was seeking common ground with the masses. Music is considered a universal language and Robert Burck might have been setting the stage for better interaction with the public.
2) His dressing supports his slogan “Nobody has done more with less”, or rather the slogan supports his getup.
3) Nowadays Western youths are very open minded and Robert Burck might be trying to appeal to that.
It would be difficult though if Robert Burck wanted to campaign for Mayor again and succeed. While I’m glad he has realized the importance of dressing seriously, any effort to create a new image might be futile, with such a wild past image embedded in the minds of the people. Once a message has been sent, it cannot be erased, and people will probably remember him as the naked cowboy who sang through his campaigns.
Of course, this would only be a problem if Robert Burck’s ambition is to become a Mayor. He could have other motives and campaigning might just be a tool to promote himself and gain publicity.
I am not surprised that Robert Burck has pulled the plug on his Mayor bid. Since classical times rhetoric was the major influence in politics and Robert Burck's dressing alone already does not seem to be persuading the public to support and vote him for mayor. If I had one piece of advice for Cowboy, it would be to bear in mind his campaign is completely receiver oriented. Before he does, says, or wears anything at all, he should think of how the people will interpret and judge his actions.
News Link:
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/World/Story/STIStory_426170.html
Candidate’s Website:
http://www.nakedcowboy.com/
Interesting article. Well, he certainly got the attention of people, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteIt could work 2 ways: One, he was very smart, and knew that his lack of credentials calls for drastics means to get attention. Or two, he was silly.
However, on the serious note, if anyone like this nut cowboy could run for Mayor of New York, there are serious questions underlying the regulations of the state in an election for Mayor. If, by some unforseen circumstance an uneducated, inexperienced individual were to claim the seat, the impact on the society in New York would be drastic. Which brings us to another question: Is democracy so good after all?
All in all, a good, fun post. :-)
Hey,
ReplyDeleteI would really like to see how our local politicians wear if given a choice to freely express themselves in public.
Apperance is especially important to public figures (or for those soon-to-be). Perharps in this case, I would prefer to believe that the cowboy is trying to express himself in an non-verbal way but was too native to imagine the formality of the election. On the other hand, the cowboy's actions can also be seen as a attention-seeking tactic but it is quite obvious that he has made a terribly fashion faux pas that gives the public a negative perception of him.
But, as the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover. I'm sure that most of the New Yorkers will pick their next mayor by his leadership qualities and not by his fashion sense. Who knows he might be the one who can inject fresh perspectives into the congress of New York?
Pls do visit and comment on my blog: http://www.handwritingsonthewall.wordpress.com/
By going against the norms of society, Robert Burck was trying to break out of social context and communicate to the public in a non-conventional way. However, he has disregarded the fact that most of what we know and believe about the world comes to us through communication rather through direct experience. When the public witnessed Robert's cowboy antics, they perceived him from another perspective that was different from his intended message. Hence, his move backfired as he did not realise people still have their own biased views on certain matters.
ReplyDeleteA mayor should have a mayor look. I mean to dress and look like one. Not with a cowboy image and brief i guessed. How can he convince the New York citizens that he can lead the state to greater heights? With his extraodinary outfit, it will only attract the attention of the younger ones but bear in mind those who are voting are of an older age.
ReplyDeleteSuch non verbal communication proved to be a failure in political issues like this- voting for a good mayor. He should just be traditional and turn up in a suit.
People are generally visual creatures. We all judge by looks. (To side track like how people think I'm 'ah-lian' with my red hair) If you're a bum, but you dress smartly in branded clothes, people will flock to you thinking you are one successful man. If you are successful, but dress sloppily, stubble unshaved, hair messy, no one would take notice of you. Similarly for this almost naked cowboy, which his attire and image, it's not hard to see why people do not take him seriously and treat him as a joke. People would even be skeptical regarding his intentions of running for mayor. Of course it is too soon to really judge him without hearing his reasons, but that's a fact of life. First impressions really count, and people 1st judge someone by their looks. In order to win the hearts of the people, what he needed to do was strike a GOOD first impression. That being said, appearing in only a pair of briefs does not go anything near to a GOOD impression.
ReplyDeleteI guess his idea of standing out amongst the rest to gather more attention backfired on him! Despite Americans generally being very liberal but it doesnt simply mean its applicable to every instances and of course being liberal encompasses more than just the amount of clothes one puts on. There is a code of conduct for every profession and certainly he has broken every single rule as a politician.. Not very brilliant to even consider running to being with!
ReplyDeleteFirst impression of someone is the most important thing. People usually remember the time best when they first meet you and from there you are judge usually based on appearance.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, there is no rule for one to have a suit and tie to become mayor, is there? Well in our current society, like said before most people judge another by their first impression of someone which is their appearance. It might be a pity if Robert Burck has the good qualities of a mayor, but it does not show through his appearance. My first impression of Robert Burck would be 'are you joking?'
Therfore appearance is a important thing in our current society where appearance is very important.
Though I have no idea who this Robert Burck is, I agree with you that if someone wants to run for the Mayor election, he would have to be decently dressed so that people would have a good impression of him that he would be reliant. Perhaps he is trying to make people take note of him. But, there are many other ways to do that instead of just wearing his underwear!
ReplyDeleteBreda
We have just such a case in Singapore, where a man stood for election for Member of Parliment wearing a pair of slippers. He soon caught the attention of the media, and as they say, the rest is history.
ReplyDeleteI guess there will always be such a thing call social norms, and the media is very helpful to bring out the best and the worst.
Let's just say mess media is one big magnifying glass, it makes everything looks bigger then they really are, good or bad.
I think that there may be some positive messages that came through from Robert Burke's lack of dressing, unlike the mainly negative ones you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteFirst, people may see how different Robert Burke is. Often people look for change, and Burke's refreshing fashion sense may offer people that hope for something different, if not better.
Also, you mentioned that near nakedness is Robert Burke's busker identity, so perhaps his choice of using his familiar style to run for mayor is more of a political ploy to get his fans to vote for him - which i think is quite smart.
You know what?
ReplyDeleteI think the possibility that Robert Burke was just using this mayor campain to boost his popularity as a busker like you stated is very real. In fact I think it is true. By his dressing one gets the sense that he is not serious about this campaign at all, and that he is merely fooling around. But yes I agree that if one wants to run for president, he has to convince people that he is reliable and suitable and decent, otherwise know as appealing to the mass via ethos.
Hi Rachel!!
ReplyDeleteHow can a mayor wannabe dress like that? His fashion style definitely sends a wrong message to people! Like you said, if he ever wants to run for mayor again it would be difficult for him to do so, especially if he has offended lots of people by dressing like that. But then again America is much more liberal, so perhaps our prototype of an ideal mayor does not match an American's prototype of mayor candidates?
Robert Burke is awesome. If America can accept vast changes like voting an African American into presidency, they should have no qualms with voting in underwear man to be mayor. My point is this: Lack of dress sense does not equal lack of mayor capabilities.
ReplyDeleteBut I guess you are right since communication is receiver oriented, it is not whether Robert is suitable or not, it is whether the people view him as suitable. Hence he should take better care of presenting himself properly.
rocknstone (CHERVIN)>>
ReplyDeleteHi yes i definitely agree with how you said his near nakedness could work 2 ways! Then again, his lack of dressing certainly does not mean he is uneducated or incapable of being a good mayor. But that was certainly the impression you got from seeing him clad only in briefs right? This just shows how important dressing is as it sends messages to all of us.
handwritingsonthewall (CHUYUAN)>>
ReplyDeleteAgreed! that we should not judge Robert Burke just because of his dressing, but because of his leadership qualities. But we humans love to pass judgements and tend to jump to conclusions quickly (idols of the tribe) and as such it is unfortunate how our human nature will immediately cause us to shrink away from supporting Burke when we see his dress sense and assume from that the perception he gives us.
dontstoptillyougetenough (RACHEL.T)>>
ReplyDeleteHey there i absolutely agree with you on how people perceived him differently from his intended message! I think that when anyone wants to campaign they have to bear in mind how receivers will receive the message, because it is futile if they do not interpret the messages the way the campaigner would want them to.
commtalks (LINI)>>
ReplyDeleteHey! you certainly hold the views of the majority! Great point in bringing up the fact that those of the older generation might not vote for him because they tend to be more traditional and would prefer someone who was more serious in dressing. And how you mentioned that he might instead just appeal to youngsters? Shows us that often the same non verbal communication can be interpreted by different people differently.
itsmorethanjustwords (JUNYING)>>
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely agree with you. 1st impressions count. And even when we should not judge a book by its cover, humans unfortunately do and Burke should have thought of that while running for Mayor.
CHERYL>>
ReplyDeleteHi there! yes great point that being liberal has different implications for different situations!
AMOS>>
ReplyDeleteWhat you said is very true. And i share the same first impression of RObert Burke as you do. There is no written rule in black and white which states that mayor candidates have to dress up in suits, but i think its more of an unspoken rule anyway. And yes it is pitiful if Burke did have good mayor qualities but destroyed that by his sense of dress.
blacksticks (BREDA)>>
ReplyDeleteYes perhaps he is trying to attract attention, and I agree with you that there are other ways of doing that! Other ways which could in fact give out more positive signals.
LIM>>
ReplyDeleteI remember that incident! Media aside, I think it just shows how dressing inappropriately can send the wrong messages, like in the case of the man who wore slippers to parliament, people might see it as an outright disrespect to the situation he was in.
hi!
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very good example of how important first impression is and it is really going to be very difficult for him to participate in any campaigns again as many will attribute him to all the negative traits.
However, I have to applaud him for his courage to be unconventional in his campaign and maybe he should consider being unconventional in dealing with politics rather than appearance.
I think it's classic that someone actually does that in the bid of running for the mayor position. In my opinion, Westerners are really open with doing many things which are out of the box.
ReplyDeleteImagine if someone tries to do that in Singapore. I guess that person would probably get ZERO votes. Although it is seemingly creative, I think it is rather rude to do that as he is running for an official post in society. With that said, however, I think there would be nothing wrong with the entire thing being lighthearted of course.