Strong Responses to #ImARepublican Hashtag

In late September, the #ImARepublican hashtag hit social media as a part of a campaign launched by Republicans Are People Too. Republicans Are People Too, and the subsequent ad shown above, were created to combat the belief that the Republican Party is comprised only of rich white men.

The ad makes its claim by showing the many "faces" of the Republican Party, with brief anecdotal captions on each photo shown such as "Republicans have tattoos and beards."

While the campaign may have been a well intended attempt to combat a huge stereotype of the Republican Party, it also overlooked many other accusations brought on by party opposers. Yes, it is argued that the party lacks diversity, but there are also questions of corruption, racism, and policy making among other things. The lack of address of these issues was brought into light once the hashtag hit social media. It received much more negative response than positive, with one tweet even reading:

Trying to find #IAmARepublican tweets that aren't jokes is quite difficult.
— Jesse Pound (@jesserpound) October 2, 2014

Aside from this, the campaign was also criticized for its use of stock photography in the advertisement. Generic photos of people engaged in various activities could easily mean that those photoed are neither Republican or even US Citizens connected to the cause. Once the use of stock photography surfaced, the hashtag #IAmiStock also began to circulate, referencing the popular stock photo website.

As a response to all of the negative backlash, Republicans Are People Too created a second ad, urging viewers to change their thinking and engage in a more productive dialouge. Still, the #ImARepublican hashtag continues to circulate with memes aiming in mock rather than support the campaign.

Do you think there is hope for this campaign? Is the campaign a fair representation of the Republic Party and its needs for understanding? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!