A Rhode Island Mayor showed off his artsy side recently with what appeared to be several homages to filmmaker Wes Anderson’s trademarks. Brett Smiley, who is running for mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, showed off many of Wes Anderson’s trademarks, from yellow fonts, insert shorts of written correspondence, precocious children, and Smiley even delivered in a deadpan way, reminiscent of many actors in Anderson films.
The ad also praises Smiley’s organizational skills, with Smiley’s husband saying that the mayoral candidate proposed in a PowerPoint presentation.
Smiley also outlined a plan to tax handguns in the way the state and country taxes cigarettes.
Given that Providence is home to Brown University and is generally thought of as a liberal area, many believe this tactic could pay off for Smiley, given that many local students are almost certainly familiar with Wes Anderson’s particular style of filmmaking. Though aligning your political brand with a popular indie filmmaker may be less effective in other areas, so for any politicians reading this, channel Wes Anderson at your own risk.
See the full video below.