Yesterday Bernie Sanders won the first Democratic primary of the 2016 election beating Hillary Clinton by over 20%.
What has become the rally phrase for Mr. Sanders supporters is “Feel the Bern”.
I reached out to the owner of the domain name FeelTheBern.com last night who confirmed the domain name was for sale, which was just registered in February of 2015.
“”To start off I never intended to speculate with this domain and had acquired it a good time before “Feel The Bern” was even a thing.You really can’t plan for your domain to be a rallying cry of a presidential candidates grassroots base.Through this domain I have been in contact with the Sanders team, Martin Shkreli, and some notable Wall Street names.In terms of traffic,Last month saw a high of about 18,000 visitors. I know it would be higher if I put up some content but didn’t want to.I don’t really have an asking price but I am getting offers right now of around 8k which I still think is a bargain given the political importance. In addition, it would make a good strategic political play if one of the opponents picked it up for their digital efforts.Just a imagine an army or people chanting “Feel The Bern” and then you go to FeelTheBern.com and you get __INSERT WHATEVER__!I get so many passionate emails of people asking for me to donate it. I tell them if it is that important then why don’t you crowdfund it or something and to no surprise they don’t.”
So it’s either Sanders or Hillary Clinton who uses the domain name HillaryClinton.com for her website, or one of the PAC’s or Super Pac’s that support her, that would be the most likely buyer of the domain, to use against Bernie or the owner of the Facebook page that is selling Bernie Sanders merchandise.
If you have an interest in buying the domain you can just visit FeelTheBern.com and fill out the inquiry form.
We will keep you updated.
Is this merely being said to inoculate oneself against bad faith?
Seems like squatting to me.
========
“To start off I never intended to speculate with this domain and had acquired it a good time before “Feel The Bern” was even a thing.”
Well the domain holder is correct, Bernie didn’t even declare he was running for President until April 30th 2015
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders_presidential_campaign,_2016
Lol. I hears ya, I just think the argument is pretty weak. Its not like it was registered YEARS or even A YEAR before the campaign launched. The unique spelling itself of ‘Bern’ as contrasted with ‘Burn’ is clearly targeting Sanders. I guess my biggest gripe is the owners contention he wasn’t speculating. Lol. Than what was the purpose? Personally, Id grab the offered $$$$.
The “fix” is in…Bernie can’t win, regardless of how well he does in the primaries…thus, the aforementioned domain is virtually worthless:
http://newschannel9.com/news/election/despite-nh-primary-loss-clinton-has-394-delegates-to-sanders-42
Even so once Bernie announced he polled at 4% so he has come a long way and the domain was registered before there was an announced run much less a movement.
So its now worse than guessing at tickets years out and trying to cash in when your guess becomes correct.
99.999 of people much less domainers would have considered the $10 registration a waste of money back in Feb 2015
I informed many people in 2014 that I thought Bernie Sanders would be the democratic nominee in 2016. Most of these people thought I was “nuts”. At the time, I also thought Hillary was facing many obstacles.
The phrase “FEEL THE BERN” certainly came after the registration, and the registrant was prescient and creative in coming up with the slogan before the Sanders team. Was it registered in bad faith, as in banking on the prospects of a Bernie Sanders run? I don’t know. I’m not a UDRP expert.
If I were on the Bernie Sanders media/marketing team, I’d advise buying the domain. 1) to keep out of the hands of the competitors, 2) it could have long-term value as a brand, even after the election
I hope the Sanders team doesn’t file a UDRP just to get some publicity.
If it’s any consolation, who knows what the Sanders team paid a marketing team to come up with the slogan. The registrant did it for nothing, or for reg fee.
BTW — many of you will think I’m “nuts”
It will be Hillary vs Trump or Kasich in the Presidential Election.
Sanders may win a few more states, but Hillary will win the big ones, unless something crazy happens, like the Marco Rubio meltdown at the New Hampshire debate.
Nope…
it will be Bush vs Biden…and Biden will win.
I expect LOTS of shenanigans in the Delegate/Super Delegate game in BOTH conventions
Interesting story relating to the origin of the hashtag related to the term:
http://observer.com/2016/02/the-surprising-origin-of-feelthebern-meet-the-creator-of-the-viral-hashtag/
They don’t own the term nor is it TM. So really anyone can use it, am I wrong? Look at obamacare.com and .org, .net all the rest. None of them are TM. No one owns a term unless you TM the tagline and or domain.
It is a made term. deflatgate, etc. Short term worth unless he becomes prez.