Celebrating Frank Underwood in DC

Have you been watching House of Cards? Are you excited about the new season that will start on Friday March 4th? I am! The Netflix original series is one of the few shows my politico husband and I enjoy watching together and we’ve already cleared out our entire schedule for the weekend so we can binge on all 13 episodes before I head to Chicago on Monday morning. 

I work in advertising but my first love will always be politics (hey, there’s a reason I settled down in Washington, DC right?) so I’ve been LOVING the fake Frank Underwood re-election campaign leading up to March 4th. #FU2016 right? It all started with a campaign website,  a faux campaign ad airing during the CNN Republican debate on December 15 and the opening of a campaign office in Greenville, SC (also coinciding with a debate there.) And in a brilliat marketing stunt, it continued in Washington, DC with an “official” portrait of the fictional president that is now hanging alongside those of actual presidents in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. Sadly, I wasn’t cool enough to be invited to the official unveiling party last Monday. Womp womp. British artist Jonathan Yeo appeared alongside Kevin Spacey (in character as POTUS complete with faux secret service detail), Netflix COO Ted Sarandos and real White House insiders like Valerie Jarrett and press corps members like Dana Bash and Luke Russert to the official unveiling ceremony, where guests also got a sneak peek of episode one… lucky them! But I did swing by the next day to check out the six feet by six feet painting, which will be on display through October (it’s on the first floor, right by the door on the left side if you come in on the Mount Vernon side.)

A portrait of Spacey as Underwood by Jonathan Yeo now hangs in the Portrait Gallery

But my favourite DC-House of Cards promo by far is the one happening in the metro right now. If you’ve watched season 2, episode 1, you know our subway system plays a YUUUUGE part in a major plot twist early on.  And if you’ve followed public transportation news, you may also know that the Washington subway system was just named the best in the country, which if you live in DC makes you really wonder how bad things must be in other cities. Because it’s pretty bad here. I walk to work everyday (thank G-d) but I did hop on the metro just so I could check out this the awesome campaign running in both metro stations and train cars. Here’s a sneak peak… “a push in the right direction”? “Back on track”? Freaking brilliant!!