RTX1TQ7V
People wear the American flag as students and protesters gather at the "Free Speech Zone" located at the University of Colorado on Oct. 28. Reuters

Aaand the American election cycle gets weirder. Captain Morgan — yes, the rum brand — launched an apparently real petition Tuesday to request an amendment to the United States Constitution. It wants to do away with Article II, Section 1, Paragraph 5, which states that nobody under 35 years old is eligible to be president.

The campaign began Tuesday with a full page ad in the New York Times and, of course, a hashtag: #UNDER35POTUS. The goal is to get 100,000 signatures on an online White House petition so that the government has to respond.

"Millennials are more than 75 million strong in the United States and are leading change. But when it comes to leading the nation at its highest level, they are faced with an impenetrable obstacle," the petition reads. "They must be heard."

As of Tuesday afternoon, fewer than 250 people had signed onto the cause. The initiative wasn't too well-received on Twitter, either, with many responding to the Captain Morgan account with messages like "how about let's not" and "that's the liquor talking."

Captain Morgan's senior brand manager, 33-year-old Adrienne Cuschieri Grooms, remained upbeat in a news release. "It’s no secret that millennials have gradually been disengaging from the political process," Grooms said. "Millennials make up some of the most progressive, innovative, intelligent, and successful people in our country — why shouldn’t they be able to be President of the United States?"

In addition to being no younger than 35 to run for president, a person has to be at least 25 to run for the House of Representatives. Senators have to be at least 30.

For some historical context, the youngest U.S. president ever was Theodore Roosevelt, who took office at 42 years and 10 months old. Congress is, admittedly, pretty old: The average age in the House is 57, and the average in the Senate is 61, the Hill reported.

In any case, Captain Morgan isn't the first alcohol brand to try to capitalize on the election. Anheuser-Busch announced in May that it would relabel its Budweiser cans with "America" in order to "to inspire drinkers to celebrate America and Budweiser's shared values of freedom and authenticity," USA Today reported.

RELATED STORIES