“Nearly all politicians care about branding — just as Procter & Gamble fixates on creating positive ‘brand awareness’ about Crest, Cheer, Pampers and Pepto-Bismol. But [Secretary of Homeland Security Tom] Ridge is the rare public official who uses the term. He is attuned to small details of his department’s ‘visual brand.’ These include the creation of DHS logos, patches and signs.” The fact is, Homeland Security’s mission is as much about selling itself to the public as it is about preventing terrorist attacks. The idea is to find new and innovative ways to convince an increasingly cynical public to take the department’s pronouncements seriously.