Did Amazon's Jeff Bezos Just Call A Truce With Donald Trump?

The latest Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN Amazon Prime ad was heart-warming stuff. Was it merely a promotional one or was it meant to take a dig at President-elect Donald Trump?

Reading between the lines, news outlets have given their spin of the tale. The ad is seen as the latest salvo fired in the exchanges between Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos and Trump.

The Ad

The ad features a priest and an imam, a person who leads prayers in a mosque, both friends. The latter visits the former at his residence. After exchanging pleasantries and having a cordial and warm chat over tea, they take leave of each other, only to realize that both are plagued with issues related to their knees.

After bidding goodbye, each, unknown to the other, orders knee braces for the other, by placing orders on Amazon Prime via a smartphone. Both receive the braces, smile to themselves and were seen kneeling/prostrating at ease without pain, while discharging their religious duties.

Amazon Seeking To Build Bridges Against Divisive Political Backdrop?

The ad stands out when weighed against the divisive theme of Trump's election campaign. In his campaign speeches, Trump had called for a total and complete shutdown of borders to Muslims, with the rhetoric only growing louder following the San Bernardino shootings.

Bezos Lauds His Ad Team

In a tweet, Bezos expressed his love for the ad and commended his ad team for the ad.

Trump-Bezos Barbs

It is no secret that Trump and Bezos share a frosty relation. Trump was visibly agitated by the stance the Washington Post, owned by Bezos, took against him during his campaign. In retaliation, Trump cried foul over the newspaper wielding undue clout with Washington politicians, who overlooked tax issues and anti-trust concerns at the newspaper as well as Amazon.

For his part, Bezos was openly critical of Trump and even said that he is open to sending Trump to the space through his aerospace company Blue Origin. The Amazon chief termed the way Trump ran his Presidential campaign as an erosion of democracy.

However, once the Trump's election was confirmed, Bezos sent out a reconciliatory tweet, congratulating him, which was seen by many as an about-face. Amazon shares are down 9 percent since November 8 and the patching up was seen by many as a way to save Amazon from further scrutiny by the new administration.

Bridging The Gap Or Taking A Jibe

Against this backdrop, the ad is seen as re-opening old wounds, as the mutual dislike simmers on as an undercurrent. It doesn't look like the two are ready to bury the hatchet anytime soon in the interest of working together. However, a contrarian look at the ad also suggests that the two persons in the ad with two distinctly differing religious beliefs are reflective of Trump and Bezos. The cordiality among the two in the ad suggests that people can still be nice to each other and care for each other despite the differences. The parallels between the two throughout the ad, from their attire to their stances to their religious duties, further solidify that similarities can be found in the most unlikely of places.

After declining for four straight sessions since November 8, Amazon shares were up 0.90 percent at $763.32.

Image Credit: By DoD photo by Senior Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz (Released) [Public domain or CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons