In a contentious election cycle, one Northeast Ohio company is doing its best to make the vote just "ducky."

Duck Brand, manufacturer of the ubiquitous Duck Tape brand duct tape, spent Republican National Convention week polling voters for a special patriotic print of the versatile adhesive. In mid-August, the Avon company announced the winning design - an image of its sash-wearing mascot Trust E. Duck on the moon.

The moonstruck image of the flag-bearing water fowl took over 60 percent of 2,500 total votes, handily beating a stars-and-stripes-themed print. Duck Brand's REAL Vote Campaign also connected participants to a business that has been producing its popular Duck Brand Duct Tape product in the Cleveland area since 1984. Fans of the colorful sticky stuff have used it to make everything from evening gowns to science fiction sculptures.

"Our company has really grown up here, so we wanted to support the activity (during the RNC) along with people visiting the city for the first time," says  Melanie Canning, director of marketing for Duck Brand parent company ShurTech Brands.

The event initially launched in June during the company's annual Duck Tape Festival in Avon. Over RNC week, employees with iPads took votes at four locations - West 6th Street and St. Clair Avenue, Flats East Bank, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and Crocker Park. Each voting area was decorated with larger-than-life symbols of Americana, including a giant bald eagle and a "Mount Duckmore" sculpture carved with Trust E. Duck's face. Ballots were also cast online.

"The displays helped us stand out and capture peoples' attention," Canning says. "Voters got an 'I Voted' sticker and a mini-roll of tape."

While Duck Brand offers 250 versions of its product, only two bear the likeness of Trust E.

"We noticed over the years how consumers liked to give us feedback on the newest prints, so we came up with a couple of designs we thought were fun and different," says Canning. "What better way to make the selection than to have a real voting campaign?"

The winning print will be available online and on-site at various company-sponsored events in 2017. For now, company officials are pleased to have brought their product, along with a few smiles, to the presidential debate.

"When things felt like they were getting heated elsewhere, it was nice for people to check out something with a fun spin to it," says Canning.