The Youth Lab
POLITICAL ENTERTAINMENT ENTERS THE MEME SPHERE
In this the year that half the world goes to vote, we’re exploring the cultural explosion that has become the US Presidential race in the last week, and the comms masterminds who are spinning it all in their favour. Could young people’s engagement with memes really be a decider in terms of who resides in the White House come Nov 2024?
IT’S SO JOEVER
This week has been a busy week in the world of US politics, especially in the social sphere. On Sunday July 21st, Joe Biden announced his departure from the presidential election with a letter to dispel the rumours following his troubling June 27th Presidential Debate. The letter was met with outpourings of support from donors, voters and activists and general speculation as to who will be the next presidential nominee from the Democrats. This was not the case on social media however, with countless young people and content creators taking to the internet to reignite “joever” (‘we’re so over’ meets Joe Biden) and transform his resignation into a cultural moment, flooding our feeds with photoshopped resignation letters supposedly from Joe himself incorporating iconic phrases from TV Shows and pop culture - think Erica Jayne explaining her ‘unbelievable' story, and Carrie Bradshaw getting dumped via Post It note.
Image source InuMoon on ‘X’
Image Source kkaley.b on Instagram
KAMALA’S MIXTAPE
Within an hour of “joever” news breaking, Biden officially announced his support for Kamala by dialling into Kamala HQ with his support. Kamala Harris’ political supporters are numerous with the nominee already receiving the support of 3,189 delegates, but none have been as socially relevant as that of the British Hyperpop Icon Charli XCX announcing that “Kamala IS brat” (check out our 52INSIGHTS on all things brat here).
This endorsement sent shockwaves through the internet, from FOX News anchors trying desperately to understand what brat has to do with a future president, to the endless memes incorporating the presidential nominee into the brat aesthetic, to Kamala herself buying into the fanfare and transforming the @KamalaHQ campaign page into a brat masterpiece.
Image Source @KamalaHQ on ‘X’
Soon after, Queen Bey herself, Beyonce got in on the game, and in what Vanity Fair called’ a diplomatic gesture’ gifted Madame Vice President the use of “Freedom” as the Veep’s walk-on music, while another Girl of the moment Chappell Roan, joined the Mixtape of female super star singers in Harris’s HQ latest meme, calling for a “Femininomenon” at the polls this November. This campaign move is yet another effort for the Democratic party to appeal to younger voters, and given the $81 million raised in the first 24 hours it looks like the Meme generation may well be working, although many are still not sold on either candidate, particularly on a week where Harris met with Benjamin Netanyahu, and continued to adopt the political stance of the Biden administration.
BARKING UP THE RIGHT COCONUT TREE
“To many young people on X and TikTok, the vice president is unironically funny and all too easy to meme.”
Only in the game a wet week, and there’s chatter that Kamala is reaching Trump levels of memeability, thanks to her love of a tangential storytime, with TikTokers going all out on re-mixes involving Harris recounting her mother’s saying “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” to explain the concept of inequality and the importance of equity in education policy, before laughing and explaining that “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you”.
The coconut legacy, now dubbed “operation coconut tree” now lives on in pop culture thanks to the cultural savviness of US Senator Brian Schatz posting a photo of himself climbing a coconut tree as his endorsement post.
Image Source Brian Schatz on “X"
A RE-ENGAGED YOUNG VOTING COHORT
This year 41 million members of gen Z will be eligible to vote, with 8 million new voters, and nearly half of them people of colour. The latest poll from PBS News/NPR/Marist found that if the election were today, 46% of voters would support Trump and 45% would vote for Harris. A re-energised youth cohort could make it or break it. The youth vote is the one they both will chase. Up to now, young people had reported feeling disengaged and apathetic about the upcoming elections, and US politics in general. In a US News-Generation Lab poll of voters 18-34 from early July, 61% of respondents agreed that the upcoming election would be among the most important in history, but nearly a third said they would probably not or definitely not vote, with the majority saying they didn’t like any of the candidates.
So, with a new contender in town, and the Meme factory on overdrive, pumping out content that is connecting with young people, candidates will need to convince them that they have a credible plan to “address the existential threats they see in their everyday lives - climate crisis, protections for democratic institutions, and economic policy that will improve social mobility.” Layer on the US political stance on the ongoing Israel war on Gaza, and meme, or no meme, the political challenges of appealing to all voters in a deeply divided nation will continue to prevail for both Harris and Trump.
BRAND TAKEOUTS
Electabilty and Memeability: Winning the internet meme wars goes a long way in winning the US Presidential election. But like most things, the substance underneath will be the ultimate determinator.
OTHER NEWS
On Thursday we received our official briefing from The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications for our role as 2024 / 2025 SDG Champions. Our primary focus is to drive awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals and encourage our clients, the marketing and advertising industry and our wider network to work together to have impact. We’re now busy mapping out how we can maximise our collective impact through events and knowledge sharing. If you’ve any ideas or would like to collaborate please get in touch - planet@thinkhousehq.com.