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While brands like Target have been spooked enough by online stochastic terrorists to step back from social issues like LGBTQ acceptance and rights during Pride, other brands are taking a page from the failed comic playbook by pandering to the right and making a mint off a consumer base that has proven it will buy pretty much anything if it means “owning the libs” or anything that feels mildly “woke.” Even fake meat.
The latest brand that appears to be flirting with conservatives, specifically former President and convicted felon Donald Trump, is Logan Paul and KSI’s Prime.
Recently, Paul conducted an hour-long interview with the septuagenarian Republican presidential candidate Trump on his podcast Impaulsive. As one would expect, the two exchanged merch. Trump brought some of his signature MAGA red caps, and Paul had Stars-and-Stripes-themed bottles reading “Trump” for the twice-impeached former president. White and red stripes flow along the custom label, and the Prime logo is dark blue and star-studded.
Trump also brought another piece of merch—a t-shirt featuring his mugshot. Paul described it as “gangster,” as if that’s a quality to look for in a president. Bumper stickers and pins (though there are plenty of those) aren’t enough for a Trump campaign. MAGA supporters will eagerly spend their money on anything Trump-branded, including plastic straws. This phenomenon isn’t alien to Logan Paul, who has become somewhat of a master at peddling wares by leveraging his celebrity and loyal following. Of course, an appearance on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive is a chance to reach an audience much younger than Fox News watchers for Trump. For Logan Paul, hosting the polarizing political figure is a chance to drum up a little controversy and bring attention and sales to Prime.
For some brands, associating and implicitly endorsing a presidential candidate, especially in this election, would spell disaster. It’s hard to imagine Coca-Cola rolling out the red carpet for any presidential candidate in Atlanta and gifting a specially-designed bottle of Coke to the contender for the nation’s top job. But Prime, which disclosed sales of $1.2 billion last year, is helmed by Paul, one of the sirens of today’s disenchanted young men, and he serves as a gateway to more toxic manosphere corners of the web.
Thanks partly to content algorithms used by platforms like TikTok and YouTube, Logan Paul’s podcast will trigger suggestions for content by folks like, say, the Fresh & Fit podcast and Andrew Tate. And you don’t have to venture too far down the rabbit hole to find alt-right media personas with a more political agenda who also talk about “empowering” young men. Think Jordan Peterson and Tim Pool, who are almost always pro-MAGA. While misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, racism, and classism might be expressed more softly on Impaulsive and Fresh & Fit, social media will happily suggest more overt and venomous fare as “related” soon enough by the algorithms that recommend and queue up content at Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Plenty of young men find solace in the overtly patriarchal ideal sold by these political and media figures. For men in their teens and twenties, unsure of their role in society and how to achieve personal and professional success, a simplistic patriarchal blueprint where their supremacy in society is inherent due to gender, and in some cases, their race and religion as well can be a compelling ideology.
Logan Paul and Donald Trump are also similar. Both have no problem scamming their followers, seem immune to consequences, and share a penchant for pomp and pageantry. Trump never recorded the bodies of suicide victims, but he did incite an insurrection. Maybe there are degrees to being a dick, but I don’t care to rank Paul and Trump, and I’ll leave it by saying they’re both awful.
During Trump’s appearance on his podcast, Logan Paul extended an invitation to the Democratic party’s candidate, President Biden. However, given Paul’s delivery, which was followed by a suggestion that Trump release a “diss track” and some unchallenged digs at the president and the “fake news,” it’s hard to gauge the invitation’s earnestness.
Sincere or not, Biden should consider taking Paul up on his offer. The president seems to be losing traction with younger voters, who might be voting in their first election and aren’t old enough to remember the previous times the Trump political circus rolled into town (though given all the oxygen the Trump world sucks up in the media, it’s difficult to see how anyone could have missed it).
It’s too early to say if his Impaulsive appearance is Trump’s “Arsenio moment” that galvanizes young voters and makes him the cool one running for president or if it’s just another attempt at Paul selling more Prime. It’s clear that Paul and Trump are more alike than it might appear, so for Prime, a Trump association could positively affect the brand.
Rudy Sanchez is a product marketing consultant based in Southern California. Once described by a friend as her “technology life coach,” he is a techie and avid lifelong gamer. When he’s not writing or helping clients improve their products, he’s either watching comedies on Netflix, playing the latest shooter or battle royale game, or out exploring the world via Ingress and Pokémon Go.