USA Meme momentum: Harris has arrived in pop culture
Over the past few days, everything has moved at breakneck speed in the US election campaign. Not just politically, but also in terms of pop culture. Ever since Kamala Harris stepped into the spotlight as the likely Democratic candidate, social media has been abuzz with new memes and videos of the 59-year-old. Harris is becoming a pop culture phenomenon - reflecting the current euphoria among liberal Americans about the fresh candidate. And this could become a real factor in the battle for the White House.
27.07.2024, 08:04
27.07.2024, 08:05
SDA
A flood of memes and quickly edited videos on the Tiktok platform is normally reserved for pop stars, but these days they are promoting politician Harris with driving beats, fast cuts and visual effects. The clips show her in a playful, charming and approachable way, such as dancing or laughing - or they allude to statements made by the Vice President that have gone viral.
It may look silly to some, but it is an important part of political communication, as these formats can be used to reach the youngest voter group of Gen Z in particular - the generation between the ages of around 12 and 27. What's more, anyone who manages to get ordinary people to produce and share content is inspiring and fascinating. And those who inspire and fascinate are often elected.
The coconut tree
Almost everyone knows what memes are by now, but Tiktok in particular has added new dimensions to content. Remixes of videos, accompanied by music and effects, comments during the actual clip, own editing sequences and crazy mash-ups (music arrangements): The freedom users have to create their own content knows almost no bounds.
"The videos are so absurd that they work," political influencer Annie Wu Henry, who manages Tiktok campaigns for prominent Democrats, recently told the Washington Post. The clips attract users and motivate them to engage further with them and their content.
One of the biggest Harris hits is from an old speech: In it, the former California Attorney General quoted her mother. She said: "Do you think you just fell out of a coconut tree?" Harris' mother wanted to express that nothing happens in a vacuum and that context is crucial.
The original video is bizarre and could easily be construed as awkward or bizarre for Harris. Instead, however, the social media mainstream has agreed to find it great - endearing and winning at the same time.
A "roast" summer for Kamala?
This is matched by a public endorsement that is perhaps more beneficial to Harris among young voters than that of Barack and Michelle Obama. Pop star Charli XCX posted on the X platform on Sunday: "kamala IS brat". Brat, you should now know, is not only the name of the British pop star's latest album, but also describes a way of life. Brat is someone who is courageous, takes risks, has rough edges and remains authentic. Literally translated, "brat" means brat.
This attitude to life gave rise to the "Brat Summer" movement, which calls on people to enjoy the hottest time of the year according to these very maxims. Harris' campaign team saw the great potential of Charli XCX's support and immediately redesigned his Twitter account to match the bright green design of the Brat album cover.
So far not a favorite of the masses
Recently, comparisons to Barack Obama and the 2008 presidential election campaign have also been made in relation to Harris. Back then, Obama's message and his young age captivated large parts of the USA, the politician was given the status of a pop star and the euphoria ultimately paved the way to the White House. Harris is also trying to emphasize her vision for the future of America and - like Obama - to convey a positive message instead of simply campaigning to prevent a second term for Donald Trump.
It remains to be seen whether this will work online in the long term. Before the 2020 election, Harris was hardly able to score any points in the race for the Democratic nomination. Even as the running mate of incumbent US President Joe Biden, she has remained rather pale over the past four years - there was not much sign of coolness. The energy that has now been released may also be due in large part to the relief that many Americans felt when the visibly aged Biden gave up. The 81-year-old was hardly able to score any points with voters under 30.
Trump with just as much influence - but a different approach
The (attempted) glorification of candidates is also part of the election campaign in the USA. Harris must hope that she will become a self-starter on social media and that the memes will provide her with endless free publicity. The battle for popularity on the internet is wide open anyway, as Republican presidential candidate Trump has a large presence and his own army of supporters who, along with many other users, carry his appearances to those who have long since stopped watching television, let alone reading newspapers.
However, the message and format could not be more different here: according to experts, Trump and his fans rarely focus on the shrill and silly, but rather on polarizing the discourse and aggressively attacking political opponents. Trump's most recent Tiktok video, for example, which has been liked by almost a million people, is a montage of an election campaign appearance, accompanied by the Trump quote: "You're terrible at everything you've done, you're ultra-liberal, we don't want you here, we don't want you anywhere." And finally: "Kamala, you're fired, get out of here."
