As society changes and grows with each generation, the tastes of society change as well. For example, advertising is drastically different depending on the audience, especially if you’re appealing to the younger generation. Gimmicky X accounts, YouTuber sponsorships, and memes are probably ways you’ve seen companies present themselves to the younger generation as funny or relatable enough to consider purchasing from. Presidential campaigns are no exception. Of course, a candidate needs to campaign, but political buttons and door-to-door flyers are no longer the only means of campaigning. No, my friend, especially for someone like Kamala Harris who is trying to appeal to the younger side of the Democratic Party, she needs to employ one of the most creative and destructive tools of the century: the internet.
It all started with a tweet from Charli xcx, the artist blowing up over her hit album “brat,” who made an unconventional endorsement of Harris; not by making a much-expected praise of her ideals and policies, but simply by saying “Kamala IS brat.” It capitalized on the success of her album and built off of its already cemented meme run (locals online had been referring to the last few months as a “brat summer”), and it worked. People began pasting images of Harris onto pastel lime green backgrounds, rivaling the “Hope” poster designs that were going around during former President Barack Obama’s run for office, except that the Harris meme designs notably lack any mention of her campaign’s many slogans, or even any reference to ideals, instead simply referencing the trend. It reflects a lot of voter sentiment about this election being less about actual executive policy, and more about the “vibe” of each candidate, which has stoked disappointment in most onlookers. In this instance, people simply seem to be following the wave of the meme’s success online.
Another meme centered around Harris that actually seems to be somewhat related to her campaign is the coconut tree. In a speech that she made back when she was vice president, Harris quotes a phrase her mother used to tell her: “I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” This specific quote seems more catering to the young voters, mentioning them directly about how “confused” they are about the way the world is, which, in my opinion, makes it a far better campaigning catchphrase than the “brat” nonsense. The way Harris says it, even though she herself is quoting her mother, makes her seem like a mentor figure for young voters, helping them to navigate the world and the future, at the price of one small vote, of course. It follows along with her other mantras of “joy,” and “never going back” while still having the same laid back charm that memes tend to have.
Of course, the opposition has been memeing her as well, possibly more than her own campaign. I’m sure you’ve seen Donald Trump post AI pictures of “Komrade Kamala,” a dig at her “Marxist” suggestion of price gouging to keep products affordable. There have been especially degrading memes directly attacking her character, suggesting she got her political position by “sleeping around.” These memes, while not exactly campaign directed attempts themselves, still serve as potential recruiters of young people to vote for someone, this time for the opposition of Harris. In order to run a successful campaign, Harris should not only make her own lighthearted memes, but also “respond” to memes made of her in a negative light with her own memes, which would both addressing claims that may lose her votes and provide another opportunity for Generation Z to be convinced by her hilarious hijinks.
Whatever you call the “memeification of Kamala,” it is clear that she should take full advantage of it to further her campaign in this election. Both controlling which memes blow up and making her own, she can at least make voters laugh and hopefully get across the message that she is the better candidate, which she effectively has done. Only time will tell as to whether this is all it will take to bridge the gap needed to win the 2024 election.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on November 4, 2024
