Falling From The Coconut Tree

Summer is coming to an end and sweater weather is officially upon us. But before we don our finest wools and reach for the pumpkin spice, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the chaos that was summer 2024. Let’s get into it.

Things that were not on my bingo card: 

• Break dancing and Snoop Dog making the most headlines at the Paris Olympics 
• BRAT summer
• The unhinged, unpolished, unabashed social media presence that is Kamala HQ

That last one there is what I’m hung up on. Regardless of what end of the political spectrum you may fall, the positive impact Kamala Harris’s social media strategy made on her campaign so far in the 2024 Presidential race is impressive.

Meme-able candidates.

In July, I found myself glued to CNN — and it wasn’t just because of the historic announcement that President Biden had made to drop out of the race. It was because all anyone was talking about was the impact that TikTok, memes and social media have on today’s political campaigns.

It seemed like with each passing hour following Harris’s announcement to run for office there was another Democrat endorsing her with a coconut emoji. Another viral remix of Harris’s “Coconut Tree” quote. A new meme featuring Harris dancing with her chaotic laugh sounding in the background amassing millions of views. 

As I watched stuffy white collar shirts trying so hard in vain to explain the significance of Gen Z royalty, Charli XCX, applauding Harris as BRAT, I was reminded of the 2016 election - aka “the most-memed election in U.S. History” (according to the Washington Post). 

If you recall, the 2016 election results only surprised those who weren’t paying attention to internet culture. Between the ubiquitous misinformation Karens were sharing on Facebook, ‘fake news’, memes making fun of Hilary Clinton, 4Chan trolls, and the Pizzagate of it all, it was arguably the first time social media culture made a serious impact on politics. 

And so I can’t help but wonder… has the Harris campaign picked up a few tricks from the viral candidate himself? Have Democrats learned from their past mistakes? 

Can a silly social media stratey be a serious campaign tool?

Trump: the 2016 viral candidate.

Love it or hate it, you have to give the 2016 Trump campaign credit for how extremely effective at leveraging social media it was. This was the first time a candidate was able to reach millions of voters by positioning hot-button issues in snackable, share-able packages… The Meme. 

Let me take you back to 2016. A simpler time, pre-pandemy. ‘Dad hats’, expensive athleisure, and Millennial beige were just coming onto the scene. Memes were still relatively new to the masses, Facebook was still considered cool to 20-somethings, we were all being gaslit by misinformation and “fake news”. The Obama era was ending and Democrats thought they had a shoo-in with their top pick, Hilary Clinton. Oh, how out of touch they were.

At a time when most Americans were fatigued by the same old uptight and out of touch political circus, Trump’s ability to relate and connect to his followers through memes, unpolished Tweets and massive spending on Facebook was something Democrats weren’t ready for. Election memes reflecting the political narrative of Hillary Clinton’s inauthentic and ‘corrupt persona’ were ballooned by forums on 4Chan, Russian bots on Facebook, Qanon conspiracies, and Trump’s own Tweets. During the 2016 election cycle, Trump’s team ran 5.9 million ads on Facebook, spending $44 million from June to November alone. In contrast, Clinton’s campaign ran only 66,000 ads (The Atlantic).

What’s working for Harris.

In today’s climate, it seems to me like Americans are tired of the dystopian narrative so many Republicans are sticking to. Showcasing their opponent’s character as corrupt, communist and childless (except for cats, of course), through the lens of an angry meme just doesn’t slap like it did in 2016. 

This is 2024, baby. We’ve lived through the nightmarish hell-scape that was the height of the Covid Pandemic, quarantining, the January 6th attack on our nation’s Capitol Building — we’ve survived one economic disaster after another after another. Rich weirdos are going into space and into the deep ocean, risking their lives and spending millions of dollars for no reason, women’s access to healthcare is on the line and systemic racism runs rampant. We live in a time where ‘demure’ and ‘trad wife’ are trending topics, the new normal is working from home and massive social media influencers like Alix Earle are celebrated for showing us their messy authentic selves. 

I think what’s happening here is that Kamala Harris’s goofy and self-aware presence is refreshing and tangible to the online community. Embracing your perceived flaws, being your authentic and imperfect self and engaging voters with humor works.

Brands can learn from what the Kamala HQ social presence has done.

Harris’s viral quote, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you,” had originally been posted by Republicans to mock her. In May 2023, the GOP War Room Youtube channel and the RNC Research Twitter account posted the soundbite, serving it up to users who ridicule her in the comment section. Everything from her kooky laugh to her love of Venn diagrams being dubbed ‘cringe’ has been under attack over the last few years.

Turning awkward moments into internet gold.

Soon after Harris announced her candidacy, the coconut tree quote surged in popularity amongst supporters and became a rallying cry, with many online users referring to her candidacy as “Operation Coconut Tree”. Kamala HQ further controlled the narrative with a Tweet of what else? A Venn diagram showing the crossover between Biden HQ, Kamala HQ and ‘holding Trump accountable’ —and there are so many other examples I could point to but this article would literally never end.

New technology = new avenues for politicians to relate to voters.

Let’s take a quick look back at the Kennedy-Nixon debates. The 1960 debates were the first general election debates to be televised. Listeners who tuned in to the radio reported they thought Nixon was the clear winner, while those who watched on television reported Kennedy as the clear winner. Why? Basically, a sweaty Nixon who blended into the set’s background wasn’t as relatable. Viewers said he appeared ‘shifty-eyed’, disheveled, and self-conscious. In contrast, Kennedy appeared fluent, lucid, younger and handsome. We all know who ended up winning that race.

While social media isn't new tech per se, the way political campaigns are approaching it is.

Paid ads on social are an obvious tool and align with traditional approaches to campaigning. If you've already got your :30 television spot, why not throw some media dollars behind it on Facebook, right? But, if we learned anything from the 2016 election, it is that a paid approach is simply not enough to tap into the voters' mindset. Taking control of your narrative and how you want to relate to your target audience with owned social content, connecting via content creator partnerships and inviting a two-way conversation is new. And because of this, for the first time, we're seeing organic social take center stage as a fresh way for candidates to relate to younger voters and humanize themselves. Alex Bruesewitz, a Trump campaign adviser explains this in a recent article by the New York Times, saying that “alternative media” has allowed the former President to “take his message directly to the American people in a unique way.”

This is all great, but what does it mean for your brand’s social strategy?

• Relate to consumers by being your authentic, confident self
• Having a two-way conversation with your audience is a refreshing break from the traditional ‘talk at you’ approach most brands take on social media
• Take your perceived flaws and lean into it - consumers will find this realness authentic and more trustworthy 
• Humorous content on social media has the highest potential to go viral

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We won’t know how effective the Kamala HQ strategy really has been until election results are in. Young voters are famously unengaged in political elections.

So while Kamala HQ has amassed millions of followers, it won’t really mean anything unless they show up to the polls.