I never thought I would be writing about the word “brat” and its impact on American politics. However, thanks to the era of TikTok and the power of Charli XCX, here I am. The advertisements by the Kamala Harris for President campaign have been all over my phone, and the marketing strategy used is something I’ve been chewing on over the last couple of days.
How did an apple-themed dance and an album recognized for its lime green cover and simple lowercase font become the face of the most heated election in American history? The simple answer is strategy.
While former President Trump follows a more conservative and traditionalist campaign, Vice President Harris is clearly targeting young Americans and new voters with her marketing strategy, which actively stays to date with pop culture topics that trend amongst younger consumers.
Starting with the use of “brat,” it is important to unpack the meaning behind this reference. “Brat” is the title of Charli XCX’s recent album that dropped over the summer and entirely took over the internet, influencing everything from dance trends to campaign strategies.
When Charli XCX tweeted “kamala IS brat,” she provided the Harris marketing team with the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the album’s popularity and the moment in pop culture, appealing to new viewers and, potentially, new voters.
The campaign played on the trendiness of the album, painting the campaign to be youthful, funny and relatable. To many young voters who don’t identify heavily with politics, this strategy is significantly more attractive compared to one that is more formal and evidently calculated.
However, make no mistake. The Harris campaign’s choice to use “brat” was not an accident but a strategic choice, and many similar ones have been made since then.
For example, I recently saw a viral TikTok from Kamala HQ, the official campaign page. This Tiktok was using a viral audio with the lyrics, “What we really need is a femininomenon!” from “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” an album by breakout artist Chappell Roan. There is a clear implication that the country is in need of a woman in office, capitalizing on the fact that Vice President Harris is the first woman of color to be on the top of a major party ticket and that, if elected, she would be the first female president.
Now, what do I think of this strategy? I find it brilliant. Vice President Kamala Harris has a history of being made into memes and burned into key pop culture moments; for example, “you think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” No. Like you, Vice President Kamala Harris’ marketing team exists in the context of everything that surrounds them.
Rather than allow Vice President Harris to be mocked and not taken seriously throughout her race for the presidency, they found a way to exploit the memes and create a sense of relatability that Gen Z feels toward her to make her campaign appear to be in touch with the American people and youth.
Vice President Harris and her running mate, Senator Tim Walz, have made themselves out to be the internet’s dad and fun aunt, humanizing themselves and boosting responsiveness and Gen Z engagement with their campaign. The American public has never been so polarized, polling workers have never been so stressed and politics has never been so brat.