Kamala Harris is not only known for her long legal and political career but for her many quotable moments and silly trademarks, too. In today’s digital world, especially with a new generation of voters participating in the 2024 presidential election (including us FSU students!), using social media as a main marketing strategy is pretty genius.
Gen Z has a nose for authenticity. We’re usually pretty good at spotting when people are being fake or if something is staged. Sure, most of her posts are definitely staged to some degree, but her team has a good habit of posting snippets of her day-to-day life. Usually, it’s a casual conversation with a friend or family member or another more personal moment. This kind of content makes her seem more like a friend you’d have a coffee with rather than a distant politician.
Take, for instance, the @kamalahq TikToks. Her team does an amazing job at keeping up with current trends and memes (like the phenomenon that was “brat summer”). They use these memes to stir up conversation about Harris, which works, because who would expect the Vice President of the United States to be knowledgeable about a pop culture trend?
The most legendary example of this is when Charli XCX posted on X saying, “Kamala IS brat.” Afterward, the Harris campaign account changed its header and profile picture to match the green “brat” theme. Honestly, this strategy is absolutely brilliant to me. We rarely see someone that high up in the political sphere use pop culture references like that, let alone directly respond to an influential celebrity’s post. It’s just so perfect.
Not only do Harris’ social media posts go viral, but she also has a handful of quotable moments that accidentally went viral. After learning that she and Joe Biden had won the 2020 election, a clip of her on the phone saying, “We did it, we did it, Joe. You’re gonna be the next president of the United States,” went viral on social media and got a lot of attention. I mean, come on, it’s not only a happy moment but also super hilarious when meme-d by Gen Z.
Another timeless quotable moment is from a clip of one of her speeches where she says, “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.” Social media (especially TikTok) went crazy for this one, mainly because without context, it makes absolutely no sense at all. This moment sparked a huge amount of remixes, memes, and TikToks circulating the internet, turning this quote into one of 2024’s most viral jokes.
The Harris campaign TikTok has even poked fun at moments like these, joining in on the joke and showing that she can laugh at herself. This makes her even more relatable to younger viewers and shows the genius of her (probably younger) social media team. It is pretty clear that her target audience is mostly college students and Gen Z, and I’m living for it. Whether you think Kamala’s marketing is gas or pass, make sure to register to vote in this upcoming election!
Want to see more HCFSU? Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Pinterest!