Mike Bloomberg broke the internet Wednesday night, but like a lot of social media sensations, not all press is good press.
Dozens of popular meme accounts on Instagram feature screenshots of messages from the presidential candidate. "Hello Mr. Salad. Can you post this meme to make me seem cool for the upcoming democratic primary?" reads a message from Mike Bloomberg's account to Kale Salad, an account with 3.5 million followers.
The caption includes a note that said, "yes, this is really #sponsored by @mikebloomberg."
"Mike Bloomberg 2020 has teamed up with social creators to collaborate with the campaign, including the meme world," Sabrina Singh, a national spokeswoman for the campaign, said in a statement. "While a meme strategy may be new to presidential politics, we're betting it will be an effective component to reach people where they are and compete with President Trump's powerful digital operation."
Bloomberg's move had mixed results. In comment sections, some are praising the campaign and others think it's disingenuous.
"At first I didn't realize they were ads and just thought they were bizarre satire, but then I saw a headline about it and was pretty annoyed," Allyn Rosenberger, a Stanford Law School student told Cheddar. "Trying to be objective, it is interesting and getting a lot of attention. And it's going to reach a ton of people."
Samantha Bell, who works in digital marketing, called the meme move a "missed opportunity."
"I do think influencer marketing for political campaigns is a smart decision." But Bloomberg's campaign, so far "is trying to reach a group of people that are very thoughtful in politics as well as social media and it kind of comes off slightly too 'try-hard,'" said Bell, who has led other paid influencer campaigns. "You have actual people you follow and look up to. It could absolutely become more of a community PR campaign with actual people who have opinions. People who follow influencers in an organic sense care about the people they're following." She thinks it makes more sense to pay those influencers than paying meme accounts, which is "like inserting yourself in the zeitgeist."
Influencers and online personalities often promote specific products or companies in exchange for money or exposure. But Bloomberg's memes did not provide a call-to-action, like a link to a landing page or a note for where to learn more about a candidate, Sian Rigby, who also works in growth marketing, told Cheddar.
"I would have found it more redeeming if there was an educational aspect," Rigby said. "I'm not going to vote for a candidate because I think they're cool."
Neither Rigby or Bell disagree that social media may prove to be a useful marketing tool for political figures — but they don't think Bloomberg's execution accomplished the intended goal.
"I don't think using Instagram or using social media is a bad thing," Rosenberger said. "It should encourage people to get engaged, not just provide another form of name recognition."
Some endorsements — like that of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Sen. Bernie Sanders, involve social media. She regularly posts about her support. But she's doing it for free.
"People of power and influence endorse candidates very publicly," Annabel Gordon, another growth marketer, told Cheddar. "I feel like it's an untapped market to do that via social media."
"Why haven't they taken their endorsements digitally? That's where people are getting news and taking in content," Gordon offered.
After the Chicago teachers union voted to work remotely due to what they say is a lack of safety protocols amid the COVID-19 surge, the school system canceled classes on Wednesday, citing harm that remote learning has done to the city's children. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, joined Cheddar to discuss the issues surrounding the latest dispute between educators and schools. She said that the return to in-person learning would likely be halted until more COVID tests could be provided for districts. "This is a terrible situation for everybody, and we need the testing, and we need the masks," she said. "It's the omicron surge that has created this disruption, and we are trying to do the best we can. And this is the only school district that has this kind of action right now." The teachers might not be returning to their schools for at least two weeks amid the ongoing tensions.
Illinois State Senator Robert Martwick joins Cheddar News to discuss the new bill he co-sponsored allowing students in the state to take 5 mental health days without a doctor's note.
On Monday, President Biden announced his new plan to take on inflation by taking down the big meat monopolies - turning to the federal government's antitrust authorities to investigate the major meatpackers that control a significant share of the market. The White House plans to devote one billion dollars to aiding independent meat and poultry producers in an effort to undercut the few powerful meat producers that have control of the sector. Austin Frerick, deputy director of Thurman Arnold Project at Yale, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
As the pandemic drags on, so does the widespread great resignation. In November alone, 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs, marking a new record high, and showing a 9 percent jump from the month prior. On the flip side, the number of people filing tax paperwork to start new businesses is surging, with over 430,000 new businesses launching in November. Rhett Buttle, the founder of Public Private Strategies and national business advisor to the Biden for President campaign, joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is ramping up a civil investigation into The Trump Organization. The AG's office has subpoenaed Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. They have refused to comply with the subpoenas. Bradley Moss, national security attorney, joins Cheddar News to discuss the next steps in this investigation.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has officially reduced the 110-year prison sentence of truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos to 10 years, calling the initial lengthy sentence “unjust.” Dan Gilleon, constitutional attorney at Gilleon Law Firm APC, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Former Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was sworn in as the newest Mayor of New York City. Adams is now expected to work on a number of issues such as crime and coronavirus. Erin Durkin,, reporter at PoliticoNY, joins Cheddar News to discuss more.
California's new composting law will affect what residents do in their kitchens. As of this week, Californians will have to recycle excess food in an effort to reduce emissions caused by food waste. Cities and counties will turn recycled food into compost or use it as a renewable energy source. California's new law is the largest mandatory residential food waste recycling program in the country. Rachel Wagoner, Director of the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery called the law 'the biggest change to trash' since recycling started in the 1980s. She joined Cheddar Climate to discuss.
As the U.S. comes up on the first anniversary of the January 6 insurrection.,A.C. Thompson, investigative reporter at ProPublica, joined Cheddar's Baker Machado to discuss updates to American Insurrection by FRONTLINE, ProPublica and Berkeley Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program. The documentary investigates the attack on the Capitol touched off by the lie that the presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump but with new information gleaned since the event including interviews with lawmakers and law enforcement and the evolution of groups like the Boogaloo Boys and the Proud Boys behind the attack. "In some ways those groups that were kind of the vanguard of January 6 are maybe no longer relevant because their message is everywhere," he said.
