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.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Real estate software company RealPage has agreed to stop sharing nonpublic information between landlords as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
