Make way for coconut trees. Vice President Kamala Harris’ connected presidential campaign continues to lean on online culture, from Kamala’s HQ Brat brand on X (formerly Twitter) to the The Island of Love-presentation inspired by his running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
When Walz, a typical Midwestern family man, was announced as vice president, it didn’t take long for social media to connect the dots with another Midwestern star of the moment: Chappell Roan. The 26-year-old pop singer has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past year with her debut full-length album, The Rise and Fall of Midwest Princessclimbing the Billboard 200 chart (currently at #4) nearly a year after its release.
Comparisons to the Midwestern princess herself took a leap forward when Kamala HQ tweeted, “New product just dropped,” with a link to a camo hat, reminiscent of Roan’s own products. The item’s description reads, “You asked, we answered. America’s most iconic political hat.”
THE $40 HatWhile it was likely the campaign’s way of engaging young voters online or Midwestern hunters, it also proved to be a success for the Harris-Walz campaign. World Health Day reports that Mitch Cahn, the president and founder of Unionwear, the company that makes all the campaign merchandise, sold 25,000 hats in “a matter of hours.”
“We were completely surprised by that,” Cahn said. World Health Day“We’ve been in business for 32 years. We’ve never had a case where we made a sample in the morning and the next morning they had sold a million dollars’ worth of hats.”
Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon wore the hat to a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday. He was photographed speaking with Harris and Walz and wearing the now-iconic cap.
Justin Vernon with the Harris-Walz hat.
KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images
Roan also gave her opinion on social media. She first republished a response to a fan claiming that the hat resembled the singer’s merchandise, which read: “How gay do you have to be to see the hunting colors and think this is a Chappell Roan thing.” (This user followed up Roan’s since-reposted post with: “I recently noticed that this may indeed be a Chappell Roan thing.”)
The 26-year-old from Missouri then reposted a photo of the Midwest Princess and Harris-Walz hats side by side. She added, “Is this real?”
The hat is available for pre-order on the Harris-Walz campaign websitewith each purchase donating to the Harris Victory Fund. Caps purchased now are expected to go on sale October 14.
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