“They exist in this gray space, between campaigns and what campaign operations are subject to and what everyone else is allowed to do on the internet,” Compton explains. The line blurs when donors can essentially put advertising “next to this viral video, and real products,” Compton says, but it gets even messier with unapologetically partisan media companies. Plus, there is a chance for profit. “If I’m a donor, I can kill two birds with one stone: I’m selling merch and helping advance the message of the candidate I back,” says Matt Compton, director of advocacy and engagement at left-leaning creative and tech agency Blue State Digital.
There are incentives to avoiding the public eye: Look at the boycotts of Equinox Gym and SoulCycle after it was revealed that the owner of their parent company, Stephen Ross, had hosted a Trump fundraiser. “Their argument is: ‘Hey, I’m paying for it.’” “There are companies from all political sides that are basically masquerading as for-profit companies so they can get around the anonymity piece,” says Tranter, who notes that donors spend more in taxes for the privilege. 111 Fully Stitched’s pro-Trump “America We Grow Heroes” page - both companies spent nearly $200,000 in advertising. 104 FamTeeWorld’s “Keep America Great” page and No. 71, paid $283,468 during that time period. 37, Kamala Harris spent $361,905 Beto O’Rourke, No. These amounts eclipse the total spending of some Democratic presidential candidates: At No. 85, Family Protection Association: a Las Vegas–based company that spent $232,511 selling clothing with conservative talking points, including a T-shirt that read “United States of America: Love it or Leave it” just three weeks after Trump said of four Democratic congresswoman: “You know what, if they don’t love it, tell ’em to leave it.” 64, Printed Kicks: a Nevada-based, family-owned business that promises to make as much of its products as it can in America spent $322,488 on pro-Trump shirts, shoes, tumblers and decals. Trump” - advertising Trump 2020 branded hats and T-shirts. 27, OuterGoods, LLC: a Bellingham, Washington–based retailer that spent $714,933 - across two separate Facebook pages, “Conservative Gear” and “45th President Donald J. 25, The Epoch Times: a New York–based media outlet associated with the Falun Gong spiritual group that, from mid-June to mid-August, pumped $764,240 into ads that praise Trump and criticize Democrats. But go farther down the list and you’ll find a host of more unlikely entrants. There are some unsurprising names at the top: Donald Trump, Tom Steyer, Kirsten Gillibrand and Bernie Sanders, among others.
Look at the top 100 spenders on political or social issue–related ads on Facebook - the world’s second-largest advertising platform - over the past three months. In fact, the seemingly innocuous teddy bear points to a more troublesome trend emerging in American politics: the rise of news outlets and for-profit companies spending millions of dollars on advertisements and products that mimic political messaging without having to report who is bankrolling their efforts. While news reports show Trumpy Bear to be the invention of a New Jersey woman sold by a Dallas direct response marketing company, its creators are not required to disclose their investors. No, we don’t know why.” And we still don’t know for sure. It was seen millions of times, seemingly the perfect Christmas gift for the president’s backers and the perfect gag gift for his detractors.Īs fact-checking website Snopes tweeted: “Yes, it’s real. An ad hawking the teddy bear - complete with a comb-over, red tie and an American flag blanket zipped into its stuffing - broke the internet last November after airing on a local Fox affiliate.