Mike Bloomberg is paying social media influencers to post memes that make him look 'cool', claims report
Mike Bloomberg's campaign is reportedly paying top social media influencers to inundate Instagram with parody messages purportedly sent from the billionaire's official account. According to a report by The Daily Beast, the former New York City mayor's campaign is offering a fixed $150 fee to social media influencers in a bid to create content that "tells us why Mike Bloomberg is the electable candidate who can rise above the fray, work across the aisle so ALL Americans feel heard & respected."
Furthermore, the campaign is using services by Tribe -- a "branded content marketplace" that helps its clients reach "micro-influencers" with 1,000 to 100,000 Instagram followers.
"Are you sick of the chaos & infighting overshadowing the issues that matter most to us? Please express your thoughts verbally or for still image posts please overlay text about why you support Mike," the campaign's Tribe page said. "Show+Tell why Mike is the candidate who can change our country for the better, state why YOU think he's a great candidate."
"Be honest, passionate and be yourself!" the paid listing insists.
According to The New York Times, Bloomberg has also roped in Meme 2020, a new firm that houses a number of Instagram's biggest accounts. The company is led by Mick Purzycki, the head of Jerry Media -- a social media marketing firm that was accused last year of stealing memes without crediting original creators.
That said, some of Purzycki's accounts have already started posting memes promoting Bloomberg. Almost all of them are fake exchanges in which the New York billionaire reaches out to influencers to "make me look cool."
The Times reviewed said posts and noted disclosures stating they were ads paid by Bloomberg.
"Yes this is really #sponsored by @mikebloomberg," one of the accounts said.
Speaking to The Times, George Resch -- a director of influencer marketing at Brandfire -- said the ads were a clever strategy because they fooled people into believing the exchanges were real.
"It's the most successful ad that I've ever posted and I think a lot of it came from people being confused whether or not it was real," he said.
However, Bloomberg's campaign clarified the arrangement on Thursday, February 13.
"Mike Bloomberg 2020 has teamed up with social creators to collaborate with the campaign, including the meme world," spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told The Times. "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."
Having said that, one campaign aide reportedly argued the strategy was meant to compete with President Trump's reach on social media.
"We're trying to be innovative with how we're translating the campaign message on social, trying to do it how the internet actually works. Tweeting from @mikebloomberg is a very 2008 strategy," the aide told The Times. "The way Trump's campaign is run is extremely social first. We're trying to break the mold in how the Democratic Party works with marketing, communication, and advertising, and do it in a way that's extremely internet and social native."
It is evident that Bloomberg's social media strategy is an attempt to hijack the Democratic primary by inundating the webosphere with his ads.
According to Facebook data, Bloomberg has already spent more than $31 million on ads since January 1 -- averaging a whopping $1 million per day in Facebook ad spending over the last two weeks. Furthermore, the former New York City mayor shelled out $10 million to air an ad during the Super Bowl -- bringing his total advertising expenditure to $350 million.
But Bloomberg's game plan may have already started backfiring on social media. Some users went on to post parody memes of the billionaire's DMs -- mocking his "racist" policies during his time as mayor as well as his unrestrained ad spending in the Democratic primary.
One popular Instagram account -- The Fat Jew -- said they were asked by Bloomberg's campaign to participate, but refused the offer.
"They asked me to do it, I said no," the account owner wrote. "I grew up n New York City so I can tell you firsthand, Bloomberg is a colossal sh*tbag. From the subjugation of minorities through stop and frisk policies to his hardline anti-marijuana stance."