Borkowski Media Trends: Trump vs Musk, Taylor's Masters & MORE
PLUS: #SkinnyTok no more | Topshop Returns | Labubu's Laboo-boo
“The girls are fighting”: The bell rings on Trump vs Musk
In a turn of events that precisely everyone predicted, Elon Musk’s exit from President Trump’s US Government has turned nasty.
The objective strategic merits of engaging in a social media spat in front of the whole world are not worth discussing. The rules governing the reputations of normal politicians, CEOs and public figures have almost ceased to apply to Trump and Musk. If usual crisis communications are trench warfare, then this is Godzilla vs Mothra: something from another universe.
But that doesn’t preclude us diving into each party’s approach. The first thing to note is that when both belligerents are prepared to scorch earth, even the winner sustains serious damage. Look how many battles the Romans lost before they sacked Carthage.
Trump has the higher ground, the greater security. It’s much harder to get the US President fired than a CEO removed, even one as autocratic as Musk.
Trump also has the power to wreak havoc on the value of Musk’s companies, as the bill that caused the initial rift proves. Musk has attempted to project power by insinuating that any severing of SpaceX’s US government contracts would be worse for NASA than for him. Trump retaliated by threatening to sell his Tesla. Fortune has reported that SpaceX’s value could half as a result of the feud. Point Trump.
The biggest offensive cards Musk had to play were to claim that Trump could not have won the election without him (leading to some allegations of foul play from Trump enemies – ironically a move straight out of the Trump 2020 playbook) and, the biggest bombshell in his arsenal, claiming that Trump was named in the Epstein papers and that’s why they were never released.
It all sounds like petty keyboard warrior meltdowns, but it is possible to discern the faintest thread of strategy in the chaos of Musk’s output. He’s also spent time talking about how the Democrats are going to win back Congress in 2026 and spend the next two years impeaching Trump…having made (at least) two allegations of potentially impeachable behaviour. It’s outlandish, but there’s a sliver of rationale there, an implicit call-to-action.
But it’s a big swing. A more realistic target for Musk would be Trump’s approval ratings which, according to Nate Silver, are at an all-time high.
The battle rages on into Friday night, but it’s likely that the only winner, even in the most superficial sense of the word will be internet meme culture, which is already feasting on the carrion of the world’s most famous ex-bromance.
Big Reputation
Some regular Trends readers may have noticed that a certain blond American popstar has been absent from our roundups in recent months. But worry not, Taylor Swift is back in the news this week after announcing on Friday that she has bought back her entire back catalogue. For those not in the know, Swift’s rights to her first six albums were sold off by her former manager and Swifty enemy number one, Scooter Braun.
This prompted a huge fan backlash, and pressure on radio stations to refrain from playing her original back catalogue, with Swift filling in the void with re recordings of four of her first albums which fans loyally streamed instead of the tainted versions. But with a typically slick Instagram post and a handwritten letter on her website that millennial Swifities dutifully squinted their way through on iphones across the world, Swift announced that she had achieved what she had “daydreamed about, wished for, and pined away for a chance to get to tell you.”
But not all of Swiftdom is celebrating. Within the letter’s teeny tiny font was also the news, that her sixth album, Reputation, whose Taylor’s Version release had been hotly anticipated following the completion of the Eras Tours, may never get the rerecord treatment. Her self-titled debut album will also likely never be recreated. So is this an own goal? With an army of fans who have opened their hearts, and their wallets, to the huge amount of content Taylor has put out into the world in recent years, is it a misstep to leave the Taylor’s Version project unfinished?
For some fans, who have spent hundreds, even thousands of pounds supporting their idol, it may feel like a bitter pill to swallow. But then, Swift is an artist in a league of her own, able to put artistic inclination or self preservation first wherever she chooses. Friday’s announcement was yet another move in a PR playbook that, if not flawless, will certainly be trawled through for many years to come.
Toxic content cleanse has slim chance of success
Skinny is back. Bolstered by the prevalence of GLP1 and weight loss drugs overtaking Hollywood, the body positivity movement is being sneakily displaced by thinness. For those old enough to remember the noughties and ‘nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’, the current trend glamourising ultra-thinness, albeit re-packaged as ‘leanness’, ‘Pilates body’ and ‘that girl’ leaves a taste as sour as the lemon water we’re told to down each morning. #SkinnyTok is used to provide a plethora of #thinspirational content.
This trend for emaciation has not gone unnoticed. Led by France’s Digital Minister Clara Chappas and French regulators, the European commission and mental health campaigners have succeeded in pressuring TikTok to ban the hashtag SkinnyTok. Searches for the term are now redirected to mental health resources.
The content crackdown is giving more damage control then genuine effort to protect young people, with TikTok still recovering from its temporary US ban, and facing ongoing criticism for its use of data, acquiescing to the demands of the European regulators feels more like an attempt to avoid a crisis then to genuinely protect its users. In the world of TikTok, content evolves at lightening speed, with harmful content effortlessly morphing into new hashtags and trends. Cut off the head of the hydra and 10 new ones sprout, hidden under the mask of wellness-speak and Pilates-girl porn.
Whilst some of the internet has applauded the ban as a sign of increasing regulation, in the online world of social media, what spreads sells, and in banning #SkinnyTok, associated content has only become more viral. A movement can’t be cancelled with a hashtag ban. #SkinnyTok may be banned, but its content pervades, injected in the language of self-improvement, bodies may be shrinking but Ozempic inspired thinness continues to grow.
The Devil Wears… Topshop?
Dusting off their leather jackets and heart-shaped sunglasses, the fashion-forward favourite of the British high street Topshop is seemingly poised to make its grand return. For decades.
Topshop was the crown jewel of British retail, a rite of passage for teens riding the wave of their latest identity crisis and since closing its doors in 2020 there has been a ripped jeans-shaped hole in the hearts of a generation.
An undisputed titan since 1964, Topshop reigned supreme until its empire crumbled courtesy of a certain disgraced Sir Philip Green and of course the small matter of a global pandemic. The news of its resurrection comes via a £135m deal that saw Asos hand over a 75% stake to Danish retail juggernaut Heartland, aka the billionaire Anders Povlsen, also known for owning Vero Moda, Jack & Jones, and casually, half of Scotland.
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With sales slumping and debt piling up, Asos seems to have decided it’s someone else’s turn to make Topshop cool again for the post-skinny jeans generation. There’s even talk of celebrating “the good things about Britain,” which presumably includes knitwear, sarcasm, and the ability to queue without complaint.
According to MD Michelle Wilson, the goal isn’t to revive the old Topshop but to channel the best bits of what made it beloved in the first place; a haven for reinvention, statement pieces, and last-minute party outfits you’d convince yourself you could return.
So, will Topshop rise from the fast-fashion ashes like some sequinned phoenix? Will Gen Z fall in love with it the way millennials once did? Only time, and the odd pair of statement sunglasses, will tell.
Labubu's La-boo-boo
Balaclava-clad queues overnight? Sounds like concert tickets or sneaker drops — but in reality, it’s for palm-sized plush keychains with jagged teeth. Welcome to the Labubu craze. These snaggle-toothed vinyl monsters from Pop Mart got so hot that after violent stampedes in UK stores, the company pulled all in-person sales, leaving a wild resale market where rare Labubus fetch over $1,000. Yes, for a keychain.
These limited-edition fluffballs have carved a niche in the post-pandemic luxury scene or, depending on who you ask, the landfill of 2026. Some compare Labubu to the lipstick effect: a small, affordable indulgence in leaner times, a way to dress up what you already own. Can’t afford a designer bag? Just strap on a fever-dream goblin with the emotional range of a Furby. Critics call it “regression core,” a “recession indicator,” and a “silly, frivolous pastime.” But for true fans, Labubu is more than a keychain it “equates to a lifestyle,” as Vogue puts it. They cite nostalgia and a playful rebellion against adulting. Alex Kessler, deputy editor at i-D, calls his Labubu obsession “serotonin roulette” and a strangely healing escape: “I was no longer a man. I was mother, cradling a deranged little goblin with the reverence of a Victorian widow at a séance.” With blind boxes and TikTok unboxings, Labubu blends gambling with storytelling - a shiny symbol of overconsumption monetising emotional quirks.
Labubu may look childlike, but its cultural function is anything but innocent. This is late-stage capitalism with a kawaii face: a micro-commodity so aggressively marketed and flipped it would have Karl Marx rolling in his grave. Genuine healing doesn’t lose its allure when others join in but simulated sentimentality has an expiry date. If everything is a recession indicator now from celebrity app ads to anime keychains maybe the economy really is the monster under the bed. The emperor’s new therapy is shiny, plastic, and like most cult fads destined for landfill.