Borkowski Weekly Media Trends: Trump's Bump, KSI Crisis & more
PLUS This Barbie breaks the internet | Tory MPs Sting
Mark Borkowski on Trump’s unexpected bump from his arrest…
Donald Trump’s strategy during his term in the White House was to sew tribal division, piggyback on conspiracy theories and paint himself and his supporters as victims of injustice to such an extent that his base became radicalised.
As he was turfed out of office he escalated these tactics – now a living martyr, peddling a whole new tranche of original conspiracies and actively inciting insurrection. The radicals of the base have spent the two years since January 6th mutating into unhinged cultists. The issue is that Trump’s support base is so large that a Democrat victory in 2024 probably relies on deradicalising a cross-section of the afflicted.
Against this backdrop, his arrest in New York for financial irregularities could end up being a spectacular gift for Trump, and a spectacular own goal if we are to infer Democrat influence.
For Trump’s supporters it only confirms their suspicions that their dear leader is being crucified and that their enemies – the Democrats- are an all-powerful establishment cabal of brainwashed functionaries. Trump’s supporters think the Democrats are the radicals and attempting to put an ex-President in jail for an opaque white-collar crime fits this perception.
As a result, not only is Trump’s base entrenched in its zeal, but his support is reportedly going up. Criminal though Donald Trump may turn out to be, the nature and circumstances of his arrest may not on this occasion be enough to take down the big beast, at least not without further damage to the USA’s integrity.
KSI’s reputation on the line after racial slur
KSI’s career trajectory is mightily impressive; from the UK’s biggest YouTuber amassing millions of followers with his goofy gaming videos, he successfully transitioned his internet personality to a mainstream audience. He’s dabbled in boxing, music and literature, and his significant successes have been entrepreneurial, most recently with his PRIME energy drink. However, YouTube is still a central part of his output and in a recent Countdown-styled game with his cronies, The Sidemen, KSI used a derogatory word for Pakistani and Southeast Asian people - broadcast to millions worldwide.
CW: Racist Language
And while KSI is an accomplished celebrity, his audience is primarily children and young teens, which has been consistent across his career. As a result, you get the sense that KSI and The Sidemen have never had to grow up, underpinning their crude and juvenile humour entirely. From watching the clip, you feel there are very few adults in the room and the fact they broadcast the clip without considering the seriousness of using a racial slur; it feels like this issue is extended to his management and production team.
However, following the controversy, his crisis team has been on overdrive. KSI has posted two apology statements on Twitter and a video on YouTube, announced he’s breaking from social media, visited a mosque to declare his commitment to learning and understanding the impact of his words and donated to the Muslim Aid charity. It’s a professional response designed to maintain his celebrity status. This won’t impact his audience - his fans will soon forget this episode, however it will jeopardise his ‘grown-up’ ventures, which is why his team has taken swift action.
His pre-written statement felt like it was written by his legal council or management, not PR pros, especially when he apologises “for any pain or suffering I have caused”, which always comes across as a smidge disingenuous - it doesn’t feel like a heartfelt apology.
But he’ll survive - he’s said offensive stuff before and publicly apologised - but for his career to flourish, he has to surround himself with more sensible and mature people. He should reduce his YouTube output and focus on creating more high-quality content. This might impact his bottom line, but if he wants to solidify his celebrity status, he should consider the types of content he puts out and slowly maturing it slightly.
This Barbie Breaks the Internet
With the announcement of a live-action Barbie movie and the release of the first full-length trailer, the upcoming comedy film starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling is already proving to be a meme machine and a viral hit.
Much to fans excitement, Warner Bros confirmed the long-standing rumour about Greta Gerwig’s movie with character posters of the star-studded cast. From Dua Lipa playing a Barbie mermaid to Nicola Coughlan’s diplomat Barbie, the variations of unique professions compared with all the Ken actors simply playing Ken, provides clues to the potential social commentary with Gerwig’s directional work known for its feminist slant.
Alongside the promotional content, a selfie generator which allows people to insert pictures of themselves into Barbie Land, has set the internet alight and demonstrates a clever PR move for encouraging user generated content.
Influencers and celebrities were quick to join in on the social media frenzy with former American football quarterback Tom Brady creating a poster with a character description reading “This Tom, is living his best life in retirement”. The film has a horde of talented entertainers and with the sheer volume of AI generated posters it seems everybody is in the new Barbie movie!
The film boasts a line-up of Hollywood powerhouses such as Helen Mirren and Will Ferrell, but high level star power doesn’t always translate into an epic movie and sometimes the most talented casts can’t save a movie doomed by a bad script. When a Barbie film was first announced back in 2016 with Amy Schumer there was little hype around the project, but with Gerwig at the helm and a simple but clever marketing campaign that’s thrown Barbie into the spotlight, the film could be Greta’s magnum opus and a box office hit with everybody needing to see what the fuss about.
Are Tory MP's Stupid?
Last week the campaign group Led By Donkeys pulled off an impressive stunt, showing how much MPs like Matt Hancock and Kwasi Kwarteng charge for second jobs and freelance consultancy. You would think after a week of headlines about it Tory MPs would learn.
Some did... some didn't. The Times’ undercover investigator emailed a number of MPs a lot didn't reply, one did, then cited the recent Led by Donkeys stunt as a reason not to meet. However the up and coming MP for Blackpool Scott Benton was caught red-handed. The journalist had posed as a private office looking to invest in the Gambling sector and wanted behind the scene access and influence. Scott was more than happy to oblige, explaining his tips and tricks in a way which appears to have been in breach of the rules, something Led by Donkeys didn't capture.
Since the footage was released Mr Benton has lost the Conservative Whip and referred himself to the standards committee.
But the damage is done. Arguably it's just confirming what many people already believe - MPs are on the take. Sadly the days of strong agenda-setting politicians are over and we now have a mediocre crop trying to climb the career ladder rather than change the world for good. And with that comes cheap attempts to circumvent the rules to cash in on their roles.