Since President Biden announced his intention to leave office, social media has been flooded with lime green, coconut-filled images and videos in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
Harris’ campaign and the Democratic backers of her presidential bid have welcomed the online frenzy, including a remix sharing a phrase Harris heard from her mother about a “coconut tree” and an edit calling Harris a “brat,” a term coined by pop star Charli XCX, as the party tries to garner crucial support from younger voters.
“I think it’s fun for people to feel like they’re a part of something, and even if it’s just a maybe silly and goofy meme, I think people feel like they’re a part of this moment and something bigger than that,” said Annie Wu Henry, a digital and political strategist.
“Everybody realizes this is more than just memes or funny videos. Obviously, there’s a lot riding on this election cycle and the next president could be truly historic. And I think people are very excited about it. And we’ve seen that from the natural frenzy that’s happened on social media,” Henry added.
The edited video emerged on social media weeks after President Biden faced growing pressure to resign after his dismal debate performance. The meme has garnered renewed attention since Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris.
One edit featured a clip of the vice president delivering his now-infamous “coconut tree” line set to Charlie XCX’s “Von Dutch,” while another made comparisons between Biden, Trump and Harris set to Chapel Lawn’s “Feminomenon.”
The Harris campaign has not shied away from online advertising that appears to be targeted at younger voters.
After Charli XCX unofficially endorsed Harris on the social platform “X” by posting “Kamala is a sassy bitch,” Harris’ campaign’s “KamalaHQ” page changed the banner on X to match the distinctive green and black font from her “Brat” album cover.
The campaign’s TikTok account has similarly embraced the meme culture surrounding Harris, creating its own version of the “Femininomenon” edit and featuring a post of the Charli XCX song “365.”
Other Democrats joined in.
Sen. Tim Kaine (R-Va.), one of the Democrats supporting Harris’ campaign, also posted a reference to the “Brat” album on Tuesday.
“My team hung this up in our campaign headquarters about a month ago and now I finally understand what it means,” Cain posted. With photos His name is printed in the album font on the distinctive green paper.
Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) said in an interview with CNN on Tuesday that the spotlight is a “classic example” of how pop culture and politics intertwine.
“It takes a special candidate, a special leader, to make that happen,” Frost said. “It has to happen organically. You can’t make it happen.”
“So, [it’s] Coconut Tree [or] “You talk about ‘brats’ or whatever, but that message is reaching millions and millions of young people across the country and the world and I think that’s really inspiring,” he added.
An anecdote the vice president shared about his mother more than a year ago was turned into a meme on social media, and the coconut tree has also become an unofficial symbol of the Harris campaign.
“My mother would sometimes be harsh with us and say, ‘You young people, you don’t know what’s wrong. Do you think you just fell off a coconut tree? You exist in the context of everything you’re living in and what happened before you,'” she said at the swearing-in ceremony for the Hispanic Educational Progress Leaders in May 2023.
Several Democrats used coconuts and coconut trees to show their support for the Vice President as he takes over the Democratic Party banner.
Shortly after Biden left office on Sunday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) Three emojis Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) posted a photo of himself with a coconut, coconut tree, and an American flag on X.Climb a tree and harvest coconuts.
Denora Getachew, CEO of DoSomething, a nonprofit focused on youth activism, said the recent explosion of memes shows young people are taking notice.
“If there were no memes, if there was no online engagement, which is the primary way Gen Z and millennials get their news, then that means this election would have been meaningless,” she said.
“I think we’ve seen a marked change since Sunday in the level of youth participation and engagement, just from what we’ve seen online and the way young people are engaging,” Getachew added.
Henry, who is 28 and considers himself a “zillennial” between Gen Z and millennials, said these trends don’t have to apply to everyone and that there are other opportunities for campaigns to meet people where they are and what they’re consuming.
“It’s fun to be in those circles, online and in certain demographic circles, but that doesn’t mean we need to force this saucy fad on the entire electorate,” she said.
Henry, who worked on the campaign of Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania), who used TikTok to gain prominence, is working this election cycle but is not directly involved with Biden’s campaign.
TikTok is not a new tool for campaigns: Biden’s campaign used the app to post campaign content even before Harris emerged as a front-runner.
The campaign continued to use the app even after Biden signed a bill that could lead to a ban on TikTok if the company doesn’t divest from its Chinese parent ByteDance, and TikTok is suing to block the legislation from taking effect.
Henry said the reason other memes, such as the Biden campaign’s “Dark Brandon” meme, haven’t caught on in the same way is because for a meme to “stick,” people need to get excited about the person or thing it’s based on.
At the same time, she said it’s important to remember that young voters care about what’s at stake in the November election.
“I think young people care about more than memes, but this campaign is still going to be a long, hard one, but I think the memes and the fun and the joy will bring the joy and the energy people need to get through it and stay engaged and stay active,” she said.
