Controversial pillow manufacturer Mike Lindell has been in the spotlight for a promotion that many believe alludes to neo-Nazi slogans, but Lindell denied the allegations to The Washington Post on Monday, calling it a politically motivated attack.
The ad, “Get a dreamy sleep with a standard MyPillow for just $14.88!” has been viewed millions of times. Lindell shares again Monday even after receiving backlash.
The sale price is less than a third of the pillow's regular price of $49.98, and it combines two sets of numbers that have close ties to white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. Newsweek noted.
The number 14 is part of the “14 Words” coined by white supremacist David Lane, which argues that “we must protect the existence of our people and the future of white children.” According to the Anti-Defamation League. Meanwhile, the number 88 is used to stand for “Heil Hitler” because H is the eighth letter of the alphabet, the group added.
The accusation caused instant headlines for Lindell and his company, MyPillow, with neo-Nazis and white supremacists praising the apparent endorsement and openly reposting the ad, Newsweek reported.
“You've heard of Mein Kampf, but have you read the sequel, Mein Kampf?” one person tweeted about the disturbing allegations.
But Lindell strongly denied the allegations in an interview with The Washington Post on Monday, while happily continuing to share the ad online without any correction or explanation.
“I have no idea what this all means,” Lindell argued, adding that 88 cents is simply a price range that companies like Walmart often use.
“We've done this so many times before,” he continued. “What you say is irrelevant.”
Lindell said the allegations are simply another avenue for people to attack his company for its plans to secure future elections after openly sharing his political beliefs, specifically the conspiracy theory that the last election was stolen by Donald Trump.
“This is another attack on Mike Lindell and MyPillow because I want to bring paper ballots, hand counting to our country,” Lindell said.
“I had a plan to do it, and I had a goal to get rid of the machines, and that was it,” he continued. “For the last year, they have been relentless in attacking my company and myself.”
Even if Lindell wasn't responsible, the quid pro quo is “a disturbing wink to the Nazis,” said Seth Cotler, a history professor at Willamette University in Oregon.
“I don't believe Mr. Lindell is behind this, and wouldn't even understand the reference, but that's not really important,” Kotler wrote to Blue Sky.
Regardless of Lindell's intentions, online neo-Nazis welcomed his announcement about X, and white supremacist accounts openly reposted his advertisement, Newsweek reported.
“Go MyPillow!” wrote the owner of an account called RadioWeimar, whose profile states that “white revolution is the only solution.”
Another racist account, Balkanomic, reposted the ad with the caption, “$14.88? How could you pass up such a great deal?”
According to Newsweek magazine, Lindell, a college dropout and former drug addict, built a 500-employee company with $100 million in sales from the ground up through ad-libbed viral infomercials.
But his road to success has been rocky since Trump denied his false claim that he actually won the 2020 election, and major retailers have since removed MyPillow from stores, citing low demand.
Lindell, who also runs a right-wing podcast, lost more than $100 million as a result of the move.
The ardent Trump supporter and neurotic pillow man was also forced to pay $5 million to a computer forensics expert who proved that President Biden actually beat Trump in 2020.
Lindell had pledged in 2021 to pay money to anyone who could pay, but a judge ordered him to do so once that was proven false.
