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Online Influencers Become D.C.’s New Lobbyists; How a Maine Clothing Brand Sought a Boost From Maduro’s Arrest; Google Rolls Out Shopping Agents
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Good morning. Today, influencers take lobbying out of the cloakroom and onto social media; a made-in-America apparel brand seizes a stranger-than-usual viral moment; and Kroger tests agentic grocery shopping.
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Alex Bruesewitz at the Power 30 Awards inauguration party with now-fiancée Carolina Urrea. Kevin Mohatt/Reuters
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It would be hard to understand marketing right now without tracking the mutually reinforcing forces of social media and politics in the culture.
Interests that once mostly used lobbyists to make their cases in Washington now turn to a “group of young, conservative influencers known to be close to President Trump’s staff,” the Journal reports in a deep dive by Maggie Severns, Natalie Andrews, Josh Dawsey and Eliza Collins:
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Last summer, Donald Trump’s 28-year-old former campaign aide Alex Bruesewitz had some new advice for the president: reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. “Nearly 70% of Republican voters support Trump on this. No brainer!,” he said to more than 640,000 followers on X.
What Bruesewitz left out of the post: A political-action committee funded by legal marijuana’s biggest players had just paid him $300,000.
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Others courting influencers with cash or trips include Israel, the solar energy industry and Qatar.
Influenceable, a company co-founded by former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, last March asked several X users to criticize efforts in some states to keep food stamps from covering soda, dangling up to $1,000.
Several influencers took up the offer, leading to a conspicuous rush of posts online about soda—until a pro-MAGA commentator posted the pitch from Influenceable online and called it a dirty tactic.
Parscale would disagree. “The eyeballs have moved to social, so now more money moves to social,” he said.
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Content from our sponsor: Deloitte
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California’s New Data Privacy Laws: What CMOs Need to Know
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By prioritizing transparency and strategic planning, organizations can turn compliance with new laws into an opportunity to build customer trust and gain a competitive edge. Read More
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The ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during his capture by the U.S. Handout/Reuters
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And then there are those increasingly common occasions when a brand suddenly finds itself in the news—or even just adjacent.
Marketers usually race to capitalize on unexpected moments of public attention—but does the plan hold up when a captured foreign leader shows up wearing your brand?
After Venezuelan President Nicólas Maduro was photographed in handcuffs as well as a hoodie by the Maine-based clothing maker Origin, CEO Pete Roberts understandably hesitated, the Journal’s Ashley Wong reports:
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Concerned about the possibility of backlash, Roberts consulted a business partner, who advised him to seize the moment. His brand had never been on such a prominent figure before, notorious or otherwise.
“‘He is wearing an Origin hoodie, that’s out of your control,’” Roberts recalled him saying. “You just need to make it about the product and the brand, and do not politicize it.”
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So Roberts posted a five-minute reaction video that also described Origin’s commitment to American sourcing and manufacturing.
“I thought it was a good opportunity to shed light on American-made goods,” he said.
A different kind of product placement: Roberts doesn’t know why Maduro was wearing the hoodie (color: “Patriot Blue”), but guesses that federal agents put it on him to keep him visible in a dark environment.
A side note for marketers getting tired of responding to reviews:
Origin got caught out with an earnest reply to a fake review on its site by someone pretending to be Maduro (they gave the hoodie five stars). “It’s great to hear that the construction and performance are hitting the mark,” the company answered.
The website’s replies to customer reviews are usually automated and AI-generated, Roberts explained.
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“The narrative about being anti-Big Pharma and stepping in in place of pharma is a marketing tool for a lot of these people
to then turn around and
sell them an alternative solution.”
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— Jessica Knurick, a registered dietician who has been critical of MAHA, on supplement makers’ recent strategy. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has vowed to “end the war on vitamins,” surrounding himself with advocates for pills, powders, tinctures and drips not subject to FDA approval.
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Google’s AI Shopping Assistant is depicted helping a customer plan a birthday party, generating a video and a list of products to buy. Google
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Google unveiled a set of tools for retailers that helps them roll out AI agents, writes the WSJ Leadership Institute’s Belle Lin.
Kroger is testing the technology with an agent that helps customers compare items, personalizes the shopping experience and can handle purchasing, according to Yael Cosset, chief digital officer at the grocery chain.
The agent, which is available through Kroger’s mobile app, is capable of understanding context and intent, such as a shopper’s time constraints and meal plans, and combines that with customer data Kroger already has, including price sensitivity, flavor and brand affinity, Cosset added.
“Things are moving at a pace that if you’re not already deep into [AI agents], you’re probably creating a competitive barrier or disadvantage,” he said.
More retail news: Walmart plans to expand drone delivery to hundreds more stores, reaching tens of millions of U.S. shoppers. [WSJ]
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The community where marketing leaders drop the corporate speak and share what’s actually happening. The WSJ CMO Council unites leaders from the world’s most influential brands including Adobe, Audi, Google, IBM, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Meta, Taco Bell, P&G and Verizon.
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Amy Poehler took home the Golden Globes’ first trophy for podcasting. Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press
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Amy Poehler won the first Golden Globe for Best Podcast, beating other nominees including “Call Her Daddy,” “Smartless,” “The Mel Robbins Podcast” and “Up First From NPR.” [WSJ]
Hollywood stars are railing against AI from awards-show stages. Will it matter? [THR]
Alamo Drafthouse, the movie theater chain that enforces a “no talking, no texting” policy, will abandon its paper ordering system to take food and drink orders entirely by phone. [Variety]
Grok’s photo-editing tool was still widely available Friday even after the bot asserted that access had been restricted to paying users. [The Verge]
Norwegian Cruise Line brought back its 1990s tag line, “It’s Different Out Here,” in its first campaign from Arnold Worldwide since hiring the agency last fall. [Ad Age]
Dentists are trying to turn TikTok into a tool of dental health. [Washington Post]
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