There is an eye-opening story at Mother Jones:
From Kenosha to Capitol Hill, armed extremists savor its militaristic marketing.
Ali Breland and Mark Helenowski look at the demographics of marketing to the extreme right, and what it says about the nature of the culture that has evolved.
In the early moments of the insurrection on Capitol Hill, there was a way to see it as something of a joke—a serious one with important consequences, but still just a bunch of underdressed or over-costumed rubes who wanted to steal souvenirs and take selfies in Nancy Pelosi’s office. As details trickled in, it looked less and less funny. A rioter had been shot and killed by Capitol Police. Others beat an officer who later died of his injuries. Pipe bombs emerged. And photos circulated of a man carrying zip ties, as though he planned to take hostages.
The man, later identified as Eric Gavelek Munchel, was documented by Getty photographer Win McNamee wearing mostly black, a combo of body armor, camo tactical shirt and pants, and a balaclava, looking like a real-life recreation of a video game character from Call of Duty. Also on his head was a cap with the silhouette of an assault rifle laid over an American flag—a hat created by a brand called Black Rifle Coffee Company.
The odds of someone wearing any single brand’s clothing in a viral photograph that could live on in history books is very low. But unlikely as that is, it was not the first time a right-wing alleged lawbreaker went viral while wearing Black Rifle Coffee Company clothing; it wasn’t even the first time in the past year. On November 20, a photo of Kyle Rittenhouse, who in August shot and killed two people and injured one during racial justice protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, went viral, showing him wearing a Black Rifle Coffee Company T-shirt.
The video included with the article traces all the connections that come up. It starts by asking “What do the insurrection, deodorant, and coffee have in common? Maybe more than you think.” The video is just over six and a half minutes long; the accompanying article fleshes out it out with a bit more detail.
Right wing extremism has become a market segment, where companies sell to the targeted demographic by signaling with clothing, language, and other tribal signs who they are trying to win over. It’s about capitalizing on the identity politics of this particular group — and reinforcing that identity as a necessary consequence. It’s a de facto recognition that these groups have achieved enough critical mass that there’s money to be made selling stuff to them, above and beyond just encouraging them in exchange for political power.
This article at Vox took note of how much on-brand clothing was already available prior to the attack on the Capitol.
In the wake of Wednesday’s deadly riot, images of the sweatshirts — presumably ordered days or weeks before the president’s supporters converged on Washington, DC — circulated widely on Twitter as evidence of how much preparation had gone into the event. For anyone paying attention to far-right online communities, this proof was unnecessary: The Capitol rioters had been organizing openly online for weeks, and several national media outlets had run stories warning about potential violence. Supporters certainly would’ve had time to order gear from one of countless custom merch sites — the same mostly innocuous ones from which you might buy a niche novelty tee or a personalized mug for your coworker — for the occasion.
emphasis added
The marketing can seem over the top, funny — until there’s a body count. And, it also includes the Right’s version of cancel culture.
Imagine the Marlboro Man, only in camo and body armor with an AR-15, crossed with a Saturday Night Live sketch and you begin to get a feel for it. If you’re going to show up for the revolution, you don’t want to be caught dead drinking the wrong coffee.
Read the whole thing at Mother Jones. Here’s the video that goes with it.