Bloomberg campaign teams up with ‘Meme 2020’ to flood Instagram with sponsored content

Michael Bloomberg has tapped some of the internet’s most prominent meme-makers in a new advertising campaign on Instagram as the former New York City mayor expands his 2020 presidential campaign’s online presence.

Bloomberg’s campaign is working with Meme 2020, a new company that houses some of Instagram’s most popular accounts, including @GrapeJuiceBoys and @Tank.Sinatra. The two accounts have 2.7 million and 2.3 million followers, respectively. 

Several of the accounts under Meme 2020’s umbrella have posted Bloomberg campaign ads in the form of fake direct messages from the billionaire former mayor.

“Mr. Tank:” an ad on @Tank.Sinatra begins, “I’ve been waiting for my meme for so long that I learned how to make memes myself in photoshop. What do you think of this one?” The message is followed by a photo of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

View this post on Instagram

Great job Mike… (Yes this is really sponsored by @mikebloomberg)

A post shared by Tank.Sinatra (@tank.sinatra) on Feb 12, 2020 at 5:32pm PST

“Hello Juice Boys. Can you post an original meme to make me look cool for the upcoming Democratic primary?” Bloomberg asks in another from @GrapeJuiceBoys. 

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I don’t get it ?? (Paid for by @mikebloomberg)

A post shared by @ grapejuiceboys on Feb 12, 2020 at 4:39pm PST

The latest collaboration, first reported by The New York Times, is just another part of Bloomberg’s wider effort to blitz the internet and airwaves with ads backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in his own money. 

“It’s the most successful ad that I’ve ever posted,” George Resch, a director of influence marketing at Brandfire and founder of @Tank.Sinatra, told the Times regarding an ad for Bloomberg he put up. “And I think a lot of it came from people being confused whether or not it was real.”

Accounts working with Meme 2020 include: @MyTherapistSays, @WhitePeopleHumor, @TheFunnyIntrovert, @KaleSalad, @Sonny5ideUp, @Tank.Sinatra, @ShitheadSteve, @adam.the.creator, @moistbudda, @MrsDowJones, @TrashCanPaul, @cohmedy, @NeatDad, @FourTwenty, @GolfersDoingThings, @DrGrayFang, @MiddleClassFancy and @DoYouEvenLift. The collective garners an audience of over 60 million followers.

“Mike Bloomberg 2020 has teamed up with social creators to collaborate with the campaign, including the meme world,” Sabrina Singh, a senior national spokeswoman for the Bloomberg campaign, said in a statement. “While a meme strategy may be new to presidential politics, we’re betting it will be an effective component to reach people where they are and compete with President Trump’s powerful digital operation.”

Beyond Instagram, Bloomberg has invested heavily in Facebook advertisements, dropping an average of over $1 million per day over the past two weeks on the effort. Bloomberg spending was five times the amount the Trump campaign spent, according to Facebook ad data. 

Bloomberg, who made a late entry into the presidential race in November, has tapped into his roughly $60 billion personal fortune to support an exploding staff and a widespread advertising campaign. He has been able to rack up endorsements from dozens of mayors and Washington lawmakers in recent months, and some national polling shows him creeping into third place.