cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1454200/a-freaked-out-us-food-industry-is-hitting-back-at-maha-with-social-media-influencers
Some of the biggest food and agriculture corporations in the U.S. are funding a campaign that pays social media influencers to combat elements of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again platform
Because they’ve trained people not to trust journalists and the gubmint, so they’re not going to listen to PSAs, news outlets and official sources. They need people who can cultivate personalized parasocial relationships with an audience and generate organic word of mouth, because the only thing most people have left that they have any faith in is personal peer bonding.
At this point unfortunately both are needed. There should absolutely be official PSAs and news reports, but they also need to rope in influencers so that the brainrotted idiots who listen to people like Joe Roegan also get on board.
I mean, a number of news reports of outbreaks and adverse outcomes from MAHA nonsense already are out there. People don’t watch positive news though. They could probably run PSAs but where? Netflix ads? Cable? The media ecosystem is fragmented to the point that even if they did, you’re going to have to run a dozen different campaigns on different mediums to get heard by the 5% or so of people who still pay attention to PSAs.
It’s just a more efficient use of resources to focus on the Influencer side. I don’t have to like it to understand the logic.