To the untrained eye, the campaign's new camouflage hat with the words "Harris Walz" written on it looks pretty regular.
But to some people on social media, it looked like a veiled reference to Chappell Roan , Gen Z's pop sweetheart.
The "Harris-Walz" hat does bear a passing resemblance to the "Midwest Princess" camo hat that's part of Roan's tour merchandise. The hat Roan released was a direct reference to her album title, "The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess."
Roan rose to fame rapidly this year after the release of her April single "Good Luck, Babe!" Her 2023 songs "Femininomenon," "Red Wine Supernova," and "Hot To Go!" have also blown up on social media and become TikTok-viral.
The comparison between the two hats didn't escape Roan's notice.
On Tuesday night, she reposted a composite image of the two hats on X and wondered aloud if the Harris-Walz campaign merch was "real."
When asked whether the camo hat was a reference to Roan, the Harris-Walz campaign told Business Insider: "We released a camo hat because Tim Walz infamously often wears a camo hat."
Experts BI spoke with were skeptical that the campaign meant the hat as a direct reference to Roan, adding that it may have had another target audience altogether.
"The camo baseball cap is commonly worn by hunters and many others," said Christian Grose, a political-science and public-policy professor at the University of Southern California. "I used to live in Wisconsin a bit more than a decade ago, and such a cap was common back then."
He added that the hat "may work on multiple levels to different audiences."
"My guess is Gen Z voters who shop at Menards in Wisconsin may be the strongest audience," Grose said. Menards is a home-improvement retail company in Wisconsin.
"Hats may signal intentions or loyalty but probably don't win any votes," said Jonathan Aronson, a professor of communication and international relations at USC.
Whether it was meant as a reference to Roan or not, the hat seems to be a fan favorite already, with some calling it the antithesis of former President Donald Trump's red MAGA hat.
Another wrote : "Being able to wear a midwest princess harris/walz coded camo hat makes up for years of not being able to wear a red phillies hat for fear of inadvertent MAGA promotion."
Some people said on X that they encountered "sold out" notices when trying to purchase the hat on the Harris-Walz campaign website.
The hat was still available for preorder at press time, according to checks by BI.
The Harris campaign has got some social-media game
Though it could be unintentional, this appears to be Harris' latest win at drawing in younger voters, something she's been focused on since the start of her presidential run in July.
The Democratic nominee has also amassed multiple endorsements from celebrities in the Gen Z orbit.
She has gotten stamps of approval from Olivia Rodrigo and the rapper Cardi B . Megan Thee Stallion also performed at Harris' Atlanta rally on July 30.
Media experts BI spoke with also said the Harris campaign had worked hard to leverage renewed energy and enthusiasm over the 2024 election.
"There is a wave of grassroots enthusiasm that feels like Obama 2008, but with the social media of 2024," David Karpf, a professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University, told Business Insider in July.
"When you've got a good social-media team that has arrived at a cultural moment and pent-up enthusiasm, they get to play with it."
Representatives for Roan didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.
Correction: August 7, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated the date of Kamala Harris' Atlanta rally. It was on July 30, not July 31.
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