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Payton Handler - Philadelphia Eagles, Kamala Harris, and Extreme Fandoms

In today’s overly connected digital world, political campaigns have had to pivot from traditional strategies. Instead of just simple speeches and rallies, there is now more than ever an emphasis on branding, advertising, and imagery. Especially in the recent presidential election, use of social media platforms was prioritized and furthermore used as a method for capturing the attention of young voters. A recent controversy involving a counterfeit endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris by the Philadelphia Eagles shows how the blend of popular and political culture is not always as seamless as it may seem - especially when taking into consideration extreme fandoms. 

Commonly, the Philadelphia Eagles fandom is believed to be one of the most dedicated and passionate fan bases in the NFL. Penny writes, “fan culture is febrile, volatile, and entirely unchill,” and elaborates by explaining how “the barriers between [creators and their audience] are breaking down” (Penny, 2019). Fandoms can similarly serve as a place for social and political tensions as members feel deep personal connections to said person, team, etc. This dynamic often leads to overly emotional reactions when fans believe their community is being incorporated or misunderstood. The intensity of this fandom in particular reflects fans’ deep love for their city as well as the connection between the team and its fandom. Therefore, when creating this political advertisement Andrew Tseng, the artist in question, attempted to tap into the strong emotional ties Phildealphians have to their team. It was his goal to have the fandom unite with support around this movement, however this was not the case. In reality, backlash and an outcry of hate from fans resulted in all of the posters being immediately taken down from all locations around the city. 

The poster at hand depicts Vice President Kamala Harris wearing an Eagles jersey and helmet, with the caption “Kamala, official candidate of the Philadelphia Eagles.” Underneath, there is a link written than when searched, takes you to a voting web page with information on voter registration, guidelines, locations, and overall helpful links. In Shifman’s “Memes in Digital Culture,” he references the “main repackaging mechanisms” that are most prevalent in today’s society (Shifman, 2014, p. 20). At its core, this creation by Andrew Tseng is an example of media manipulation, specifically remixing. Shifman emphasizes how remixing in popular culture allows singular users to appropriate and transform well known logos as means to create their own messaging. Individuals are able to rely on the cultural familiarity of the original content whilst simultaneously getting their own narrative across. In this case, Tseng’s usage of the Philadelphia Eagles logo attempted to mobilize fan loyalty towards the team for his own political intentions. This digital manipulation serves as an example of how remixes can cross the line of political and social issues, leading to polarizing reactions. Therefore, although the poster was intended to have a positive impact, this also reveals the potential risks involved when attempting to leverage popular culture for causes that differ from original associations. 

This controversy also outlines modern so-called “participatory culture” and how truly anyone is able to interact with and manipulate media at their discretion (Shifman, 2014, p.23). Participatory culture allows users to not only be passive consumers of content, but rather actively create, manipulate, and distribute it - blurring the lines between producer and consumer. The interconnectedness of today’s society through social media allows for the critique and backlash to be almost instantaneous. The poster was spread on various platforms and scrutinized for being counterfeit. The rapid rate at which this hate spread further exemplifies Shifman’s ideas that participatory culture is able to foster both creativity and controversy, particularly as perceptions of things in the media are ever changing in popular public opinion. There was also misinformation in the ways the poster was interpreted. Some believed Tseng was attempting to fool Philadelphians to believe their beloved team was taking a political stance, while others simply saw the illegal use of branding as inappropriate for personal gain. This all moves to show how complicated and easily things can be spread in the digital world, with participatory culture increasing both the reach and impact of said misinformation. 

Although fandoms sometimes can serve as a place for growth and acceptance, the Eagles fandom is not necessarily known to hold such characteristics. Fans often want to own [the fandom] [and] shut down the borders [to] police [...] any sign of deviance” (Penny, 2019). In this case, fans were outraged by the poster and believed it misrepresented the beliefs of the team or the fandom as a whole. Today the power of fandoms is seen more than ever across various media platforms. Fans hold the ability to police the identity of their community and feel the need to particularly when they believe something feels disingenuous or superficial. Eagles fans were quick to reject the Kamala poster as they viewed it as co-opting “their” branding without consent. Not only did the counterfeit Kamala ad cause uproar from fans across Philadelphia, the Eagles staff as well as the NFL were outraged. Large companies and mainstream commodities often push back against remixing because it greatly loosens their control over messaging and branding. The poster, intending to capitalize on the iconic Eagles trademark, was ultimately perceived as a disrespectful and illegal use of such branding - offending fans' dedication to authenticity. 

Works Cited 

MacAulay, J., Shuler, A., Andersen, E., & Fox, A. (2024). Philadelphia Eagles street posters endorsing Kamala Harris are “counterfeit political ads,” team says. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/philadelphia-eagles-kamala-harris-endorsement-art/ 

Penny, L. (2019). We Can Be Heroes: How the Nerds Are Reinventing Pop Culture. WIRED. https://www.wired.com/story/culture-fan-tastic-planet-fanfic/ 

Shifman, L. (2014). Memes in Digital Culture.





 

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