@KamalaHQ rebrands as cringey meme account. It's not going well
Plus: A fake deportation phone call goes viral.
Greetings!
Here are the latest trending internet culture stories today:
Former VP Kamala Harris is rebranding her campaign accounts, and it’s not going so well…
Hmm, The Simpsons predicting things that come true years later has taken a darker turn with the latest release of the Epstein files.
The viral clip of a teacher calling into a phony hotline to deport a student’s parents just might cause one to lose faith in humanity for a moment…
See you in the next one!
— W.J.
⚡️ Today in Internet Culture
“Be serious”: KamalaHQ tries to appeal to Gen Z with “Headquarters” rebrand. It’s not looking good so far
Former Vice President Kamala Harris has rebranded her 2024 campaign accounts from KamalaHQ to “Headquarters” to appeal to the youth. Enthusiasm appears low for her comeback tour, however, as people from both sides of the aisle mocked the campaign’s dated references.
On Wednesday, the @KamalaHQ X account put out a teaser video showing someone trying to log in with passwords like “thebabysitterisweird” and “project2025wasreal.” The X account’s handle is @headquarters_67. (The “6-7” gag is really more of a Gen Alpha thing.)
An old Simpsons episode about “crazy creeps on an island” is fueling conspiracy chatter
A decades-old episode of The Simpsons is making the rounds online again after viewers noticed an unsettling parallel between one of its final jokes and real-world allegations tied to Jeffrey Epstein.
The resurfaced clip depicts shadowy elites running the world from a remote island and was quickly tied to familiar “Simpsons predicted it“ discourse. But this time, and for obvious reasons, the reaction was darker.
“Deeply revolting”: Fake immigration hotline catches kindergarten teacher calmly asking child’s parents be deported
A TikTok from comedian Ben Palmer showed how easily suspicion can slide into cruelty. In the video, which has been viewed nearly 11 million times in 2 days, Palmer poses as the operator of a fake hotline to “report” undocumented immigrants, fielding calls from people who believe it’s real.
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🕸️ Crawling the Web
📺 “Made a habit of promoting DEI and wokeness”: Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos grilled by Congress over its more progressive storylines
🧭 Fans theorized all season over what the Fallout map’s secret countdown would lead to. Now, they’re disappointed with the reveal
🐟 McDonald’s is launching limited edition “McCaviar” kits to pair with chicken nuggets. How will it taste?
💥 Emilia Clarke hits back at criticism of how she spoke Dothraki: “It’s not a real language!”
😂 How “no one is illegal on stolen land” turned into the internet’s dumbest meme
🛏️ TikTokers offer tips on how to make hotel housekeeping’s job easier
🩰 Ballerina Farm pulls raw milk after bacteria turns up in testing
🔥 Hot on the Dot
This was the most-read story on the Daily Dot yesterday:
➤ “Somebody’s asking $5,000”: Costco shock-drops Kirkland Nike dunks and sneakerheads lose their minds
Great roundup of the current internet zeitgeist. The fake deportation hotline experiment is particulary telling about how easily people will act on impulses when given an offical-seeming avenue. That teacher calling in so casually shows the banality of cruelty in real time. Reminds me of those old Milgram experiments but with a modern twist.