President Joe Biden seems to have embraced "Dark Brandon" so much that merchandise featuring his cooler, laser-eyed internet alter ego is now the driving force behind his campaign merchandise.
More than 54% of the total revenue of campaign merchandise is coming from Dark Brandon-themed products, Axios reported Friday, citing his reelection team.
The "Dark T-Shirt" ($32) and "Dark Roast Mug" ($22) are the bestselling products in the campaign's store, which offers 43 in all, the campaign said. There are nine Dark Brandon-themed products in the store, including a tote bag, stickers, and baseball caps.
The Dark Brandon products have accounted for 44% of all store orders and driven nearly 76% of all website clicks, the campaign told Axios.
Dark Brandon became an internet meme, playing off the slogan, "Let's go Brandon," a euphemism used by many conservatives in a veiled slur against the president.
"Let's go Brandon" came about after a NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Oct. 2, 2021, at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. NBC reporter Kelli Stavast was interviewing the winner, Brandon Brown, when the crowd behind him started chanting, "[Expletive] Joe Biden."
The reporter suggested they were chanting, "Let's go, Brandon," even though it was clear what the crowd was saying. It quickly became a rallying cry for those opposed to the president.
After Biden was declared the winner in 2020, Chinese artist Yang Quan posted illustrations on his Weibo microblog account depicting the president-elect as evil and seemingly all-powerful, with glowing eyes. "The sleeping king ascends the throne, the devil is resurrected," according to a caption above the illustrations.
The Biden team then co-opted the illustrations and flooded Twitter with Dark Brandon memes to celebrate several of the president's legislative objectives passing through Congress.
"Dark Brandon is crushing it," deputy press secretary Andrew Bates tweeted Aug. 7, 2022, along with a picture of a red-eyed Biden captioned, "Your malarkey has been going on for long enough, kiddo."
Biden's campaign told Axios it will release a Dark Brandon tank top soon and that a prototype of a color-changing Dark Brandon mug is in the works.