The Harris-Walz campaign reportedly sold “a million dollars worth of hats” in 24 hours after releasing a new item that fans online have pointed out resembles Chappell Roan’s iconic ‘Midwest Princess’ merch.
Move over, coconut trees. Vice President Kamala Harris‘ plugged-in presidential campaign continues to lean into online culture, from Kamala HQ’s Brat branding on X (formerly Twitter) to the Love Island-inspired introduction to her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
When Walz, a seemingly quintessential Midwest dad, was announced as the vice presidential pick, it didn’t take long for social media to connect the dots to another Midwestern star of the moment: Chappell Roan. The 26-year-old pop singer has had a meteoric rise over the last year with her debut full-length album, The Rise and Fall of Midwest Princess, rising on the Billboard 200 chart (currently sitting at No. 4) nearly a year after its release.
The comparisons to the Midwest Princess herself kicked it up a notch when Kamala HQ tweeted, “New merch just dropped,” with a link to a camo hat, reminiscent of Roan’s own merchandise. The item’s description reads: “You asked, we answered. The most iconic political hat in America.”
The $40 hat, likely the campaign’s way to engage young, online voters or Midwestern hunters, ended up being a hit. WWD reports that Mitch Cahn, the president and founder of Unionwear, the company manufacturing all merchandise for the campaign, that 25,000 hats were sold in “a few hours.”
“We were completely surprised by it,” Cahn told WWD. “We’ve been in business for 32 years. We never had an instance where we made a sample in the morning, and then they had sold a million dollars worth of hats by the next morning.”
Bon Iver singer Justin Vernon wore the hat while performing at a Wisconsin campaign rally on Wednesday. He was photographed speaking with Harris and Walz and wearing the now-iconic cap.
Justin Vernon in the Harris-Walz hat.
KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images
Roan also weighed in on social media. She first reposted a response to a fan claiming the hat looked similar to the singer’s merch, which read: “How gay do u have to be to see hunting colors and think it’s a Chappell roan thing.” (That user followed up the since-reposted-by-Roan message with: “It has recently come to my attention that this may indeed be a Chappell roan thing.”)
The 26-year-old Missouri native then reposted a photo putting the Midwest Princess and Harris-Walz hats side-by-side. She added: “Is this real.”
The hat is available to preorder on the Harris-Walz campaign website, with each purchase acting as a donation to the Harris Victory Fund. Hats bought now are expected to be released Oct. 14.