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Sydney Sweeney ad outrage reveals darker political manipulation strategy [1]

['Ellsworth Toohey']

Date: 2025-08-04

Sydney Sweeney's gene/jeans commercial blowup has become a masterclass in Steve Bannon's political strategy of "flooding the zone with shit" — overwhelming public attention with manufactured controversies to distract from substantive issues.

The playbook, as analyzed in Notes from the Circus by Mike Brock, unfolded predictably: the as sparked TikTok accusations of "Nazi propaganda." Right-wing politicians followed orders to defend "basic American life." The ensuing social media shitstorm consumed days of public discourse — much to the populist/nativist Trump faction's delight. "Every hour spent debating jeans ads is an hour not spent organizing resistance to the systematic dismantling of democratic institutions," Brock writes.

This isn't random internet drama but calculated attention warfare. Social media algorithms amplify these artificial controversies, fragmenting public focus until "sustained analysis of actual threats becomes psychologically impossible." Meanwhile, as people argue about hidden messages in denim ads, real policy changes affecting millions advance without scrutiny.

"While everyone argues about whether blue eyes constitute Nazi imagery, real fascists implement actual policies: detention centers where people drink from toilets, mass deportations to foreign countries, systematic capture of independent agencies," Brock writes. "The circus isn't entertainment — it's a weapon system designed to keep our eyes on the spectacle while oligarchs cut down the wire we're all walking on."

Previously:

• This video perfectly captures how websites manufacture outrage and turn it into news

• Maddow on the manufacturing of abortion outrage on the right

• danah boyd explains the connection between the epistemological crisis and the rise of far-right conspiratorial thinking

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2025/08/04/sydney-sweeney-ad-outrage-reveals-darker-political-manipulation-strategy.html

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