Who Wants a MAGA Instant Pot?
In the months leading up to and following Donald Trump's re-election to the presidency, there has been no shortage of products branded with 'Make America Great Again' or Trump's bronzer-spackled visage, many created for the president himself to profit from this distinctly racist and hateful moment. Now, even the makers of your Instant Pot, the once-trendy appliance that you lug out to make chicken soup every once in a while, are getting in on the action.
Semafor reports that Instant Pot Brands, the Canadian-born company behind the Instant Pot, plans to debut a new line of Trump-inspired products in the coming months. Dubbed the '45/47 Collection,' the as-yet-unnamed appliances will be emblazoned with Trump's favorite slogan. The move comes weeks after the company complained a few months ago that Instant Brands would have to raise the retail price of the Instant Pot nearly $40 to mitigate the impact of Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs on China.
The parade of companies and executives seeking to cozy up to Trump has been never-ending in recent months, a strategy that makes some sense when you consider that the president has demonstrated a real openness to flattery. Perhaps Instant Brands believes that if it sticks Trump's face on enough Instant Pots, he'll keep backing off his plans to implement the impending steel tariffs that have the potential to increase the prices of all appliances. If they can both flatter the president and sell a few MAGA-branded Instant Pots to his fans, what is there to lose?
This is, unfortunately, a natural consequence of the way that corporate brands have increasingly felt compelled to pander to political trends in recent years. It's like the ugly alter-ego of Target's beleaguered and frequently-embarrassing Pride collection. But while there's nothing wrong with buying a rainbow-colored toaster, there is something distinctly gross about buying a small appliance just because it has MAGA written on the side of it. MAGA isn't a colorful pattern that might fit your aesthetic, it's a rallying cry that has emboldened the most hateful among us and inspired the targeting of immigrants for mass deportation, racist hate crimes, and a broader crumbling of social decency.
Usually when it comes to MAGA paraphernalia, Trump is the one doing the selling. His official Trump store is populated with everything from pickleball paddles to, of course, food. Right now, if you were so inclined, you could buy bars of chocolate shaped like silver bullion on the Trump Store ($9.60), or peppermint-chocolate popcorn ($6.40). Coffee, wine, whiskey, and koozies printed with 'TRUMP 2028' on them are also for sale, and the man himself gets a cut. On some level, the surprise here isn't that a Canadian company would make a product praising him — it's that Trump would let them without trying to take a majority of the profits.
Trump, of course, will indirectly benefit from the sales of these Instant Pots. Instant Brands has announced that it will donate a portion of its profits to Trump's forthcoming presidential library. It is not at all surprising that Trump will at least get a small cut — the president has reportedly made millions of dollars licensing merch of all kinds — and food is no exception.
Trump loyalists have demonstrated an incredible willingness to spend money on pretty much anything Trump-branded, so why wouldn't the most cynical among us seek to profit from that? Just in case the hats, the t-shirts, the sneakers, the flags, the bumper stickers, and the Lenox china weren't enough, now you can display your unhinged love for the president in every single facet of your life. It's almost as if everyone, even the home appliances crowd, realizes that the MAGA fans will buy damn near anything, even if it is a total piece of garbage.
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