In 24 hours, the Harris-Walz campaign has proved it can handily keep up with online culture, moving at the speed of the internet to put out a line of camo trucker hats—based on a social media user’s viral design—that has flown off the shelves. The campaign told Teen Vogue on Wednesday that it had already raked in more than $1 million in hat sales, which are retailing for $40. An initial run of 3,000 hats sold out within half an hour, the campaign added. Where did this orange-lettering and camo theme begin? Well, within minutes of Vice President Kamala Harris announcing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her ticket running mate, the internet had dubbed him “a midwest princess,” a play on pop star Chappell Roan’s debut album title. Roan sells “Midwest Princess” baseball caps in camo with orange lettering, so it wasn’t long before an X user had posted “hear me out…” alongside a proposed “Harris-Walz” version. Less than 12 hours later, Walz himself was wearing a prototype, with his team posting an image of the governor smiling underneath a campaign camo hat. “Capping off the night,” the post read, alongside a link to the new apparel. Roan herself responded to the breakneck turnaround, tweeting on Tuesday night, “Is this real.”
