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The Shameless Exploitation of Lil Nas X
Sure, the controversial drop of the Nike “satan shoes” was great for ad clicks…for about a minute. What happens to Lil Nas X now?
What seemed at first to confirm every religious conservative’s worst nightmare about the U.S. entertainment media industry, and thus couldn’t possibly be true, turned out to be only too true last week.
Lil Nas X- ingenue, budding cross-over pop star, erstwhile country singer of the hit single “Old Town Road”, released a limited edition Nike sneaker called the “satan shoes”.
Limited to a run of only 666 pairs, and advertised as containing a bronze pentacle, an inverted cross, and one drop of real human blood, the product launch was met with incredulity and confusion bordering on absolute pandemonium. Even among the purely secular, it was a bit shocking.
The launch of the “satan shoes” is completely understandable, from a purely mercenary marketing perspective. Very few companies using satan to market their products; easy to stand out when you stand alone.
Because in a virtual world full of shocking opinions, and opinions carefully designed to be outrageous, it is becoming harder and harder to distinguish yourself. Who will be the first to call out the next example of egregious racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, weightism, and every other social…