Taylor Swift-inspired friendship bracelets raise over $1 million for Harris campaign after endorsement

Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign raised “over $1 million” from sales of a pair of Taylor Swift-inspired friendship bracelets, a campaign merchandise consultant said.

The two-pack of Democratic blue beaded bracelets, which bear the words “Harris-Walz 24,” was released to coincide with the pop star’s endorsement of Harris following the Sept. 10 presidential debate in Philadelphia.

“I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she’s fighting for rights and causes that I believe need a warrior to defend them. I think she’s a confident, talented leader” Swift wrote under the photo on Instagram herself posing with her the youngest catBenjamin Button. The photo — and its caption, “Childless Cat Lady” — were a thinly veiled dig at former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential candidate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, who disparaging comments about women without children.

» READ MORE: Taylor Swift, ‘Childless Cat Lady,’ Endorses Kamala Harris for President After Philadelphia Debate

Pre-orders for the bracelets initially sold out within hours of their Sept. 10 launch, but sales have resumed. “More than 100,000” bracelets had been ordered as of Tuesday, according to a merchandise consultant, an independent contractor hired by the campaign who declined to be named out of fear that his company would be targeted for its work on a partisan issue. Pairs of the bracelets are selling for $20 on Harris’ campaign website official website and will be shipped on October 15th.

While Harris’ campaign said it had no idea Swift would receive the endorsement when it did, a merchandise consultant said campaign staff had already toyed with the idea of ​​releasing friendship bracelets and tested a potential production process, allowing them to get the bracelets to market less than an hour after Swift’s endorsement.

“If you prepare for everything that can happen during the election period, you will have a lot of success,” the commodities consultant said.

The entire supply chain of the bracelet is based in the United States: the beads come from Ohio and are fired in kilns in New York, then strung on rubber bands and thread from Oklahoma and Ohio at a California factory. The whole process created “several hundred jobs,” according to the consultant.

Swift and her army of Swifties have already made an impact on the campaign.

» READ MORE: Harris-Walz campaign says sold-out friendship bracelets were delivered just 20 minutes after Taylor Swift endorsed

Even before Swift endorsed Harris, a volunteer coalition called Swifties for Kamala had raised more than $165,000 for Harris’ campaign and counted more than 100,000 Swift-led campaigns, such as voter registration drives – next Virtual Conversation Starter with Singer/Songwriter Carole King and several prominent politicians in August.

And after Swift posted a link to Vote.gov from her Instagram story with her support, CNN reported that nearly 406,000 people visited the federal voter registration website directly from its social media in a 24-hour period. By comparison, a General Services Administration spokesperson told CNN that Vote.gov typically receives about 30,000 visits per day.

» READ MORE: Taylor Swift, a Berks County native, piqued the interest of a prime base in Pennsylvania when she endorsed Kamala Harris

Although friendship bracelets have been given a recent lease of life as Swiftie’s unofficial cue for the Eras Tourcampaign consultant cautioned that viral gadgets should be viewed solely through Swift’s prism. Before Swift threw her hat in the ring for Harris, the Democratic National Convention invited attendees to make beaded bracelets at a public event in Chicagoone sec official store of the Democratic Party already sold a collection of T-shirts, bags, coasters and mugs with a friendship bracelet motif.

“We really hadn’t thought about it that way,” the consultant said. “Friendship bracelets are relatively universal… they’re a way to quietly express feedback or support.”