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VP Debate Fly Prompts Biden Fly Swatter Merch

The “Truth Over Flies” Fly Swatter was already sold out as of this writing.

Joe Biden is hoping to fly into the White House, and there’s ample buzz over a new cheeky bit of “moment merch” that aims to raise funds to help him get there.

Fly Swatter

Joe Biden’s “Truth Over Flies” Fly Swatter was selling for $10 in his campaign web store. It became available almost immediately after the vice presidential debate on Oct. 7.

It all started with what’s currently the most famous fly in America.

The fly landed on Vice President Mike Pence’s head during the vice presidential debate between he and Democratic VP hopeful Kamala Harris on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The fly went viral, spurring an outpouring of comments, puns and image/video shares on social media.

Seeing an opportunity, the Biden campaign instantly turned the buzz into a tangible product – a fly swatter – that folks could buy to help support the former vice president’s bid for the White House. The “Truth Over Flies” Fly Swatter was selling for $10 in Biden’s web store. A campaign staffer said on Twitter that 15,000 had sold within hours of release. By the morning of Oct. 8, they were reportedly sold out.

The fly in Pence’s hair might have been responsible for a jump in searches for the term “fly swatters” on Google, as the below data suggests:

Fly Swatter Data

Interest in fly swatters also increased in the promo products industry. There was one search for the term fly swatter on Oct. 6 in ESP, ASI’s database of products from across the North American promotional products industry. That increased to four on Oct. 7 and then soared to 72 on Oct. 8 after the debate. While the raw numbers aren’t large, the Oct. 8 number is a 7,100% increase from Oct. 6. Similarly, searches for fly swatters went from 0 on ESP Websites on Oct. 6 to 15 on Oct. 7 to 51 on Oct. 8 That’s a 240% jump from Oct. 7 to Oct. 8.

President Donald Trump, whose “Make America Great Again” hats are viewed by some as the single most successful promo product of at least this century, has proved a master of using branded merchandise to offer timely comment on buzzworthy issues, sometimes mocking rivals through the messaging on such products and always leveraging the items to stir support among his base.

Still, the Biden campaign has started landing some mocking merch blows of its own. In addition to the fly swatter, Biden recently released buttons that said “I Paid More In Taxes Than Donald Trump” after a report from The New York Times alleged that Trump had paid just $750 in taxes some years and none in others.

Product

These $6 buttons, which take a swipe at President Trump, were available from the Biden campaign.