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Miami Herald
a day ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
The merchandise was taken down, but ‘Deportation Depot' messaging works
It's ironic that Home Depot — a business so closely associated with middle-America and whose co-founder supports President Trump — has balked at the state of Florida using its logo to promote a new immigration detention facility. After the company raised concerns, the Florida Republican Party took down a line of 'Deportation Depot'-themed shirts, hats and tchotchkes from its website. The items mimicked the Home Depot logo, using its instantly recognizable orange box and stenciled font without approval, a company spokesperson told the Herald/Times Bureau. The removal of the merchandise might cost the Republican Party a few thousand dollars, though unofficial sites will probably continue to sell similar items under the radar. But the messaging war is what matters. The clever, yet cruel and distasteful names and nicknames that Florida officials have bestowed upon the state's immigration facilities — such as 'Alligator Alcatraz' — have caught on. Immigration enforcement has turned into the real-life version of an us-versus-them video game that you can participate in by buying bumper stickers and t-shirts and sharing memes online. There's shock value in seeing our government encouraging people to joke about alligators and snakes eating — actually, killing — undocumented migrants in the Everglades and giggle about holding human beings in a 'Deportation Depot.' The more Democrats and those who are horrified by these tactics complain, the stronger the message becomes. American politics now looks more like the 'Jerry Springer Show' and less like the 8 p.m. evening news. And the anything-goes show we're watching is on 24/7, through cable news and social media. With the public's attention span so limited, 'Deportation Depot' stands out. The North Florida facility that Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled last week used to be the Baker Correctional Institution, a defunct men's prison, and can be expanded to fit as many as 2,000 immigrants. Meanwhile, a Miami federal judge is expected to weigh in this week on whether Alligator Alcatraz, deep in the Everglades, should close. Trump and DeSantis didn't create today's political environment, but they have used it to their benefit and exacerbated it. Home Depot, it seems, did not want to be part of that strategy. And that's understandable. The company might have a conservative leadership, but its home improvement stores are a staple of communities large and small, red and blue. When it comes to business, it seems, there's no red or blue, only green. ICE has also conducted several immigration raids outside Home Depot stores, in particular in California, where migrant day laborers often gather, waiting to be picked up by prospective employers. Certainly, being closely associated with deportations is not part of Home Depot's business strategy. But the controversy over nicknames isn't about a company's logo and reputation. It's about harnessing outrage and cruelty for a marketing campaign. The 'Deportation Depot' merchandise may have been taken down, but the message has been successfully delivered.
The Citizen
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
Media bullies should not be shielded by popularity
The more offensive the content, the more it profits—and that must change. No platform should be above accountability. In the late '90s, the Jerry Springer Show surpassed the queen of talk shows, Oprah Winfrey, in the television viewer ratings. It left many shocked and in disbelief. Winfrey's show had for many years ruled in the ratings because it was deemed as a wholesome show based on promoting family values of respect, love, honesty and healing. It had just been surpassed by a show that depended on the shock value of violence, nudity, sex, prejudice and just plain crassness to attract viewers. Fast forward 20 years later and South African television and podcast space is experiencing the same thing. Podcaster MacGyver Mukwevho, popularly known as MacG by the over 1.5 million subscribers to his Podcast And Chill YouTube offering, is to be summonsed to appear before a parliamentary portfolio committee for vulgar and disrespectful utterances about celebrity television host Minnie Dlamini. Mukwevho's podcast has partnered with commercial industry entities, among which are the channel, Moja Love, in the MultiChoice stable. ALSO READ: MacG's commenting goes beyond the bounds of free speech The channel and MultiChoice were quick to distance themselves from the vile utterances but the question is, have they done enough? The reason he has been summonsed to appear in parliament is that Deputy Minister in the Presidency Mmapaseka Steve Letsike says they view his utterances to be unhelpful in the fight against gender-based violence (GBV). She is not off the mark. But, as is always the case with our parliament's intervention in matters that affect ordinary citizens, this comes a little too late in the game, 1.5 million subscribers too late. Mukwevho has been riding the shock jock wave for years without consequences at all. ALSO READ: Minnie Dlamini breaks silence following controversial MacG comments The same tactics that the Jerry Springer Show used to gain viewer ratings have been adopted by broadcasters like Mukwevho and many programmes on the Moja Love channel that have commercialised the social lives of the poor and vulnerable, especially women and children, and somehow turned them into regular entertainment for the same audiences. There's been little recourse for those who feel violated by either the insulting content, or the invasion of cameras into their private spaces in the false guise of 'fixing the country'. The lame defence that supporters of broadcasters like Mukwevho and his ilk have is that those aggrieved by their utterances must 'report them to the nearest police station'. This is a joke because it is known that in South Africa, reporting anything hardly ever works. Even worse, they hide behind the astronomical costs that act as a barrier to private individuals suing a moneyed entity. But the question is why would a podcaster with over 1.5 million subscribers not care that they are considered vile and undesirable by portions of society? ALSO READ: MacG says his partnership with MultiChoice is 'a natural evolution' despite it being criticised as a lazy move by the broadcaster [VIDEO] The simple reason is the more viewers going to the platform to see what the fuss is all about, the more money they make from their commercial partners. It works the same way for traditional television channels. The more eyes they have glued to their screens, the more they attract advertisers and the more money they make. So, it pays to degrade women and vulnerable communities. Parliament should not back down because someone feels they are so powerful that they are 'uncancelable', so uncaring that they've left the podcast on to garner views while the dignity of another human being continues to be imperilled by the podcast in question. It is time that parliament went into spaces that have been left to fuel GBV unregulated because the broadcasters think freedom of speech allows them to bully other people.
