By Patrick Mcardle
Staff Writer
He’s the only Independent serving in the U.S. Senate. He’s been mayor of Burlington. He’s been a presidential candidate, twice. And now he’s not only a meme. He’s a bobblehead.
The Bernie Sanders Inauguration Day Bobblehead has not yet been produced, but Phil Sklar, co-founder and CEO of the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, said just over 20,000 have been sold to buyers from all 50 states and more than 15 counties, making it their second-best seller ever.
Dr. Anthony Fauci is the best seller, with almost 50,000 sold.
On Friday, Kathryn Becker Van Haste, state director for Sanders’ Vermont office, said the attention the senator received for his modest, practical winter wear and mittens was not expected.
“As an observer of what unfolded, I would say that it probably happened because it was not expected,” she said. “I think Vermonters know that Sen. Sanders, or Bernie, as everyone in Vermont calls him, is really the same person whether you see him in line at the grocery store or whether you see him on the Senate floor fighting on behalf of Vermonters and the American people, I think that’s what appealed to the rest of America when they say this. This was Bernie being Bernie.”
Sanders has become nationally prominent after running for president, but his “meme moment” has brought on another level of fame, As a guest on “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” Sanders was asked if he realized on Jan. 20, with his mittens and mask, that he had “sort of become the meme of the day.”
“Not at all,” Sanders replied. “I was just sitting there, trying to keep warm, trying to pay attention to what was going on.”
The eponymous host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” joked that Sanders “looked like his mom put his coat on him and his mittens and he’s carrying a manila envelope for reasons unknown.”
By email, former Gov. James Douglas offered his own thoughts as to why the moment caused such a strong response.
“Bernie was simply being a practical Vermonter. It’s great that his wardrobe led to such success for businesses and charities. He may have lost the nomination, but he got as much attention at the inauguration as the guy who was actually sworn in,” Douglas said.
John Gennari, a professor and chairman of the English department at the University of Vermont, said he believed Sanders appearance and affect during the inauguration was part of his appeal. He said it was clear from listening to his students that Sanders was popular with young people.
“I think there was a particular appeal in hipster communities, that kind of outsider image. That’s always been an alluring image in American culture,” he said.
For Sklar, a staff member pointed out the Sanders image and said, “You’ve got to do this Bernie bobblehead.”
“On Twitter, it was already a trending topic so we told our graphic designer, let’s get a rendering as quickly as possible. Within maybe an hour or so, he had that done. We got everything ready to put on the website and release it and it went crazy, basically from the get go, We got it online right around 3 p.m. on Inauguration Day and the orders haven’t stopped since,” he said.
Sklar said the Bobblehead Museum started making the figures in 2013. Two year later, they made political bobbleheads of the presidential candidates for the 2016 election. Sanders was one of them.
“Bernie’s bobblehead was popular then. We had a feeling it would be popular,” he said.
According to Sklar, he and his colleagues are always looking for the surprising viral moment that produces the next popular bobblehead.
Pre-orders are being taken for the Sanders Inaugural figure. Sklar said he hasn’t heard from Sanders or his camp, but said they would send the senator’s office some of the bobbleheads when they come in.
“I think he’ll enjoy the bobblehead when he gets it,” Sklar said.
Aware that some of the organizations creating products in response to the meme have made contributions to nonprofits, Sklar said his company made a $10,000 donation to Meals on Wheels in Vermont on Wednesday.
Becker Van Haste said people in her office have found it a lot of fun to see the meme images created from the Jan. 20 photo. Sanders told Meyers his staff members have shown him some of them as Meyers showed the senator one of him as one of the women on “Sex and the City.”
As a former coxswain on the University of Vermont rowing team, Becker Van Haste said her favorite image was one that placed Sanders as a member of the crew.
Gennari said the attention made sense to him in the way popular culture intersects with political culture. He said he was participating in a remote meeting this week and noticed one of the participants had a computer showing the Sanders meme grafted to a scene from the television series “The Sopranos.”
“We’re desperate, at this moment — for all the reasons you know — for authenticity but also for stuff that surprises us, that makes us laugh, that uplifts our spirit,” he said.
The Bernie Inaugural bobblehead can be ordered from bobbleheadhall.com.
patrick.mcardle @rutlandherald.com
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