So the interwebz is abuzz with what is possibly the most interesting commercial of 2022, if not of all time:
Even if you hate Daily Wire’s politics, you gotta admit the production values in this 4 minute commercial are amazing. The completely over-the-top jokes and hyperbolic claims are all part of the charm. I predict that it will work amazingly well, and that Jeremy’s Razors will be a ginormous success. That political identity targeting makes this the most interesting commercial of 2022, maybe of all time.
Now, why would I or you or anybody in real estate care about some political razor commercial? Because it’s right in line with one of my Seven Predictions for 2022, An Explicitly Conservative Real Estate Brand Launches:
So when we’re talking about undifferentiated services at the same price, then something weird like political affinity might make more of a difference. I’m betting that some entrepreneur somewhere will decide that political affinity might be important to at least some of the 74 million people who voted for Trump in 2020. I’m betting that some entrepreneur somewhere will take a chance on recruiting only those Christian, conservative, and libertarian REALTORS who find that their values don’t align with the values of the brands they carry on their business cards.
Therefore, I am predicting the rise of an explicitly conservative, Christian, and anti-woke brand in real estate in 2022. They will seek to take advantage of the disillusionment and distaste of those REALTORS who are suddenly finding themselves on the outs as deplorables and decide that they don’t need to be paying royalties to franchise owners and brokers who hate them.
If Jeremy’s Razors does a couple hundred million in sales in the first year, I think that’s as clear a signal as there could be that there is a large market who leans conservative. The message of “Don’t give money to woke companies who hate you; give it to me instead” will resonate with that market. Some real estate franchise or a brokerage will take advantage of it.
Just imagine Jeremy’s Realty, with Ben Shapiro telling his 4.3 million YouTube subscribers “We’re going to talk about [political issue of the day], but first, let me tell you about this real estate brokerage….”
-rsh
11 thoughts on “Why We Should Care About Jeremy’s Razors”
Dave Ramsey’s referral group, agents who pay for ads on talk radio, those boasting their “Christian values” and Churchhill mortgage already fill the space IMO.
I think you’re probably onto something there, but Dave Ramsey isn’t explicitly conservative branding-wise, right? Not like Daily Wire or Black Rifle Coffee are. Maybe I’m wrong; I don’t follow Ramsey much.
But agents boasting of Christian values aren’t that, yet. If one of them takes that brand and goes explicitly into the brand, then yes.
As for Churchill Mortgage, maybe I’m not familiar with their industry messaging, but their website doesn’t have any whiff of specifically conservative anti-woke branding going on. Even their “Who We Are” says nothing that is explicitly conservative.
So I’ll still maintain that there is room for some brand to move into this niche opportunity.
What’s “conservative” about this?
According to this Jeremy guy, Harry’s Razors pulled its ads because one of his employees said hateful things about transgender people. This made Jeremy so mad that he bought some skincare products and built a brand explicitly about his right to be transphobic.
In this ad, he self-identifies as “conservative,” lies about corporations hating conservatives, and implores his fellow “conservatives” to buy his skincare products. Except, in his definition, “conservative” and “transphobe” are the same thing. He doesn’t say anything about supply-side economics, limited government, the divide between classical conservative isolationists and neoconservative war hawks… you know, the things that defined conservatism before politicians started cynically parroting Moral Majority talking points to win votes.
In 2022, companies like Jeremy’s, Harry’s, and Gillette are nearly all corporate capitalist institutions, and thus fundamentally conservative. Whether the advertisements say, “buy our product because we pander to your social progressivism” or, “buy ours because we pander to your reactionary anger,” they’re still attempts by for-profit companies to drive more profit.
Brands exist so that companies can appeal to demographics. All the brands Jeremy mentions in his ad, including his own, are owned by conservative companies looking to exploit their consumers’ desire to feel like they’re on the right side of a mostly imaginary culture war. There’s only one difference between these “woke” corporations and “conservative” ones like Jeremy’s: “Woke” razor brands believe they can make more money from consumers who don’t hate trans people.
A corporation pulling advertising dollars from a brand that doesn’t align with its own is not “cancelling,” and a corporation focusing its advertising dollars on consumers who get angry about people changing their gender expression is not “conservatism.”
If you think there isn’t a real estate company that recruits or markets to conservatives, you’re wrong. Almost all of them do. It’s just that, so far, none of them have been stupid enough to tie their brand to whatever medieval nonsense guys like Jeremy say “conservative” means.
Um, well, I’m not that interested in talking about partisan political issues (unless they’re directly tied to real estate, I suppose) but you’re kind of proving my point. There are tens of millions of people who are diametrically opposed to your stance, and some brokerage somewhere, some brand somewhere, will do the same thing that Jeremy did and try to make money. That’s all.
That you think such a brand is stupid is probably the highest recommendation possible for conservative entrepreneurs like Jeremy. Just like Donald Trump dissing on some “woke” brand is probably going to drive a ton of business to said woke brand.
We are slowly moving towards separate economies both internationally and domestically.
I take exception to your characterization of bigotry as a partisan political issue, but that’s not the point. My criticism of this post is that I think your prediction that an “explicitly conservative, Christian, and anti-woke” real estate brand will emerge, like Jeremy’s Razors has, is wrong.
I see two major problems with your prediction:
– There’s nothing politically conservative and certainly nothing Christian about Jeremy’s Razors, at least not in this ad. Depending on your definition, it may be “anti-woke” – but that’s a spectrum that ranges from “critical of political censorship wearing a progressive mask” to “explicitly discriminatory.” Jeremy’s brand differentiator in this ad is being “conservative,” an identity he defines as transphobia plus some goofy strong man window dressing. I find it telling that he uses the word “conservative” as a label for this and even more telling that you believe him.
– There is a good reason that real estate companies in particular do not often base brands on anything that excludes identity groups. People who have to take careful steps to follow housing laws trying to scrub out centuries of identity-based exclusion are not likely to make exclusion part of their marketing.
This anti-exclusion principle in real estate applies to any political identity. Whether you target “conservatives,” “progressives,” or someone else, if you do it as explicitly as this ad does, you are likely to drive potential clients in the “out group” away. That might work for brands competing in skincare. It will not work in an industry as regulated as real estate.
Jeremy’s definition of “conservative” stands out even more because it neatly overlaps with the federal government’s definition of “discriminatory.” If a real estate brand says, “we want everyone, including political conservatives,” they’re taking a minor marketing gamble; if the brand says, “we only want conservatives, and explicitly or implicitly exclude protected classes (like LGBT people),” they can expect a knock on their door from Uncle Sam.
Real estate companies already welcome people who are “explicitly conservative, Christian, and anti-woke.” Would they go out of their way to invite fair housing complaints just so they can bring in more of these clients? I doubt it.
As a side note: I never said Jeremy’s branding is stupid. I said that no real estate brand has been “stupid enough to tie their brand to whatever medieval nonsense guys like Jeremy say ‘conservative’ means.” I think Jeremy smartly recognizes that bigots form a large, untapped market, and is willing to use the word “conservative” as a dog whistle to appeal to those bigots. His razor company may indeed make a lot of money off of this branding. That would be saddening and awful, but certainly not stupid.
I kind of have a feeling you’re not the guy to define what is and is not conservative, Christian and anti-woke. But sure, whatever floats your boat.
As Scottish conservative icon Andrew Neil once said to Ben Shapiro, “If you only knew how ridiculous that statement is, you wouldn’t have said it.”
I find it strange that someone who writes in praise of debate as often as you do would take the position that someone has to be an expert on a topic to hold a critical stance on it. You may be right, though. I’m not enough of an expert on condescending, bad faith dismissals to say.
While I’ll agree with Rob that there could be real estate companies who might move into a niche opportunity, rarely do they commit to anything besides a catchy slogan. Why? They don’t have to – they make enough money off their agents within the current structure.
As a result, there is no real leadership. Who gets quoted media articles today? Redfin, and only because they are the one company who steps up to the microphone. Lawrence Yun reports once a month and that’s about it.
Why don’t the big brokerages publish daily or weekly content and distribute it everywhere to help educate the consumers on what’s really happening in real estate? And/or be the face of the industry? It’s wide open!
I think Compass probably should be talking to you about producing said daily or weekly content 🙂
But the point is a simpler one: someone somewhere will generate leads by appealing to conservative audiences. That will become a consumer brand, because it will be more successful for that brokerage than the alternatives.
I’m with you.
But I guarantee you that every broker thinks that any bias in one direction – that could exclude others -will be a problem.
I want to appeal to everyone! Agents just want to mass mail and wait for the phone to ring!
Comments are closed.