John Oliver fails to dent Donald Trump's #SuperTuesday momentum with #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain attack
The Week Tonight host John Oliver's viral takedown of tycoon Donald Trump failed to make a dent in the GOP front-runners social media momentum as voters gathered to select their presidential candidate in 11 states in Super Tuesday.
Oliver’s historic attack on Trump (shown above) lasted an astounding 20 mins as the devoted takedown looked to separate the man, from the venerable Trump brand.
The segment carried a social media call-to-action carrying the hashtag #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain.
#MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain pic.twitter.com/ISfj3GUNUy
— Last Week Tonight (@LastWeekTonight) 29 February 2016
Drumpf emerged in reference to Trump previously unveiling the former host John Stewart’s birth name.
I promise you that I'm much smarter than Jonathan Leibowitz - I mean Jon Stewart @TheDailyShow. Who, by the way, is totally overrated. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 24 April 2013
After some digging, the Last Week Tonight unveiled that the Trumps had previously been known as the Drumpfs before opting for a change. As a result, Oliver encourage social media users to separate the Donald from the Trump brand in a twist upon his #MakeAmericaGreatAgain mantra. Oliver urged social media users instead to use the #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain hashtag.
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 1 March 2016
And between the show airing on the 28th, and midday on the 1 February, social media analytics company Brandwatch measured 43,000 users of the hashtag on Twitter. The mentions spiked between 4-5 AM GMT on 1 February with almost four thousand mentions that hour. The company also measured the most common terms around the hashtag. Sentiment towards the attack was also largely positive, out numbering negative content threefold.
Furthermore, the campaign had a digital follow-through in a Chrome extension that automatically changes the word Trump to Drumpf.
Get the Drumpfinator Chrome Extension and tweet your Drumpfinated headlines with the hashtag #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain! https://t.co/LmuqgPijb4 — Last Week Tonight (@LastWeekTonight) 29 February 2016
In addition to themed hats much in the style of the Trump campaign.
#MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain https://t.co/YcACU6oUxD — Last Week Tonight (@LastWeekTonight) 29 February 2016
The speech received a slew of celebrity endorsements and gained momentum on social media platforms.
No speech tonight will be as good as this:https://t.co/yvwAQCLrjV #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain — Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff) March 2, 2016
John Oliver launches anti-Trump campaign: #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain https://t.co/j0MPEu60fb — Ron Perlman (@perlmutations) March 1, 2016
This is some fine television #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain https://t.co/2BgcYULwTy — Tom Morello (@tmorello) March 1, 2016
#MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain — Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) March 1, 2016
Bless you @iamjohnoliver #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain pic.twitter.com/z32lrHJXSb — Molly Ringwald (@MollyRingwald) March 1, 2016
Overheard: Supporters eager to pick up the Don's new autobiography, "Mein Drumpf."#MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 1, 2016
John Oliver on Donald Trump. The best thing you can do for the next 21 minutes. https://t.co/XAa8eT0u8f #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain
— Jimmy Wales (@jimmy_wales) March 1, 2016
The campaign, although well received, did little to cease the rise of Trump on #SuperTuesday where 11 states voted for their GOP candidates.
During the period, Donald Trump accumulated over 1.1 million mentions in the 24-hours around the vote, followed by Ted Cruz (306,000 mentions), Marco Rubio (221,000), Ben Carson (45,000) and John Kasich (26,000).
Last year, The Drum interviewed Justin McConney, director of new media for the Trump Organization, on how he masterminded Trump's substantial social media reach. Check it out below.