In addition to being the unofficial press shop of Donald Trump‘s White House, Fox News is happy to advertise pro-Trump merchandise of sub-Spencer Gifts quality, such as the baffling Trumpy Bear. For the uninitiated, the Trumpy Bear is a teddy bear with a patch of dry straw on its head and an absurdly long tie styled as a loving tribute to the commander-in-chief. There’s also an American flag blanket embedded in Trumpy Bear’s spinal column for you to pull out and wrap yourself in while watching Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade spin Trump getting his head stuck in a toilet as a bold, meticulously planned political gambit.
The commercial has apparently aired on various channels for over a year, but it just went viral thanks to Vox’s Aaron Rupar tweeting about it this morning.
I can’t believe this commercial that just ran on Fox News is for real pic.twitter.com/gGInt8BKhp
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 12, 2018
The video plays more like a Mr. Show or Tim & Eric sketch than an ad for a product that a reasonable person would spend money on, especially the part where the tough biker guy refers to the bear as his “brother” and rides around with it on his Harley. The myth-busting site Snopes confirmed that the Trumpy Bear is indeed real, although the researchers admit they have no earthly idea why it exists. According to Ad Age, the two-minute version of the spot started airing on several basic cable channels in October 2017, including “Animal Planet, Discovery, Grit TV and INSP (the “family entertainment programming” channel owned by Inspiration Ministries).”
After expanding to other networks, the ad unsurprisingly aired during reruns of Cops, Walker, Texas Ranger, and Bonanza. For conservatives, it’s apparently disrespectful to kneel while the anthem plays, but it’s just fine to pull an American flag out of the base of a teddy bear’s skull and let it catch cookie crumbs while watching a Chuck Norris crime procedural at three in the morning.
The Trumpy Bear costs $39, which seems steep until you consider that it comes with a certificate of authenticity you can shove in the face of anyone who accuses you of owning a bootleg bear.
Spin reached out to Exceptional Products, the company that markets Trumpy Bear, for sales figures and additional comment. We also reached out to Fox News. We’ll update if we hear back.
UPDATE 11/13 11:06 am EST: “This was a local ad purchase with the cable operator,” Fox News Senior Vice President of Eastern Sales, Dom Rossi said in a statement issued to Spin. “We do not do business with them nationally.”
