Everyone's Buying the MAGA PICO Top
Ever notice how cultural movements peak right when they seem most unstoppable? The moment when everyone’s grandmother is talking about Bitcoin, or your local coffee shop starts accepting Dogecoin, or your aunt who still uses AOL email asks you about NFTs — that’s usually when you should start looking for the exit.
We might be watching this phenomenon play out with MAGA in real time. With Trump’s return to power appearing increasingly likely, media companies and brands are rushing to reposition themselves. Just look at the institutional scramble: Washington Post executives are reportedly pressing reporters on how to appeal to Trump voters and putting the brakes on political cartoons, while Meta is rushing to hire Trump-world figures like Dana White. The logic seems compelling: MAGA isn’t just winning, it’s becoming the new establishment. Better late than never to get on board, right?
Except… what if this is precisely the moment when MAGA’s cultural influence has peaked?
When legacy institutions that once defined themselves in opposition to MAGA start desperately trying to co-opt it, that’s not just buying the top — it’s practically ringing the bell at it.
Peak Inside, Crash Outside
There’s this concept in market analysis called PICO — Peak Inside, Crash Outside. It’s the observation that insiders often realize an asset or trend has peaked before outside observers, leading to a lag between real and perceived market tops. The people closest to a phenomenon start seeing the cracks while the wider world is still catching up to the previous paradigm shift.
The MAGA movement might be approaching its PICO moment. Here’s why:
The Establishment Paradox
MAGA’s core appeal has always been its position as an insurgent force — the voice of the forgotten against the establishment. But what happens when it becomes the establishment? Trump’s likely return to power wouldn’t just be a victory; it would fundamentally alter MAGA’s positioning in American culture.
Movements that define themselves by what they’re against often struggle when they win. It’s like punk rock signing to major labels or counterculture becoming pop culture. The very success creates an existential crisis.
The Normalization Effect
When something goes mainstream, it often loses its edge. We’re already seeing this with MAGA aesthetics and rhetoric being adopted by mainstream Republican figures who previously opposed Trump. The movement is becoming normalized, institutionalized, and — crucially — less exciting.
Remember how the Tea Party seemed unstoppable in 2010? By 2016, it had largely been absorbed into standard Republican politics. Cultural movements tend to dilute as they expand.
Signs of Saturation
The most telling sign might be the H-1B visa civil war erupting within MAGA circles. When Elon Musk — arguably the movement’s most prominent tech voice — publicly declares he’ll “go to war” against fellow MAGA supporters over skilled immigration, we’re watching exactly the kind of factional splintering that happens at movement peaks. The unity of insurgency is giving way to the messy reality of actually having to govern.
Several other indicators suggest we might be approaching peak MAGA cultural influence:
- The aesthetic is becoming commodified. When major brands start carefully incorporating MAGA-adjacent messaging, it’s a sign the countercultural energy is dissipating.
- The language is becoming generic. Terms that once carried specific MAGA connotations are being adopted and defanged by mainstream political discourse.
- The opposition is becoming bored rather than outraged. Cultural movements often peak when they stop generating passionate resistance and start generating eye rolls.
The Re-election Inflection Point
Trump’s re-election might paradoxically accelerate this process. Movements thrive on the perception of being underdogs fighting against overwhelming odds. Victory, especially decisive victory, can be more challenging to navigate than defeat.
What happens to “drain the swamp” rhetoric when you are the swamp? How does “own the libs” energy sustain itself when you’re running the federal bureaucracy?
The Next Wave Is Already Building
While established institutions are rushing to adapt to MAGA, the next cultural wave is probably already forming somewhere on the margins. That’s how these things usually work — by the time the mainstream figures out how to profit from a cultural movement, its most energetic adherents are already looking for the next thing.
So What’s Really Going On?
Publications and brands pivoting hard toward MAGA right now might be making a classic market timing error. They’re responding to MAGA’s political ascendancy right when its cultural influence could be peaking.
This doesn’t mean MAGA is going away as a political force — far from it. But there’s a difference between political power and cultural energy. The latter often peaks before the former becomes fully established.
Remember: By the time everyone agrees something is the future, it’s probably already the present. And the present has a funny way of becoming the past faster than anyone expects.
