WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - The son of Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki is leading a group of social media influencers paid to post content promoting Mike Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign.
The New York Times reported on Feb. 13 that Mick Purzycki, the 32-year-old son of Mayor Mike Purzycki, is the lead strategist of a new project called Meme 2020, which brings together close to 20 social media accounts with a collective audience of more than 60 million followers.
Purzycki’s profile rose last year due to his involvement in the failed Fyre Festival and subsequent Netflix documentary. He is the chief executive of Jerry Media, a media and marketing company with a foothold in the online influencer economy.
The company also has its own meme-making Instagram, @F-Jerry, with close to 15 million followers.
In a statement, the Bloomberg campaign said Meme 2020 is an attempt to “reach people where they are” while competing with President Donald Trump’s “powerful digital operation.”
Bloomberg has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on his bid for the Democratic nomination. It’s unclear how much the campaign is paying for each post. Social media influencers are typically compensated based on their follower count.
According to the Times’ article, Purzycki started forming Meme 2020 in January by tapping influencers whom he had formed relationships with through Jerry Media.
The sponsored posts started being shared this week and appear as fake direct messages from Bloomberg. Together they work to build Bloomberg into a “self-aware ironic character.”
The posts’ captions disclose that they are paid for by Bloomberg.
Jerry Media, led by Purzycki, was one of several marketing agencies promoting the 2017 Fyre Festival in the Bahamas - a disastrous “luxury” music festival that left attendees stranded and the festival organizer in prison.
As its primary marketing tactic, the festival enlisted dozens of influencers including Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner to post about the event.
The company turned its footage leading up to the event into a popular Netflix documentary co-produced by Purzycki. He also appeared in the film.
In the wake of the film’s release, the company came under fire for not properly crediting content posted to its Instagram account. Many also criticized Jerry Media’s heavy involvement in the documentary.
Purzycki, who was born Michael Purzycki Jr., was raised in Wilmington while his father headed the Riverfront Development Corporation. He is a graduate of Tatnall School and the University of Delaware, where he studied Chinese and finance. He previously worked for the e-commerce marketplace Groupon.
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