Cloutbombing

About

Cloutbombing is a slang term coined by artist and writer Brad Troemel in early 2023 to describe a marketing strategy that involves featuring numerous recognizable public figures in one campaign. The term was inspired by a campaign from Heavn by Marc Jacobs, a multi-cast New York Magazine cover issue and an ensemble campaign for the magazine Air Mail.

Origin

On March 2nd, 2023, artist and writer Brad Troemel^[1] posted an Instagram story sharing examples of what he called "Cloutbombing."

The post showed examples of such "cloutbombing," including a campaign by fashion brand Heavn by Marc Jacobs,^[2] a cover for an issue of Air Mail magazine's "Down Town" edition^[3] and a cover for New York Magazine's "Reasons To Love New York" issue.^[4]

Spread

Troemel's story was reposted to X^[5] by user @TabiOrNotTabi on March 2nd, 2023, gathering over 1,000 likes in six months. The term was criticized by various internet users who did not see ensemble campaigns as a novelty, with many X users making jokes about what else could be considered a "cloutbomb."

X^[6] user @LucasPJohn posted an image of the cast of the video game Super Smash Bros on March 3rd (seen below, left), while X^[7] user @boyfriend__dick posted an image of the Last Supper, calling it the "original cloutbomb" (seen below, right).

A March 3rd post from X user @nyclectuals^[8] used the word in conjunction with a Beatles album cover (seen below, left), while another example in a March 4th post by the Instagram^[9] page @thenewtrashcan.jpg used the Your Honor meme to reference cloutbombing (seen below, right).

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References