MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell sparks outrage over alleged white supremacist message in new ad
American businessman and extreme conservative Mike Lindell is well-known in the US for a plethora of reasons. For one, he’s the founder and CEO of MyPillow, a company that is so self-assured in its abilities that it once claimed its pillows could cure insomnia and multiple sclerosis. But it’s Lindell’s obsession with both Donald Trump and the so-called “election fraud” of 2020 that has turned him into one of the States’ most ferocious conspiracy theorists.
So, why is Lindell currently making headlines? Well, it turns out that the businessman might be once again using his company to reiterate to the general public exactly where his allegiance lies.
The MyPillow CEO has been receiving swaths of backlash after his company began selling discounted pillows at the exact price of $14.88. Confused? So was I at first. Well, allegedly, the number 1488 has long extensive ties to white supremacy.
Sleep like a dream with our Standard MyPillow for just $14.88! Use promo code R277 to snag this deal and wake up feeling refreshed every morning. Don't miss out on the ultimate comfort upgrade - get yours today! https://t.co/CSOJIp3t1p pic.twitter.com/8ss7s3jLy6
— MyPillow (@MyPillowUSA) September 20, 2024
Specifically, it is a combination of two very well-known racist hate symbols: 14 and 88. According to the ADL, 14 is shorthand for the “14 Words” slogan: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” The second number, 88, stands for “Heil Hitler,” H being the 8th letter of the alphabet.
Put these two specific numbers together and you have a very overt and definite endorsement of the racist and violent beliefs of white supremacists.
Lindell already features on social media quite a bit, primarily because his unhinged demeanour and overall inability to have a calm conversation make for quite the funny video:
I debated Mike Lindell, the Trump pillow guy, and he had a meltdown on camera then tried to incite the crowd against me. 10 minutes later, he went on stage and claimed I 'attacked' him. MAGA sycophants are perpetual victims. Full video on my YouTube. pic.twitter.com/7GgVFUM2OV
— Adam Mockler🇺🇸🦅 (@adammocklerr) May 3, 2024
And so it was no surprise that shortly after people caught onto the $14.88 controversy, the businessman began trending on X. Indeed, a lot of netizens felt very strongly that there is no way Lindell would not have been aware of the racist connotations of the publicised price, especially given his many ties to right-wing Christian nationalists.
1488 is extremely common neo-Nazi "code." There's absolutely no way that Mike Lindell and whoever is running his social media don't know that. There's no coherent mathematical reason you'd end up at this price unless you intended to send up a flare to white supremacists. pic.twitter.com/dDkRmfUIUR
— Evan Sutton (@3vanSutton) September 21, 2024
It's not a huge insight or revealing a deep, dark conspiracy to point out that "14.88" is transparently Nazi white supremacist shit. He wants you to know. He's screaming it, so spread the word:@MyPillowUSA and Mike Lindell are Nazi white supremacist pieces of shit. Fuck them. https://t.co/xuHYkPhPbS
— Ben (@benk1976) September 21, 2024
I know 1488 is a Nazi thing.
— ⚡️Daughter of Lightning⚡️ 🇺🇲🇮🇱 (@TheLocalWisdom) September 21, 2024
What I don't accept is that Mike Lindell went "I need to drop this one pillow's price down. What am I going to do? Oooh, I know! It's a perfect opportunity to come out of my Nazi closet."
Trump friend and staunch MAGA ally Mike Lindell taking up the mantle of Dog-Whistler-In-Chief for his buddy Donald, intentionally dropping the price of his pillow from $14.98 to $14.88.
— Beer volcanos FTW (@NO0dlyAppendage) September 22, 2024
Look up 1488.
This can only be intentional- a $0.10 drop. pic.twitter.com/oWqH4nMYfa
Lindell has not responded to any of the criticism and discourse online. Moreover, the company’s post on X publicising the promotion, which was first shared on 20 September 2024, is still up. However, given Lindell’s evident extreme dedication to ‘the cause’, I can’t imagine we’ll be seeing an apology statement anytime soon.
