Wider World

Just Coup It: How Maduro’s Nike Tracksuit Hijacked the News Cycle

When a geopolitical crisis collides with internet culture, the result is rarely subtle. This time, it came in heather grey.

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ANDRIANA HADJIALEXANDROU

Following the capture of Venezuela’s deposed leader Nicolás Maduro, US President Donald Trump shared an image on Truth Social showing Maduro handcuffed and being transported aboard the USS Iwo Jima en route to New York.

The photograph made global headlines for obvious reasons. But while diplomats debated legality, sovereignty and power projection, the internet locked onto something else entirely: Maduro’s outfit.

From regime change to streetwear moment

Maduro appeared to be wearing a Nike Tech Fleece tracksuit, a staple of modern athleisure. Within hours, the image had transformed him, improbably and unwillingly, into what many online dubbed the first fashion influencer of 2026.

Memes followed at speed. “Just Coup It” captions spread across platforms, alongside “steal the look” posts itemising the outfit. Commentary ranged from “product placement has officially lost the plot” to claims that Nike had somehow pulled off the most controversial brand campaign in recent memory.

Search spikes and sold-out stock

The reaction was not limited to jokes. Searches for “Nike Tech” surged, with Google Trends showing a peak score of 100 on January 4. On X, the term “Nike Tech” appeared in more than 5,000 posts per day between January 3 and 5, according to social media analytics firm PeakMetrics, compared with an average of around 325 daily mentions in the previous two months.

The commercial impact was immediate. Grey Nike Tech jackets, now jokingly rebranded online as “Maduro grey”, sold out in nearly all sizes on Nike’s US website within days.

A very unserious timeline

The episode sits somewhere between absurdity and inevitability. A moment involving military force, international law and regime change became, almost instantly, a shopping cue and a meme factory.

It is either a bleak reminder that branding seeps into every corner of modern life, or a sign that the internet will always find a way to turn global upheaval into lifestyle content. Possibly both.

Either way, in a timeline where coups generate cart checkouts, one thing seems certain: we are not living in a particularly serious era.

 

With Information from euronews, reddit & x.com

Tags

#GLOBE #WIDER WORLD #NICOLAS MADURO #VENEZUELA #NIKE

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