Base Drama: Rage Bait Marketing

Some campaigns aren’t meant to build trust. They’re designed to piss people off.. On purpose.

Today we’re here with some Base drama. 

One minute it’s “Base is for Everyone.” Next minute, “ Base is for Pimping”

For some context: Base had a viral moment with the “Base is for Everyone” campaign. Jesse (on the team) stirred things up with a tweet saying that “Base is for Pimping”. kinda controversial, got backlash, but also got a ton of attention.

That’s the playbook behind rage bait marketing.

Welcome to rage bait marketing. This isn’t PR gone wrong. It’s a deliberate strategy. Designed to provoke. Built for virality. Fueled by outrage.

Mi lords, one foot at a time:

• Here’s What’s Really Going On: Rage = Brain Hijack

• How Rage Bait Works (The Cult-Style Framework, But Make It Content)

• If You’re Not Ready for the Fallout, Don’t Light the Match

• New Outfit check: website is liveeee!

Here’s What’s Really Going On: Rage = Brain Hijack

When a post gets you heated, it bypasses the part of your brain that weighs information slowly. That’s your prefrontal cortex, the rational zone. Rage flips the switch to fight or flight mode, run by the amygdala, your emotional engine.

This is called “emotional hijacking.” Cults use it to get people to stop asking questions. Rage bait campaigns do the exact same thing. 

The goal is to:

• spark emotion

• flood your feed

• drag you into public discourse before your brain catches up

Once you’re in it, you're too deep to ignore it. And now, you're part of the marketing funnel, even if you hate the brand.

That’s not a side effect. That’s the point.

How Rage Bait Works (The Cult-Style Framework, But Make It Content)

This isn’t just edginess for the sake of it. 

Rage bait follows a formula. It’s structured. Tactical. If you ask me, lowkey manipulative. 

Have you ever been sucked into a Twitter thread that made your blood pressure spike, congrats, you’ve been in the machine.

I read a book recently called Hoodwinked by Mara Einstein. It lays out how cults recruit by emotionally destabilizing people. They isolate you, trigger you, then offer a new worldview that makes you feel seen, if you just go along with it. Now swap robes and incense for memes and engagement metrics, and you’ve got the modern digital marketing equivalent.

Here’s how the structure plays out:

1. Create a Disruption

You can’t go viral playing it safe. The first move is to break the scroll. That usually means dropping a take that feels wrong, risky, or just off enough to trigger curiosity or concern.

In cults, this might look like contradicting everything you’ve been taught, just enough to make you pause. In marketing? That’s the tweet that feels illegal to agree with, but you can’t stop reading the replies.

In base’s case it’s this 

2. Trigger High-Stakes Emotion

Once you’ve got attention, you crank the emotional volume. Rage works best. Then confusion. Then tribal identity (us vs. them). This is where the brain short-circuits. Logic taps out. Your amygdala takes over and suddenly you're debating internet strangers like it’s life or death.

Mara Einstein calls this the emotional override. It’s designed to make you feel before you think. And if your audience is angry enough, the algorithm rewards you.

3. Let the Reaction Build Visibility (and Loyalty, Kind Of)

This is where it gets dark: even when the audience is mad, they’re still building your brand. Their quote tweets are your impressions. Their outrage is your reach.

Sometimes, people stick around ironically. Think of it as hate-watching, but make it brand affinity. They engage “for the drama,” but engagement is still engagement, and you’re farming it.

Proof : Jesse’s stats in the last 7 days

Want access to this beautiful beautiful data ?

This is why rage bait often performs better than thoughtful content. Reflection takes time. Rage hits instantly. And in a feed-first internet, instant wins.

If You’re Not Ready for the Fallout, Don’t Light the Match

Rage bait works. It captures attention and pulls brands into culture conversations. But that kind of virality comes with backlash built-in.

Audiences today are way too online. They’ll spot when you're trying to manipulate them, and once that switch flips, you’re done.when people realize they’ve been emotionally exploited, they don’t just disengage, they retaliate.

So yeah, rage can make noise. But trust makes impact. Know what you're playing for.

New Outfit check: website is liveeee! 

Btw ou new website is liveeeee! 

if you’ve ever read one of these and thought, “Wait… what do they actually do though?”  fair. 

The website is live. Finally. It breaks down exactly what we offer, how we think, and why any of it matters.

Tap in and make it make sense

Got questions? Feedback? You know where to find us 📞—we’re here to help you get organized, even if we’re still figuring out our own lives.

Until next week,

stay cookish. 🍪