The Daily Beast wrote an interesting article today asking some pretty serious questions about Noah Cyrus’ current “48 hour” sale in conjunction with online branding company Pizzaslime. In the online sale, Noah is marketing some reasonably expensive merch that could be seen as trying to commercialize topics related to depression, anxiety, self-doubt and even her recent relationship trauma. The provocative online sale also clearly serves as a publicity stunt to celebrate the release of her new emo-oriented EP “Good Cry” tomorrow.
Some notable examples from Noah’s sale can make anyone wonder whether or not she’s gone too far in the name of trying to establish herself as a new sadcore icon. These include a $100 “Sadness” sweatsuit, a $60 “sry I’m trash” hoodie and – maybe the ultimate emo publicity item – a $12,000 dropper-bottle of “Noah Cyrus Tears.”
Just last month, Noah admitted in an interview that she’s struggled with anxiety and depression, and that this struggle has shaped her newer music. She also felt that part of her message is to make sure that people know that it is “okay to feel those feelings.”
So maybe, as the Daily Beast article at one point suggests, Noah’s sale of depression-related clothing may be a way to try to “rail against the stigma” and normalize experiencing emotions like sadness or self-doubt.
But we wonder if something else is going on here. Lil Xan has for sometime marketed himself – and a lot of merch through online sellers like NoJumper.com – with his rep as the “king of sad rap” and his “heartbreak soldier” narrative. But this is a newer look for Noah, and it almost seems like she may be simply taking a page out of her ex’s personal marketing playbook.
In the end, probably the two most important questions are, first, does this approach really work for Noah’s image? And, second, is selling merch that could be seen as joking about mental health issues empowering … or in a bit of bad taste?
We have Noah’s Instagram post announcing her online merch sale below.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT NOAH’S MERCH?
one persons trash is another persons treasure. me & @pizzaslime’s stuff is up now for 48 hrs!
A post shared by NC (@noahcyrus) on
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