The Power of Controversy: How Conflict Drives Engagement and Brand Growth

Creating conflict and controversy online can be the key to gaining attention quickly. Many believe that being agreeable and passive on social media is the way to go, but the opposite is often true. Engaging in disagreements with others, especially those with larger followings, and making a spectacle out of it can be one of the most effective marketing strategies.

Professional marketers often shy away from controversy, but to build a genuine personal brand, it's necessary to embrace conflict. Creating a scenario where you stir the pot, ignite a conversation, and then leave with people talking about you can massively increase your engagement.

While some may worry about their reputation, this fear can hinder exponential growth. Building a personal brand or company will inevitably attract both extreme haters and devoted fans. Embracing controversy can polarize your audience, but it also ensures that you're at the center of attention.

Figures like Andrew Tate, Jake Paul, and Elon Musk have mastered this art of controversy marketing. Whether you like them or not, they have capitalized on controversy to become some of the most popular figures globally.

It's important to remember that all publicity is good publicity. However, when picking fights online, ensure that your opponents don't have a larger following, as their fans might retaliate by reporting your account. Social media platforms often have reporting systems that can be abused in these situations.

Understanding who owns these platforms and what content they find acceptable can help you navigate the risks associated with online conflict. Some creators seem immune to bans despite violating terms of service, which is often due to their content aligning with the platform's ideology.

Parent companies that own multiple brands may use controversy as a marketing strategy. They might have one brand make a controversial statement to attract attention while customers boycott that brand and turn to another owned brand.

Controversial marketing tactics have been instrumental in building some of the world's most recognized brands and figures. It's a calculated strategy aimed at riding the wave of controversy to increase engagement and sales.

In the world of marketing, everything is calculated to get the most out of the algorithm. Understanding the psychology behind advertising, as pioneered by figures like Edward Bernays, can give insight into the science of marketing and the manipulation of consumer psychology.

While controversial marketing may not be for everyone, it has proven to be a powerful tool for those willing to embrace it. Whether you love it or hate it, controversy is a fundamental part of human nature and can be leveraged to drive engagement and brand growth.

Now that you understand why creating controversy and polarity is important and can lead to huge video views and memeification, let's examine an actual strategy on how to do this, using a real-world example of my own experience.

STEP 1: THE MATCH
Your objective is to light a match that starts a fire, one that upsets people and gets others riled up, laughing, supporting you, yelling "hell yeah," while others will say, "this is absurd, he must be stopped!"

What better way to do this than to have a video of me walking down the streets of Nashville in public with my 21-year-old girlfriend and yelling at people, "I don't give a fuck what they think of me, and if they got anything to say, I'll post it for their fuck ass. Zero fucks given!" while she smiles in the background, looking cute.

Now, why would this create controversy? Let's examine what makes it controversial.

Age: I'm in my 30s, running around dating beautiful young women aged 18-25. Why? Because I can. Who wants an old car when they can get a new one, right? A lot of men who can't attract women that young and beautiful are going to be mad and jealous, and a lot of older women are going to be salty that I'm not choosing them.

At the same time: Other dudes are going to be like, "hell yeah, this guy is the shit," and some younger chicks are going to lust over me, as well as some older women. This is what creates the polarity.

On top of all that: I have one hell of an attitude. I'm a natural-born New Yorker, and I really don't give a fuck. I was rolling in 22k a month at the time from my engineering contracting agency, and my ego was really huge that day. I took full advantage, feeling like a boss, flexing that ego. A lot of people aren't going to like that; they're going to be jealous. But men who are making big money are going to give me a high five, which may even attract more clients to my company!​

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The reaction: I waited for the reactions to pour in until I saw one I could make a video reply to. A dude said, "YOU SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED," so naturally, I drove down the road in my camper van in perfect sunlight, letting my beautiful hair flow, playing some fitting music in the background. My reaction, in a nutshell without words, said, "embarrassed for what, being fucking beautiful?" Which I didn't need to say, because of course, people in the comments said it for me. This reaction became so popular that I then used it to memeify myself, reacting the same way to comments in the future and even running ads with it. The post is STILL getting me followers even months later.

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Fueling the fire: Of course, this reaction got my haters even more mad. Because I received such praise and admiration from so many more beautiful women, and even many of my haters were forced to kneel at my post because what were they going to say now? Now that they stood defeated, I laid the final blow. Me and QT having a good time with her giving people the finger and me showing that even QT doesn't give a fuck what people think, and my zero fucks given attitude reigning supreme over the haters. This leaves the haters extra salty, it's like shoving shit down their throat when their hair's on fire. They have no choice but to swallow my whole load at that point, while others give more praise and laugh out loud for me. Giving me emoji fist bumps, and more likes.

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You have the winning formula on how to create controversy and benefit from it, now execute it.