Born-Again RadioShack Revivalism

“No one knows what it means man, but it’s provocative. It gets the people going!” - Blades of Glory

No one knows exactly why RadioShack has gone unhinged on Twitter, but it’s certainly working. On Thursday alone, @RadioShack gained 114,300 followers.

I have a few guesses on why RadioShack is going off the wall. First, the backstory.

A notorious life guru and scammer named Tai Lopez purchased RadioShack via his e-commerce holding company Retail E-Commerce Ventures. RadioShack has since doubled down on e-commerce and you guessed it, crypto.

They launched a token aptly named $RADIO and built an exchange. Both are failing miserably with $RADIO at $0.008. As the bear market settles in, my bet is RadioShack is desperate.

They want as many eyes on their e-commerce products and crypto stuff as possible. Under Lopez's influencer, RadioShack is grabbing attention like a screaming naked man on bath salts running around New York City. This is their 4th quarter Hail Mary.

They’re going absolutely unhinged. It's like Tyler, the Creator in 2011. Analogous to Tyler's attention-grabbing ascent to fame (that got him banned in the UK), it's working.

Because RadioShack's app runs on the blockchain, all the data is public. According to decentralized app tracker DappRadar, RadioShack's user base is up 402% and total value in their smart contracts is up 3,954% over thirty days. They really needed the boost too; even with those numbers, they only have 1,200 users and $3.23M locked up.

Maybe RadioShack is killing it in e-commerce sales. I have no clue. I don't think the crypto play is sustainable with so many other great products out there. Regardless, I think this is just the beginning of The Shack is Back.

There is a strategy and a pattern here. I'm certain of it.

I wrote an article for The Defiant in May about dead nostalgic brands coming back to life via crypto. RadioShack is up, LimeWire is back as a music-NFT marketplace, and a few dudes started a DAO to buy BlockBuster. I predicted this trend would continue happening as millennials and crypto-natives gained purchasing power.

I stand by this belief — with an addition. I think more dead brands will come back to life as “shitposting machines” in the wise words of memelord Trung Phan.

I think this unhinged behavior from brands will cause less adventurous brands to follow like lemmings, desperate for impressions and attention. We've already seen cookie brand NutterButter go NSFW this week.

It’s a cycle. One brand becomes more unhinged and more follow until more and more are unhinged. The boring traditional ones will stay boring forever, but many will go down this meme-filled path.

Sitting at more than 300k followers, RadioShack can build a shitpost-media brand full of newsletters, influencers, and e-commerce much like Litquidity or BoredElonMusk. With unparalleled brand recognition, RadioShack could be the Morning Brew of shitposting.

I think they’ll probably go down that path. The link in their bio goes to a RadioShack-branded clothing collection, not electronics or batteries or whatever. To me, it's abundantly clear they're building a media brand.

Compared to sitting around a RadioShack in 2005 while my Dad searches for the right rechargeable batteries, I am enjoying this version of RadioShack way more. I think this rebrand to a full-on media brand might actually be brilliant.

If I had enough liquid capital, I’d try to buy an old brand and make it a social media machine. It has to be something recognizable, something cool, something with some meaning behind it.

Which ones, you ask? Oh, I guess, I'll just quietly leave this list here. If you happen to have the money to buy one, let me know — I'll run up the socials.

1. Theranos — the infamous blood testing company started by Elizabeth Holmes. I'd rebrand it with a vampire businesswoman and write mockery about capitalism sucking the blood from the country. I'd hire a Holmes-lookalike to be a TikTok influencer and start a very sarcastic newsletter and podcast.

2. Enron — the energy company that went bust in 2007. I would focus their rebrand on making fun of failed overconfident businesses and entrepreneurs. I'd start a newsletter, hire funny contributing writers, and run ads. Watch out Do Kwon.

3. Palm — the inventor of the Palm Pilot, sold to HP in 2010. I'd turn it into a goofy fintech meme account like Liquidity. It could also do well as a fanpage of nostalgic tech. I'd work with writers and sell tech photography books and products.

4. Boreders — the mall's favorite bookstore. I'd bring it back as a book influencer account. I'd partner with authors to release books and do a boatload of Amazon affiliate marketing.

5. Vine — the 6-second viral video app bought (and discontinued) by Twitter. I would do nothing except work with comedians to post funny vines. I'd bring back the days of Vine stars touring the country. It'd be legendary.

The Shack is back. Watch out, more dead brands are coming back whether you like it or not.

Listen to the Cyber Patterns podcast from this week with Josh Rosenthal, PhD. He's a venture capitalist, 2x exited founder, and historian. We discuss whether crypto is starting a new Renaissance — hint, we think it is. Spotify | Apple