Hip hop is a genre not usually known for its messages of fiscal responsibility. This isn’t to say there haven’t been some songs that preach the gospel of creating wealth instead of merely sharing all the ways you can spend it, but they are comparatively few and far between. So imagine my surprise when a new music video from a chart-topping artist featured a product placement for the micro-investing app Acorns.
If you’re not familiar with Lil Nas X, chances are that you’ve actually have heard his song and just didn’t realize that was his name. His song “Old Town Road” (more specifically, its remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus) went from being controversially kicked off Billboard’s Country chart to topping the Billboard Hot 100 for a record-shattering 19 weeks. Sidenote: this kid’s story is an amazing study in marketing and social media savvy, but I digress. The point is that he’s certainly not short on influence.
Near the beginning of his video for the single “Panini,” holograms advertising Acorns with the tagline “The Future is Yours.” Given the futuristic, Blade Runner-esqe setting of the clip, this tagline fits well. Of course what Acorns is actually referring to with this statement is your personal future, including investments and retirement savings. The FinTech application not only allows customers to build a portfolio of investments via their popular Round-Ups feature but also offers an IRA product dubbed Acorns Later. While I’ve previously noted that the service ranked below options like Robinhood for me personally, there’s no question that this micro-investment model has been a hit and helped bring newbie investors into the fold.
For their part, Acorns has been making the most of their musical moment, launching a line of merchandise the same day the video dropped. This includes shirts bearing the word “Investor” across the front as well as hats with the company’s logo. Of course Acorns’ Twitter also made sure to share a link where new users could join the app.
As silly as it may seem, I find this particular product placement to be extremely interesting and potentially impactful. Apps like Acorns, Robinhood, and others have already done a commendable job getting Millennials to start thinking about investing but this integration steps up that campaign — and likely expands it to Gen Z as well. Plus, the song “slaps,” as the kids say. So props to Lil Nas X and Acorns for building a partnership that could yield positive results in the financial lives of fans.