I mentioned in a previous article about "industry plants" while I was discussing the Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show. It occurred to me that many people in our society hear the term "industry plant" and immediately associate the term with conspiracy theorists.
But it's not a conspiracy at all. It's a pretty common business practice, and it's one you'll find in almost any industry that deals in personality-focused events and dealings. It's not always a bad thing, as some industry plants go on to create something that can be legitimately enjoyed. The holy grail of industry plants is when they achieve cultural saturation and help define an era.
Read: The Super Bowl Halftime Show Was Political and Don't Let the Virtue Signaling Convince You Otherwise
If you know what you're looking for, you can probably spot an industry plant pretty quickly.
NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys were industry creations that achieved global stardom. They were literally two boy groups created by the same guy, who then created a false territorial war about who was better among the populace to solidify each fan base further. This, too, is a marketing strategy where a company will make two of its own products compete to create tribal loyalty. Disney did it with Captain America: Civil War, where they had Marvel fans picking whether they were on Captain America's side or Iron Man's side. Warner Bros did it with Godzilla vs. King Kong.
The industry, whatever that industry might be, loves tribalism for its product, so pitting two of their products together isn't uncommon, especially when they're selling a person.
Britney Spears was an industry plant who had no control over her life at all, and went crazy in her later life because of it. She was eyed for stardom since she was ten years old, when producers were openly talking about how this little girl had "sex appeal."
Listen to these disgusting pedo’s talk about Brittany Spears when she was 10. How was this even aired on tv? They are all in on it. pic.twitter.com/HdpklHkQO1
— Melanie King (@realmelanieking) February 8, 2026
If you're beyond disgusted with this, as you should be, then understand industry plants aren't people, they're products, and taking the humanity out of a 10-year-old by producers with a pedophile problem is, as we're learning, more common than even many conspiracy theorists guessed.
Who is an industry plant today? Ice Spice, Iggy Azalea, Bad Bunny. Basically, people who seemed to come out of nowhere get plopped right in the center of the spotlight and make music you'll probably never hear or release one song before they're gone for no discernible reason despite all the hype put behind them.
This is the industry fishing to see if anyone bites. Ice Spice, who you've never heard of, never heard a song from, and likely forgot existed even if you had heard of her, one day appeared next to Taylor Swift during a Super Bowl game and was cut to repeatedly during the game. The point was to show Swift to attract the non-NFL viewership, sure, but it was also to sell Ice Spice, who too few people bit on. She's still creating and performing, but she's not exactly making headlines anymore, and the industry isn't pushing her like they once did because she just wasn't catching on.
But industry plants aren't just in the entertainment industry. You'll find them a lot in the political sector, too. Again, it's not a conspiracy theory. It too is a business practice.
Barack Obama is probably the most famous industry plant there ever was. A no-name senator from Illinois who suddenly became the most popular person in the Democratic Party, who was seemingly groomed to be president even before that, and who received overwhelming support, not just from the party, but from the legacy media, celebrities, and corporations as well.
There are others that you may recognize. Activists Cindy Sheehan, David Hogg, Greta Thunberg, and Sandra Fluke were all plants. People who had a high amount of moral currency that the Democrats put on the main stage and used, then discarded when they stopped being useful.
Funny enough, Bad Bunny was a plant meant to do both, and if you see him much after it was clear so many Americans tuned out instead of watching him during the Super Bowl, I'll be very surprised if he's pushed this hard by the industry ever again.
The bottom line here is that an industry plant is an attempt at manipulating you to an end. Most of the time it's money, but some of the time it's power. If you're a corporation that sees something in someone that could result in you garnering money or power, you'll artificially foster their growth, put all the spotlights in the world on them, and hope they start a cultural obsession.
