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The Second Annual “Shapiro Self-Promotion Madness”
April 6, 2026
And the winner is… “Sweet Ride”!
This is the LAST ROUND of @GovernorShapiro’s Self-Promotion Madness!
— Commonwealth Foundation (@MyCommonwealth) March 30, 2026
Now is your final chance to vote for which taxpayer-funded social media video you think is the cringiest.
🥊 Facing off:
All Jacket, No Substance VS. Sweet Ride
Videos and details are in the thread below.
Winning by a landslide, Shapiro’s candy-coated motorcade emerges as the cringiest of the governor’s taxpayer-funded self-promotional content. And is with most of the governor’s wasteful priorities, Pennsylvanians are stuck with the bill.
Thanks again for another fun-filled year.
March 30, 2026
The moment has arrived. We now enter the finals for the annual Shapiro Self-Promotion Madness tournament.
The top-two seeds—“All Jacket, No Substance” and “Sweet Ride”—will face off to determine who will take home the trophy as the governor’s cringiest content.
This is the LAST ROUND of @GovernorShapiro’s Self-Promotion Madness!
— Commonwealth Foundation (@MyCommonwealth) March 30, 2026
Now is your final chance to vote for which taxpayer-funded social media video you think is the cringiest.
🥊 Facing off:
All Jacket, No Substance VS. Sweet Ride
Videos and details are in the thread below.
Who’s it going to be: The governor’s favorite wardrobe staple or his awkward yellow-bellied motorcade?
Head over to X and cast your vote for the victor now!
March 24, 2026
Our #1 seed, “All Jacket, No Substance,” dominated in the first game of the semfinals, easily surpassing “Stare Down” by an eye-popping 40 points! Shapiro’s favorite attire moves on to the final round, where it will face the winner of our next matchup: “Where’s Waldo” vs. “Sweet Ride.”
Round 2 is in full swing and we’re closing in on the final stretch of @GovernorShapiro's Self-Promotion Madness. 👀
— Commonwealth Foundation (@MyCommonwealth) March 24, 2026
Up now:
Sweet Ride vs. Where’s Waldo
Which one takes the crown for most over-the-top? Cast your vote! Check the thread for the videos and info.
March 19, 2026
“Where’s Waldo?” advances to the next round!
And that ends the first round of competition, leaving us with the cringest final four Pennsylvanians have ever seen:
Here’s how our bracket currently stands:
That brings us to our first matchup in the semifinals: “Stare Down” versus “All Jacket, No Substance.”
We’re getting close to the finish line in @GovernorShapiro’s Self-Promotion Madness, and Round 2 is heating up. 😬
— Commonwealth Foundation (@MyCommonwealth) March 19, 2026
Battling now:
All Jacket, No Substance VS. Stare Down
Cast your vote for the one you find the cringiest! Videos and details are in the thread.
What is Shapiro more obsessed with: his beloved bomber jacket or a trophy that he had nothing to do with?
March 18, 2026
We have our first upset victory!
The 6th-seeded “Stare Down” eeked out a win over the third seed, “Out of the Office.”
The final matchup in the first round brings us a cringey battle between “Hangry” and “Where’s Waldo?”
Who will win: the governor’s insatiable appetite for Uncrustables or his killer instinct of spotting a photo-op hundreds of feet away? Tune in to find out.
The competition continues to crown @GovernorShapiro's cringiest social media video! We call it Shapiro's Self-Promotion Madness.
— Commonwealth Foundation (@MyCommonwealth) March 16, 2026
Battling now:
Hangry 🆚 Where’s Waldo?
Vote for the one you think is most ridiculous! Videos and info are in the thread.
Head over to X and cast your vote now!
March 12, 2026
Peep this: “Sweet Ride” wins by a landslide, easily beating “Kids These Days” by 30 points!
So far, the top two seeds are predictably leading the way. Will this be the round for the first upset?
Our next matchup—“Out of the Office” versus “Stare Down”—will be a close one because—well, let’s face it—they’re both amazingly cringeworthy.
Shapiro's Self-Promotion Madness continues! You get to vote to crown @GovernorShapiro's cringiest social media video.
— Commonwealth Foundation (@MyCommonwealth) March 12, 2026
🏅Competing Now:
-Out of Office
-Stare Down
Vote for the one you think is most ridiculous! Videos and info are in the thread.
Voting is live on X, so go cast your vote now!
March 9, 2026
We have our first winner!
With a 10-point victory, “All Jacket, No Substance” advances to the next round. The governor’s weird wardrobe obsession lives to play another day.
Time to start our 2nd annual Shapiro’s Self-Promotion Madness!
— Commonwealth Foundation (@MyCommonwealth) March 5, 2026
We found his 8 cringiest videos from the last year, and you get to vote on which is the most ridiculous waste of taxpayer dollars!
Up first: “All Jacket, No Substance” vs. “Candy Crew”
Videos in the thread below.
Next up in Shapiro’s Self-Promotion Madness is our next match-up: “Sweet Ride” versus “Kids These Days.”
Who’s it going to be? Shapiro’s yellow-bellied spirit animal or his reincarnation of the “How do you do, fellow kids” meme?
The competition continues to crown @GovernorShapiro's cringiest social media video! We call it Shapiro's Self-Promotion Madness.
— Commonwealth Foundation (@MyCommonwealth) March 9, 2026
🥊 Fighting it out now:
-Sweet Ride
-Kids These Days
Vote for the one you think is most ridiculous! Videos and info are in the thread.
March 5, 2026
It’s that time of year again!
Last year, we launched the inaugural Shapiro Self-Promotion Madness, where we took the governor’s cringiest social media videos and pitted them against one another. The winner was determined by contest participants who voted on each matchup on X, formerly known as Twitter. After several rounds of cringeworthy voting, “He’s a Barbie Guy” emerged victorious.
The force driving this veritable river of content is Shapiro’s taxpayer-funded PR team. The Governor’s Office houses 19 full-time staff dedicated to communications, digital strategy, public affairs, and marketing—several of whom make nearly $200,000 in annual salaries. That’s millions of taxpayer dollars used solely to curate and propagate Shapiro’s prolific online persona.
The governor’s obsessive posting has ample material—and this year’s batch is just as cringey as the last. To spare you the trauma, our team scoured the governor’s accounts and compiled the top videos that may cause onlookers to recoil in embarrassment.
Like last year, voting will take place on X. After each round, we will post bracket updates here on the Commonwealth Foundation blog.
Voting is open. To vote, head over to Twitter/X, and cast your vote for the cringiest video. After each round, we will post the winner on X and our blog.
And we use that word lightly: Nobody really wins when the governor wastes tax dollars on his self-aggrandization, especially when he’s wasting taxpayers’ money.
That said, let’s meet this year’s contenders.
# 1: All Jacket, No Substance
Forget Goose and Maverick: Shapiro, sporting his favorite bomber jacket, thinks he’s top gun here. And considering his frequent taxpayer-funded travel, the governor’s wardrobe obsession appears to be as absurd as his frequent flyer miles.
#2: Sweet Ride
Peep this: The governor found his spirit animal—and it’s almost as yellow-bellied and artificial as he is.
#3: Out of the Office
The governor deservedly receives a lot of flak for his do-nothing record. So, it’s strange to see him admit that he spends most of his time doing everything but—you know—governing.
#4: Hangry
You are what you eat. Like Uncrustables, Shapiro lacks any edge and offers nothing substantive.
#5: Where’s Waldo?
Shapiro’s love of photo-ops is uncanny. He can even spot a camera hundreds of feet away.
#6: Stare Down
Pro tip, Mr. Governor: If you spent more time governing, you could bring home your own accolades instead of staring at the accomplishments of others.
#7: Kids These Days
Governor Shapiro often struggles to relate to today’s youth—probably because he keeps breaking his education promises to them. Peace out, governor.
#8: Candy Crew
As per usual, the governor bites off more than he can chew during this weird tour of Hersheypark. Can you tell which one is the mascot?
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