What started as a viral online jab at Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has now turned into a full-scale street campaign, with giant digital billboard trucks circling downtown LA and City Hall in one of the strangest twists yet in the city’s increasingly unpredictable political climate.
On Tuesday, two trucks displaying anti-Bass messaging rolled through some of the busiest parts of downtown Los Angeles for hours, drawing crowds, cameras, and plenty of reactions from pedestrians and drivers. The campaign centered around the phrase “Spencer, take out the trash,” a slogan tied to reality television personality Spencer Pratt and the online movement that has unexpectedly formed around him.
The messaging is built around a play on the Spanish word “basura,” meaning “trash,” while directly targeting Bass and her administration over frustrations involving homelessness, crime, public safety, and city services.
The trucks featured large digital displays showing dramatic illustrations connected to the campaign’s online branding. One image showed firefighters attempting to battle a blaze using a broken fire hydrant, while another depicted a woman casually taking a selfie on a collapsing bridge. Additional visuals portrayed trash-covered streets, graffiti, homeless encampments, and deteriorating infrastructure — all designed to paint Los Angeles as a city in decline.
Supporters behind the campaign have used social media to amplify those themes, arguing that City Hall has become bloated, ineffective, and disconnected from residents frustrated with conditions across the city. Videos tied to the movement have spread rapidly across TikTok, Instagram, and X, generating millions of views and turning Pratt into an unlikely political figure almost overnight.
Much of the campaign’s style resembles modern internet-driven political content rather than traditional advertising. The videos often combine AI-generated imagery, fast-paced edits, dystopian visuals, and meme-style humor with aggressive attacks on city leadership. Several clips depict Los Angeles as chaotic and collapsing while framing Pratt as an anti-establishment outsider willing to challenge the political system.
One truck displayed an image of Pratt sweeping streets in Venice, while another promoted “Latinos por Pratt” alongside Mexican flags and campaign-style rally imagery. As the trucks looped around City Hall and nearby government buildings, people stopped to record videos and post them online, further fueling the campaign’s visibility.
At the center of Pratt’s messaging is his criticism of what he calls Los Angeles’ “homeless industrial complex.” He has repeatedly attacked city officials over the enormous amount of taxpayer money spent on homelessness programs while encampments and public disorder remain widespread throughout many neighborhoods.
The stunt marks another example of how internet culture and viral media are reshaping modern politics, particularly in Los Angeles, where celebrity, entertainment, and political activism often overlap. What may have once been dismissed as a joke campaign is now attracting significant public attention, largely because of its ability to dominate online conversation.
Despite the growing attention, Pratt told The Post on Tuesday that the trucks and advertisements were not officially connected to his campaign. Still, the imagery and messaging closely mirrored the viral content that has helped fuel his rise in visibility over the past several weeks.
Whether the movement translates into real political momentum remains unclear, but one thing is certain: the “Basura” campaign has already succeeded in getting people talking.
