Pastel QAnon

This image, in Pastel QAnon style, refers to false claims that furniture company Wayfair had secret arrangements to sell and ship victims of child trafficking.[1][2]

Pastel QAnon is a collection of techniques and strategies that use "soft" and feminine aesthetics[3] – most notably pastel colors – in order to attract women into the QAnon conspiracy theory, often using mainstream social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, Telegram and YouTube.[4]

Pastel QAnon social media influencers focus on aspects of the conspiracy theory that tend to appeal to maternal instincts, such as the prevention of child sexual abuse and child sex trafficking, and utilize emotive and personable language. They are popular among wellness, yoga and New Age influencers.[5]

The term "Pastel QAnon" was coined by Marc-André Argentino, a researcher at Concordia University in Canada.[6][7]

  1. ^ Spring, Marianna (July 15, 2020). "Wayfair: The false conspiracy about a furniture firm and child trafficking". BBC. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  2. ^ Brown, Matthew (July 22, 2020). "Fact check: Home goods retailer Wayfair is not involved in child sex trafficking". USA Today. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  3. ^ Sardarizadeh, Shayan (October 12, 2020). "What's behind the rise of QAnon in the UK?". BBC News. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  4. ^ McGowan, Michael (February 24, 2021). "How the wellness and influencer crowd serve conspiracies to the masses". The Guardian. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  5. ^ Kale, Sirin (November 11, 2021). "Chakras, crystals and conspiracy theories: how the wellness industry turned its back on Covid science". The Guardian. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  6. ^ Argentino, Marc-André (January 7, 2021). "QAnon and the storm of the U.S. Capitol: The offline effect of online conspiracy theories". The Conversation. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  7. ^ Argentino, Marc-André (March 17, 2021). "Pastel QAnon". Global Network on Extremism & Technology.