--- title: Bernie Sanders: Origin Story of #FeelTheBern Hashtag description: "We wanted something that would carry his name all across the Internet." canonical: https://time.com/4213999/bernie-sanders-feel-the-bern-hashtag-origin/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-09T19:15:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:34.100Z og:title: Here's the Origin of Bernie Sanders' 'Feel the Bern' Hashtag og:description: For starters, his campaign did not come up with it og:url: https://time.com/4213999/bernie-sanders-feel-the-bern-hashtag-origin/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bf0c725fc785671/69887cd10a4a22749b9c84c7/gettyimages-509085548.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Bernie Sanders Campaigns In NH One Day Before Primary og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's the Origin of Bernie Sanders' 'Feel the Bern' Hashtag twitter:description: For starters, his campaign did not come up with it twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bf0c725fc785671/69887cd10a4a22749b9c84c7/gettyimages-509085548.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's the Origin Story of Bernie Sanders' 'Feel the Bern' Hashtag > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=fdbeb06e-cfab-4d12-81e6-19623f4e9f32&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Candidates: Watch a Bernie Sanders Rally In Super Slow Motion [Watch (HLS stream): The Candidates: Watch a Bernie Sanders Rally In Super Slow Motion](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vUlcYryr.m3u8) (4:54)  _Published 2016-02-05. This video captures Bernie Sanders at almost 1000 frames per second._ by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Feb 9, 2016 7:15 PM UTC  Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) speaks at a campaign rally at the Pinkerton Academy Stockbridge Theatre on February 8, 2016 in Derry, New Hampshire. Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) speaks at a campaign rally at the Pinkerton Academy Stockbridge Theatre on February 8, 2016 in Derry, New Hampshire. Andrew Burton—Getty Images by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Feb 9, 2016 7:15 PM UTC If you’ve logged onto Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram or even [Etsy](https://www.etsy.com/listing/267047607/custom-bernie-sanders-feel-the-bern?ga%5Forder=most%5Frelevant&ga%5Fsearch%5Ftype=all&ga%5Fview%5Ftype=gallery&ga%5Fsearch%5Fquery=feel%20the%20bern&ref=sr%5Fgallery%5F17) lately, you’ve likely come across people who are “feeling the Bern.” “Feel the Bern” began as a simple [hashtag](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23feelthebern&src=typd) and has exploded in popularity over the past few months, becoming the de facto slogan for the Bernie Sanders campaign. The phrase is virtually everywhere now: on television, in print, [on T-shirts](http://www.cafepress.com/+feel-the-bern+t-shirts?utm%5Fmedium=cpc&utm%5Fsource=google&utm%5Fcampaign=45096368&utm%5Fcontent=35785062308&utm%5Fterm=feel%20the%20bern%20shirt-e-c), even on [Snapchat filters](http://mashable.com/2016/01/26/bernie-sanders-snapchat-filters/). The New York _Observer_ [caught up with](http://observer.com/2016/02/the-surprising-origin-of-feelthebern-meet-the-creator-of-the-viral-hashtag/) the mastermind behind it all: a woman named Winnie Wong. She’s a digital strategist and co-founder of [People For Bernie](http://www.peopleforbernie.com/), a group of activists campaigning for Sanders. It was Wong and her team, not the official Sanders campaign, to come up with #FeelTheBern to get people talking. Wong does work closely with the Sanders campaign, which she said now embraces the slogan “without hesitation.” The idea came to Wong during a Facebook conversation with a few other organizers trying to come up with “creative and whimsical” hashtags. “#BernDownForWhat was mentioned. We thought, ‘what do the kids like?’” Wong said. “We wanted something that would carry his name all across the Internet and be more than just a hashtag. The beauty of the Internet is the way you can express yourself in a very democratic way.” Wong also made clear that “a hashtag should never be the driving force of the campaign.” People should be. “I’m grateful for the Internet and that people are producing opinions there about his platform, policies, his judgement and 40 years of dedicated service,” Wong said. “But by no means do I think the hashtag itself is a political revolution. It’s a tactic.” Read Wong’s full interview over at[ the New York ](http://observer.com/2016/02/the-surprising-origin-of-feelthebern-meet-the-creator-of-the-viral-hashtag/)[_Observer_](http://observer.com/2016/02/the-surprising-origin-of-feelthebern-meet-the-creator-of-the-viral-hashtag/)_._ ## Transcript [00:00] And when we talk about the anger that's going on in [00:00] America, it is the fact that ordinary people today are [00:01] working longer hours [00:12] for lower wages, and yet they are [00:16] seeing almost all of the new income and wealth going [00:19] to the top one percent. And whether they start with [00:24] [ UNKNOWN ] or not, we are saying enough is enough. [00:26] That's gonna change. [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] [00:27] [ NOISE ] [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ MUSIC ] [ NOISE ] [00:39] [ MUSIC ] [ NOISE ] [00:53] [ SOUND ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4213999/bernie-sanders-feel-the-bern-hashtag-origin/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4213999/bernie-sanders-feel-the-bern-hashtag-origin/"},"headline":"Here's the Origin Story of Bernie Sanders' 'Feel the Bern' Hashtag","datePublished":"2016-02-09T19:15:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:41:34.100Z","description":"For starters, his campaign did not come up with it","url":"https://time.com/4213999/bernie-sanders-feel-the-bern-hashtag-origin/","keywords":["Newsfeed","2016 Election","Internet","Bernie Sanders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bf0c725fc785671/69887cd10a4a22749b9c84c7/gettyimages-509085548.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bf0c725fc785671/69887cd10a4a22749b9c84c7/gettyimages-509085548.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bernie Sanders Campaigns In NH One Day Before Primary","caption":"Bernie Sanders Campaigns In NH One Day Before Primary","creditText":"Andrew Burton—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4213999/bernie-sanders-feel-the-bern-hashtag-origin/","name":"Here's the Origin Story of Bernie Sanders' 'Feel the Bern' Hashtag"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Candidates: Watch a Bernie Sanders Rally In Super Slow Motion","description":"This video captures Bernie Sanders at almost 1000 frames per second.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vUlcYryr/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-05T23:35:55.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vUlcYryr.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4213999/bernie-sanders-feel-the-bern-hashtag-origin/","duration":"PT4M54S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4213999/bernie-sanders-feel-the-bern-hashtag-origin/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```