Bud Light and Monster Energy are sponsoring a Trump linked UFC event. This is the final stage of brand decay. There is no longer any need to pretend that corporations have values. They simply follow the money into whatever arena is loudest.

The sponsors claim to be neutral. They ignore the political implications of the event. They only see the advertising opportunities in the spectacle. The violence in the octagon matches the violence in our politics. It is a perfect loop of consumption and chaos.

This is how the landscape settles. Brands abandon their marketing personas when the check is large enough. They do not care about the culture war. They only care about the cost of staying out of it.

The features of this decay are clear.

• The total death of corporate conviction.
• The transformation of political theater into a commodity.
• The replacement of social identity with advertising revenue.