Searching for “Anduril Relic” on eBay might lead you to expect Lord of the Rings memorabilia. Instead, you’ll find chunks of metal salvaged from crashed Anduril drones, selling for a premium—$1,500—far exceeding the price of any fantasy replica. This unconventional approach to merchandise is just one facet of Anduril Industries’ strategy to revolutionize the defense industry.
Founded in 2017 by Oculus creator Palmer Luckey, Anduril is on a mission to inject Silicon Valley’s disruptive ethos into the often-stodgy world of defense contracting. A key component of this mission? Making defense cool again. And they’re doing it with a surprising blend of gamer culture, online marketing, and anime aesthetics.
Relics and Loot Boxes: Gamifying Defense
Anduril’s online gear store sells not just apparel, but also “relics”—pieces of recovered hardware from research and development tests. These aren’t just scraps of metal; they’re presented as collectible items, meticulously packaged in vacuum-sealed plastic with stickers indicating weight and rarity, much like loot found in video games. The rarity system, with its color-coded tiers (common, rare, legendary), clearly borrows from gaming conventions.
Anduril even incorporates the controversial “loot box” mechanic, offering “mystery relics” with blurred-out features. For $120, buyers gamble on the rarity and type of relic they’ll receive. While the rarity is disclosed, the element of surprise remains, tapping into the same psychological appeal that drives in-game purchases.
altAnduril Relic: A recovered folding wing component.
While other defense contractors like Lockheed Martin have online stores, Anduril’s approach is distinctly different. It eschews the traditional, professional aesthetic for a more online, millennial-focused vibe, complete with shitposting energy and a touch of the bizarre.
From Flight Jackets to Hawaiian Shirts: Appealing to the Masses
Anduril’s initial merchandise offerings ranged from flight jackets with neon yellow highlights (quickly sold out) to Hawaiian shirts featuring Anduril drones and weaponry alongside Hawaiian flora, modeled by Luckey himself. These items represent a more accessible entry point for fans of the brand, contrasting with the more niche “relic” offerings.
Anime Waifus and Weaponized Cuteness: Reaching a New Audience
However, the true “heads,” as Anduril might call them, know that the real action is elsewhere. Earlier this year, KommandoStore, an online retailer of military-style clothing, licensed Anduril’s Ghost and Altius weapons systems and transformed them into anime waifus. They even produced a short visual novel, Help! My Anime Dreamgirl is an ALTIUS 600M Loitering Munition, featuring a boy who purchases a loitering munition on eBay that magically transforms into an anime waifu.
altAnduril Flight Jacket.
KommandoStore’s merchandise, including t-shirts, hoodies, patches, and stickers, caters to a specific, online subculture, demonstrating the breadth of Anduril’s marketing reach. The tongue-in-cheek description acknowledges the potential for confusion and concern this unusual merchandise might generate.
Rebranding War: Making Defense Cool Again
Luckey’s ambitions extend beyond simply selling defense technology. He’s actively engaged in reshaping public perception of the defense industry, leveraging tactics borrowed from gaming, online culture, and anime to achieve this goal. By embracing the unconventional and appealing to diverse audiences, Anduril is waging a rebranding war, aiming to make defense not just acceptable, but cool.
