Campaigns in the UK are getting spicy
Plus: Apple is coming for your healthcare dollars & Gen-Z wants to go steady
Hi all,
This week’s letter is long. I’ve climbed out of my vacation backlog and will return to regular programming next week!
If you only read one thing in this letter I recco: scroll to your fave section—so much in each.
As always, the lens of this letter is a best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What I’m dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetings with brands.
Let’s dive in!
CULTURE
THE UK IS OVER BEING POLITE // The UK is feeling spicy. First up is a fantastic guerilla campaign spotlighting the inequity of the UK’s parental leave policies. So clever, so simple. In July we had the Free The Feed campaign—lovely, simple. And then this week a perimenopause supplement brand, Valerie, launched a campaign that implied that women in their 40s/50s might want to have sex—so great. I’m here for all of it.
PLAY FAIR OR YOU’LL GET CAUGHT -> LinkInBio // Tarte has upset the entire internet with their influencer gifting strategy. In short, one influencer, Halley Kate posted that Tarte threw in a $700 Hermès bracelet with her box. But others did not get Hermes, and some were gifted SweeTARTS instead. People don’t like this kind of thing and they won’t go quietly. Just don’t.
COMMENT SECTION GOLDMINE // This week
wrote about AirMail exploring a sale and Puck’s new tier ‘Inner Circle’. Both interesting. But more interesting was the below. I’ve talked about how the Culture Study comment sections are a goldmine for brands and businesses and this is more proof.“There’s value in your readers conversing with one another. Last Friday, several health journalists at legacy media companies bought paid subscriptions to Feed Me – the letter I sent on Friday was about Ozempic, and the comment section was paywalled. It has over 100 comments.”
Also:
- had a fantastic letter on the approval process at Kamala HQ re: social posts. If they can figure it out, you can too. Hire people you trust and let them fly.
- ’s observation that we are moving from the Attention Economy to the Appreciation Economy is fascinating.
- September's ‘pick and mix’ letter was great. The Pizza Hut campaign is worth a look but there were many gems.
F&B
ANTI-PROCESSED IS THE NEW ANTI-SMOKING // Mr Beast and Prime launched a Lunchables competitor, Lunchly (this video concerns me so much), and the general response was ‘no thanks’. Unsurprisingly, it was due to all the questionable ingredients. Then the David protein bars finally launched and people got in a tizzy about the ingredient list too. In short, people are turning over the box.
THE CANDY INDUSTRY WANTS IN WITH OZEMPIC USERS // Ozempic is causing muscle loss and as a result, users are loading up on protein and working out with heavy weights. But candy is feeling sidelined. So, Hershey’s has announced a collab with post-workout brand, C4 Energy, with Reese’s peanut butter protein powders and Jolly Rancher energy drinks.
Also:
Starbucks is returning to its 'community coffeehouse' roots. Fresh take needed.
This avocado peeling robot rolling out at Chipotle. Basically an appliance. More provocative? This bowl assembly robot.
I love Michelle Obama but this made me laugh. Did we know she launched a soda brand? How I missed this I do not know.
Campbell’s
Soupchanged its name. Very Dunkin’.Such a fun beer ad (don’t worry the people are in on it, wait till the end).
Kratom and caffeine are under scrutiny—consumers are getting savvier.
Daily Crunch closed a +4M Series A this week. Ultra-processed is out, ‘whole’ foods are back.
DRUGS
’s audience survey was fascinating for a lot of reasons, give it a full read. It touches on much more than consumption habits but this was interesting:“To be clear, I only partake in alcohol (and even then, sparingly), but I'm happy to share some insight into the substance use of my peers. First off, nicotine prevails. Cigarettes specifically are so fucking chic right now (at least in NYC). The tide is turning on vaping, although many people still clutch their vapes 24/7 because addiction. The prevailing culture around afterwork unwinding rituals has shifted away from having a glass or two of wine and towards having a hit or two of the dab pen.Alternative acceptable sources of week night weed include gummies or cannabis drink, but do not include joints, blunts, or bongs (these would be uncouth!).”
ALPHAS & ZS
SCHOOL’S OUT -> Trends // More parents are exploring alternatives to traditional schools. From standard homeschooling to ‘micro-schools’ started by teachers. But educational disillusionment is also affecting ‘traditional’ schools—think decor, curriculum and more. With school being such a fundamental part of life, behavior changes like this have a huge impact on brands—worth paying attention to.
YES TO KINK, NO TO OPEN RELATIONSHIPS // Feeld surveyed its users and found out that Gen-Z is craving monogamy. Since non-monogamy is generally on the rise, their theory is that Gen-Z just doesn’t have a lot of experience with it. Kink on the other hand, they are into. The theory there: they aren’t as bogged down in societal shame like the rest of us.
RETAIL
AMAZON TO BUY TIKTOK? // Rumor has it Amazon is keen to buy TikTok. Not sure regulators would have it but regardless, the shift from social-as-entertainment to social-as-store is happening quickly. It makes you question what role websites will play if all purchases are happening on social.
FASHION WEEK POP-UPS // Pop-ups are having a moment. Here are a few from NYFW:
Poppi’s Poppi World and Prada Beauty ones stood one. Prada’s in the same that they usually do. Poppi’s level of detail was impressive.
HeyTea pop-up up with Sandy Liang for NYFW. Only notable I think because this brand is making a big US play and Sandy is obvs amazing.
J.Crew made a newsstand for their catalog. Cute.
Someone will have to explain to me why the Cetaphil pop-up looks like a mattress store but Katie Fang is a good move.
Also:
Amazon is making it’s own Shark Tank called Buy It Now.
Nike’s CEO John Donahue stepped down. A Nike veteran is back in charge. The news caused the stock to pop nearly 10%. I predict a lot of wholesale action.
The line for Owala’s pop-up was insane.
This Drunk Elephant pop-up at the Grove was cute. Particularly like the ‘make a wish’ moment.
Jo Malone London popped up in a wet market in Shangai.
Luar collab’d with Amex and there are bag charms—of course.
Trinny opened it’s first brick-and-mortar. This brand is growing quick.
Clare V x School House. Cute but could be bolder?
While I’m not not-a-fan of the nostalgia trend but fatigue is setting in.
This pop-up structure by Lasovsky Johansson is the stuff of dreams.
Every year luxury retailers get more and more into mooncakes.
This email is a long one. Open it in the browser and you’ll find TECH, WELLNESS, SPORTS, and more FUN FOR THE WEEK. Shorter letter next week.
TECH
AGENTS EVERYWHERE // The big conversation in AI lately is ‘agents’’. What are agents? As an example, Microsoft is rolling out “Copilot Agents” that will carry out certain tasks automatically without being prompted by a human—for instance, the agents can monitor an email inbox and automatically add data from certain emails to a spreadsheet as the emails arrive. I’m pro AI but you can see how this can go wrong.
11 AI Predictions has a lovely and worrying example of agent behavior in Minecraft.THE FUTURE MAY LOOK NORMAL // YouTube is rolling out features to help creators “organize their content into seasons and episodes, making it easy for viewers to tune into the new must see TV.” As a parent whose daughter is obsessed with crafting videos on YT, I’m here for this change. The nav is the worst and Netflix has nothing like it.
Also:
AI might make us ‘real’ things more. “Consider the case of laboratory-made diamonds. Even if something artificial is indistinguishable from an authentic original, consumers still want the real thing.”
Figma did a brand refresh. It doesn’t spark anything for me one way or the other.
Similarly: PayPal rebranded or tweaked?
Instagram is restricting teen accounts. Not good for their business but hopefully good for teens.
Is AI going to kill SaaS? AI will let companies build their own tools.
Huawei Mate XT, the “first trifold phone in the world”. It’s like a newspaper phone.
SPORT
THE FUTURE OF SPORT IS ENTERTAINING // The UFC had a match in the Sphere and it looked WILD. Offball mentioned in one email that UFC and WWE are co-owned so expect a pro wrestling there soon. They also suggested a b-ball game would kill there and I couldn’t agree more. Maybe the WNBA could do it first. But the real potential? E-Sports—obviously.
BETCHES WATCH SPORT -> Offball // Betches, perhaps best known for its Insta account, is actually a media powerhouse, and they launched Betches Sports this week. “So if you’re a sports fan who cares about women’s rights and quality memes, you’re so welcome.” Women’s sports are forecast to generate more than $1B in revenue in 2024. Get your ads ready.
WE NEED MORE STADIUMS -> AfterSchool / Alexis Ohanian is launching Athlos, a women’s track competition on 9/26. Looks like a rad event. Fun to see more sports like this get the stadium-viewing treatment. With the success of the Olympics and the number of ‘new’ sports like Women’s Rugby and Fencing that came into the spotlight, I think we could we more businesses like that. Consider pop-ups there in the future.
Also:
Is Padel going to overtake Pickleball? In Europe it already has.
How Red Bull’s stunt train is fun. The Prada’s involvement took me off-guard in a good way.
Mascots are still having a moment.
These are sports rising teen stars.
Rose Zhang is the next Tiger Woods.
Arch Manning is the newest Manning to take the field. And he’s not big on social—yet.
The Valkyrie’s new locker room looks content-ready.
WELLNESS
APPLE’S GUNNING FOR HEALTHCARE // Apple had not just one product but two products approved by the FDA for medical use. The Apple Watch’s can now officially be used as a sleep apnea detection device. Apple’s Airpod Pro 2s are now available are OTC hearing aids. At $249 they are distinctly more affordable than traditional hearings which retail for closer to $1600—disruptive.
Also:
Cassandra Gray clawed back control of Voilet Gray—good for her.
I wrote a post recently about how healthcare and pharma are looking super different. This industry is about to have a big shakeup.
Menopause/Perimenopause virtual clinic startup, Midi Health raised $5M.
Med Spas are losing their glow and hemorrhaging money—fascinating. A great get by
CJ Hendry x Cle Le Peau’s collab with virtual plush flowers is sort of interesting but do we think anyone did it?
Credo and Flamingo Estate both launched lines. One’s packaging is lovely and classic. The other feels like a 90s perfume gone wrong.
Scar care is a $2.23B market and growing.
This swap tactic by Saie is one that Corteiz has used often.
TRAVEL
CAN I GET YOUR GOOGLE DOC? // If you have a friend who does this, or do it yourself like me, you know that the personal Google Doc is peak travel. People are getting major fatigue from turning up at ‘the best whatever whatever’ and finding a line a mile long. The real score is a personal list of tried-and-true faves from someone whose taste is just like yours. If you’re looking for another thing AI can’t ever do, it’s this.
HOSPITALITY WITH A SIDE OF SELF-HELP -> As Seen On // Tony Robbins partnered with hotelier Sam Nazarian on a new luxury wellness hotel chain, the Estate. The plan includes 15 hotels and residences and ‘10 longevity centers’. St. Kitts, northern Italy, Switzerland, and the UK countryside slated for 2026. These are not medical hotels, they are “luxury hotels with a functional preventive medical component to them”. Gotcha.
Also:
This Tommy Hilfiger interview showing off his NYC knowledge in this interview is relatable and adorable. He drops proper off-the-radar gems.
The World’s 50 Best Hotels list came out. Not much shocking but 2 Capella properties were on the list and they weren’t on my radar.
80-90% of Japanese tourists visit Dodger Stadium because Shohei Ohtani (who is having a very good year).
FUN FOR THE WEEK
Work with these siblings drawing your product.
Wow this oversized pop-up book sculpture by Colette Fu is stunning
One of these would be such fun for an influencer kit.
This Vlogger toy for kids is horrific. Please stop.
Every one of these points on marketing for today’s world resonated. And made me laugh.
Lego wants to teach kids to lucid dream.
Speaking of dreams, this TikTok creator makes mini-movies that are ‘fever dreams’ and brands are collab’ing with her and it’s fun.
This TikTok show on Bodega cats is yet another example of how TT is the new TV.
Rivian should do a tailgating campaign.
- shares a list of influencers to work with in many of her letter. Read her letter for all of them but I think this lady has potential.
A new batch of silver foxes to cast courtesy of the Golden Bachelorette.
My love for Ilona Maher knows no bounds. She killed it on the red carpet.
Why is mom comedy so much better than regular paid ads?
A tampon, toilet paper or just a brand looking to have some fun could partner with this chick on her GOT2GO map bathrooms.
Gentle parenting and anxious-parenting are getting some pushback lately.
That’s all, folx.
-Chris
If you read this and liked it, that little heart is there for that. The algo and I appreciate it.