Is Coors' new campaign a lie?
Plus: 'Longevity Dads' are fueling healthcare start-ups, and British brands are killing it.
Morning,
Welcome back to regular programming. I’m giddy to be back to it.
If you only read one thing in this letter I recco: the whole SPORT section. Not a sentence I saw coming. But I’m excited about it all this week
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
HOUSE COWS // Darina Allen, founder of the famous Ballymaloe Cookery School, in her mid-70s, has a new wildly successful venture: ‘Farm School.’ Apparently, chickens can move over, people want ‘house cows’—a cow for your household. This is bigger than the raw milk craze. As AI becomes more prevalent, people are increasingly interested in becoming self-sufficient and more, well, human.
LET’S CONNECT -> 8Ball // And what’s more human than connecting? ‘Board game parties’ quadrupled last year. And
says social clubs where people actually talk to each other are on the horizon (Soho House shudders). Dating apps are shuttering apps and going all-in on in-person dating (think ski trips, etc). Brands can keep up the dinner parties but there are bigger opportunities hidden here.A CUP OF INNUENDO // Dunkin’ is getting spicy. Sponsoring Betches, a thirsty spider for Halloween, and a Sabrina Carpenter partnership for an espresso drink, the ad for which will make you blush. Fred Hart said brands would misbehave in 2025, and I said brands were going to be all ‘sex, drugs, and parties.’ I guess we were right on the money.
F&B
TEMPORARY BRANDS // Emily Flannery was my co-worker at the beginning of my trends forecasting career. Her 2026-27 prediction made me sit up straighter. She thinks we’ll see not just LTO (limited-time offer) flavors, we’ll see LTO brands that phase in and out—fun. It’s like the Spirit Halloween strategy but for CPG. I’m into it. I believe it’s right. But can brands pull it off?
PREBIOTIC HAS POPPED -> Snaxshot // Coca-Cola is launching a prebiotic soda in 2025. The can design—dios mío. Like many big players entering a market, they are late to the party. ‘Functional’ is on the way out this year. For Emily’s prediction to come true, brands need to be faster and braver to succeed.
EAST ASIAN’S MOMENT // Juicy Brick, an F&B R&D agency, sent me their 2025 predictions deck, and it was a super fun dive. The section on East Asian foods piqued my interest. Choolaah looks like an Indian Cava, and Good Phats makes yassified ghee (they also have a Tallow, which is trending, too). Maybe this and the popularity of Pija Palace are telling us that ‘Indian’ is about to have a ‘Korean’-like explosion.
DRUGS & BOOZE
NO REASON NEEDED // Heineken 0.0’s is tackling the stigma of abstaining. Love that. It’s an accurate insight, but more compelling to me is the dollars finally being spent on N/A. Of course, January is when all N/A brands try to catch the wind in their sales. Anecdotally, our clients in this space say it’s the best January yet.
MONDAYS OR MADE UP // Coors released a limited edition ‘Monday Lights’ case. A VP at Coors said the product was inspired by ‘the worst Monday, the one after the big game.’ Somewhat Interesting. But then I saw this post where the CMO claims the packaging was inspired by an ‘accidental, public spelling error’. An oddly different story. And that, my friends, has my attention.
SILVERS, ALPHAS & ZS
ALPHA DELUGE //
reported that Jaimee Lupton, the founder of Monday Haircare, has launched an Alpha-coded fragrance and body-care brand that rips off the Marc Jacobs Daisy brand. She is not wrong. Wow. But I’ll give them points for the form factor of the packaging—the kids will love it.SING NETFLIX PRAISES // Netflix signed Ms Rachel. They only have 4 episodes—must have been pricey!—but claps to them. There are dozens of kids’ YouTube shows I’d love to see on Netflix, so this is a start. With this, Beyonce, and all the live sports, Netflix’s 2025 is looking pretty bright.
MARATHON OR MARRIAGE // Business Insider claims the youngs are replacing traditional life milestones with extreme fitness challenges like ultra-marathons and Ironmans. But, in their 20s, millennials were obsessed with Tough Mudders and CrossFit. I contend this isn’t a Gen-Z thing, just a tale as old as time. Just look at the recent rise of Hyrox fitness races, which I, by the way, discovered from a +55-year-old.
RETAIL
A NEW BRITISH INVASION // Cult Brit athletic brand, Andanola, snagged Kendall Jenner for their latest campaign. This brand has been making some big moves lately. They recently hired a former GymShark exec to take over as CEO—the growth goals are clear. And they opened their first retail shop-in-shop. They have their sights set on the US, which makes Jenner make sense. I’m watching these guys.
says over the next 5 years, Sephora’s are getting an overhaul. 111 stores already have the changes in place for testing. The big change seems to be modularity. I see many in-store pop-ups are in Sephora’s future.TECH
RED TIDE -> AfterSchool // Red Note, a Chinese social app, is riding the wave of TikTok’s (potential) demise. I think TikTok will be back post-inauguration, but I am enjoying DuoLingo’s genius hacking of the PR moment. Everyone’s covering the 216% rise in Mandarin learning.
’s 2025 predictions about AI education aligns perfectly with Danielle Greenberg’s. The US education market is worth nearly 2 trillion dollars. While VCs have been reluctant, there’s a lot of consumer interest. Look at the ~600K followers MacKensie Price has for her 2hr Learning school to see that people are interested in fixing an education system that all parties agree isn’t working at its best.SPORT
NICHE HEALTH // Eternal is a new niche healthcare brand specializing in athletes. I’m confident this dovetails with a trend
in her brilliant predictions: ‘longevity dads’. Eternal will use “bloodwork, DEXA scans, and in-house performance testing.” I’m telling you, healthcare is one of the most interesting spaces for brand right now.PEOPLE’S PUSKAS // The FIFA Puskas Award is an award for the ‘best goal of the year.’ Veo decided it was time to give the amateur players recognition, too. Enter: The People’s Puskas. Submit your best goal to win. Veo makes a camera that automatically follows play (like a GoPro for the pitch) and makes broadcast-like videos and shareable clips for non-pro teams and players. It’s such a smart use of the product. And it tracks with people’s fascination with amateurs versus professional athletes. Love this campaign.
SHE’S A FAN -> Offball // Kristin Juszczyk, wife of a ‘49er, has partnered with Emma Grede (of Skims and Good American) to launch Off Season, a fan apparel brand. The products look good. Female sports fans have long been overlooked. This is a smart move with a team that knows what they are doing. I’m bullish.
WELLNESS & BEAUTY
SCOLDING CHARLOTTE // Charlotte Tilsbury is unhappy about dupes. This line of complaining rarely goes well for founders, look at Jolie and Graza. E.l.f humorous approach was way better. But Rachel Strugatz’s closing line hits on an important and growing consumer sentiment: “Perhaps some of the brands charging $50 or $100 for something that costs $5 to make are the ones really duping the consumer.”
FULL OF HORMONES // CES was into hormones this year. Eli Health’s Hormometer (what a name) will measure cortisol (popular), progesterone, and eventually testosterone and estradiol (both related to menopause). identifyHer also launched a device called Peri, which tracks hormones and symptoms to offer “actionable insights”.
POWDER BREAST MILK // Leche is a new start-up making breast milk 1) shelf-stable and 2) commercially available. Send Leche your stash (great for surrogates too!), and they freeze-dry it to a shelf-stable, formula-like powder—yup, amazing. And soon, you’ll be able to buy safety-tested donor milk, too. I’m team-fed-is-best—love this.
TRAVEL
NO BUZZ BOARDING -> The Hustle // Ryan Air needs to chat with Heineken. They are petitioning to limit passengers to 2 alcoholic beverages pre-flight with a boarding pass stamp system. If you’re in the N/A space, it's time to get your taps in airports. Not sure this will fly. Booze is big money for airports, and people don’t like to pay as much for N/A.
FUN FOR THE WEEK
Apple is sending big on getting us to watch Severance. Look at this pop-up.
Influencers claim PayPal’s Honey is stealing their affiliate marketing pay-outs.
Stripes’ lube ads are fun. The comment section is a little prude.
If you ever wondered if Gen-Z and Silver audiences could overlap, give this a watch.
2025 could be the year for cricket in the US. It really is a great spectator experience.
This gym in Japan has DIY laser hair removal and teeth whitening for $22/month.
Bode is hosting a show for the Super Bowl. This announcement is, well, interesting.
Quite obsessed with this Range Rover turned coffee shop in London.
Timothée Chalamet turned up to a premier on a Lime bike. Limes are cool now.
Missed that it was about lamb. Zero points for brand awareness but this ad is funny.
Red No. 3 has been banned. Food stylists are stocking up on maraschino cherries.
-Chris
If you read this and liked it, that little heart is there for that. The algo and I appreciate it.
PS. I have a few 1-month gift subscriptions to LinkInBio, The Review of Beauty, and As Seen On. If you’re a student or a freelancer, give me a shout and I can gift one over.
Agree, Off Season is going to kill it. Anything the Gredes touch turns to gold. Also, am obsessed with the Severance marketing and am obsessed with the show. 🖲️