[014] Wednesday vibe check: It's a Jet2 summer, Grok AI still exists, no one wants to go to a Ja Rule concert
PLUS: I can't stop thinking about cave diving.
It’s Wednesday! (Or maybe Thursday by the time you read this - because your girl has a 9-5 and can’t keep up with unpaid newsletter deadlines).
Welcome to your weekly AV Vibe Check: a quick scan of what everyone’s talking about, what brands are posting, and a few half-baked musings tossed in for good measure.
Inside today’s edition:
The vibe of the week — what’s trending on social and swirling in the zeitgeist
Standout brand content to keep you inspired
Trends to watch and maybe even post about
Let’s get into it!
Some brand content to keep you inspired (reminder: my big weekly scroll stopper is sent out on Monday’s! Here’s this week’s)
The Ordinary showing off a prototype designed to squeeze every last drop out of your products. Given that the brand has always platformed itself as being affordable (to the point that you wonder how they’re making a profit, at times), this made sense from a branding POV!
David protein promoting their new cod product (it’s literally just cod). Extremely weird, but has the high production feel of a Nike ad…except that it was designed to live on social. I kind of hope this is the start of a return to the level of creativity we typically reserved for TVC’s!
Tony’s Chocolonely with this whimsical carousel about how to actually pronounce their brand name (I’ll admit, I thought it was “loney” not “lonely” 🥲)
Jacquemus always has me watching until the very end!
I’ve kept track so that you don’t have to :)
Beis referencing Justin Bieber’s new album and the line “that’s my baby, she’s iconic. iPhone case, lipgloss on it”. Aquaphor and Cerave have also jumped on this one.
What’s in my bag run, don’t walk - this one is hot! Extra points if you jump on this but the contents of your bag skew just a little bit unhinged.
iPhone emoji keyboard lots of lifestyle brands are jumping on this, but to be honest, I’m a bit bored! I’d love to see someone do a funny take on this.
Scrapbook style, seamless carousels aren’t going anywhere.
The social (and socially adjacent) news & vibes of the week so far.
No one wants to go to a Ja Rule concert - and honestly, it does make me question what’s going on with Ja these days!
Move over, Brat Summer — 2025 belongs to Jet2 Summer.
In the midst of economic chaos (thanks to Trump’s tariff tantrum and yet another Epstein Files cameo), the internet has collectively decided: we’re all on one big Jet2 holiday.
What started as a meme has gone full cultural moment, spawning regional spin-offs (Jet2: New Orleans Edition?), brand strategy discussion and soundtracking the summer, whether we like it or not.
We’re all angry about cave diving
I’m seeing a lot of discourse around spelunking - specifically, the madness of it all. The fact that this video has 15.9M views tells me i’m not the only one who somehow keeps finding themselves on spelunkingtok, 3 minutes deep into an analysis of a deadly cave diving expedition.
People are recording themselves as punishment
First we had the girl posting a TikTok every time she opened…TikTok? Now we have the guy recording himself every time he wants to buy something. These posts go viral because they tap into a shared anxiety: we’re all online too much, spending too much, and spiraling a little. And yet, we’re consuming this content on the exact platforms feeding the problem.
Substack raises $100M in Series C funding (and potentially signals ads in the future)
I’m including this in today’s newsletter because I truly believe Substack is already the next frontier of Social Media: niche, highly-communal groups of individuals connecting online. The article I’ve linked from the NYTimes dives into how SS has continued to diversify the platform (with features like livestream video and subscriber chats) and how it is "beginning” to come around to ads (we all knew it would happen eventually).
TikTok sale date is 59 days away, without a buyer in sight
I have a different update on this every week. Last week, it seemed like a deal was practically done. Now, it seems like a major partner has pulled out of the deal and they’re back to square one. Watch this space, I guess?
Unfortunately for us all, Grok AI continues to exist - and scores a military contract
Days after referring to itself as “MechaHitler”, xAI announced that it had won a contract with the US Department of Defense, in a deal to develop and implement AI tools with the agency. I find this highly concerning, considering Grok AI has repeatedly posted highly offensive remarks, due to the fact that it has been trained on material found on the X platform.
That’s it for now!
If you liked this newsletter, I’d love it if you let me know, or even shared it with a friend. If you hated it, let me know too! Hatred fuels me :)
Mind = blown at Chocolonely 😯