[015] Monday Scroll Starter: everything to save, watch and post this week
Another week in which I'm not yet retired.
Greetings Victims!
I’m writing this from bed on a Sunday morning, with the hope that you’re reading it on Monday morning, fresh off the back of a weekend where you got up to no good :)
Before the Monday panic of “I haven’t thought about work all weekend and now I need to get my act together!!!!” sets in, let’s take a scroll together.
Inside today’s newsletter:
The brand content that inspired me last week
Social news you may have missed (coffee buckets, affiliate marketing & more)
What I’ve been watching (and loving)
Let’s get into it.
The best content I saw from brands last week (a few ICYMI’s from last week, with some fresh ones thrown in!)
WINNER OF THE WEEK: TSA with this Labubu themed carousel, specifically the screenshot of the tweet at the end. I am not a fan of Labubu’s, personally, but I am a huge fan of humour related to extremely universal experiences: in this case, waiting in line for TSA (which is traumatic at best).
Now for the best of the rest:
Lancôme reviving Chuck Bass to announce the launch of JuicyTreats. Given that Lancôme is a luxury brand, their audience demographic skews 30+, so it makes sense that they’d revive a character who screams “millennial core”. The new product is the relaunch of the cult classic Juicy Tube, so leaning into mid-noughts nostalgia feels right. Worth noting: this is yet another example of a brand using nostalgia in a way that screams recession-core, something I spoke about weeks ago.
Figma’s announcement that Figma Make is now available to all users. Another announcement leaning on nostalgia…but it works. Considering everyone is integrating AI into their product these days, this could have been a fairly lacklustre announcement, but in this case I was engaged.
Jcojewellery using clever visuals to explain studs vs flatbacks.
Krispy Kreme using a fake “prohibited content” cover to announce a Crocs collab. TBH I didn’t think the whole video was particularly inspiring, BUT the cover managed to grab my attention, which I always consider a win considering I have reached peak brain-rot.
KFC continues it’s “Hot Colonel” campaign. Is it ridiculous? Yes. Did I watch this weird courtroom-drama style video? Also yes.
Cakeboss counts as a brand, right? Either way, that video made me chuckle.
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!
The best (unbranded) content I saw over the past week.
This made me cry with laughter - I don’t want to see DITL content, I want to laugh until I cry.
As an Australian living in Sydney, I felt this.
Honestly not much to say about this except: slay.
The social media (and adjacent) news you need to know this week.
Starbucks is launching a “secret menu” app, with the goal of driving reach on TikTok.
This makes sense, given how much “secret menu review” content already exists on the platform.
I will absolutely be reading this one, and I’ve been interested to see how Ronson has built a social presence (with multiple videos surpassing 1M views) talking about his work. Part of me wonders: was it all leading up to this memoir release?
A new mother called out Pampers and went viral - competitor Rascals responded.
After hilariously calling out Pampers and challenging them to use their own wipes with one hand, I loved seeing the Rascals team respond so quickly by using the same audio to demonstrate the ease of use for their own baby wipes. Bravo.
The star of the Washington Post TikTok, Dave Jorgenson, is leaving and building his own company.
Huge news for those of us who have long held up WaPo as the example of old media getting it right on TikTok. Jorgensen essentially built the Washington Post TikTok brick by brick, and is leaving to start his own video company that will cover news (and consult with other brands/outlets looking to grow their video offering).
How does Gen Z spend their money? Not unlike the rest of us, tbh.
Day One Agency gave a cohort of Gen Z folks $100 to spend as they pleased, and tracked the results. A fascinating look at how this Generation spends money, which to be honest…wasn’t unlike how I spent my own money in my early twenties (and now, because I still love a little treat).
Coffee buckets are the latest (ridiculous) social media trend to take off.
I feel sick looking at them! Side note: I’m getting a lot of social media news from the NY Times lately, which just goes to show what I’ve been saying for a while: culture is now born on social.
Another one from the NY Times: young people are hosting cafe’s in their living rooms.
Supposedly, the goal is to fight loneliness, but the performative nature of it all (the process is heavily documented for social media) makes me feel a little sad. It really feels like “pics or it didn’t happen”.
Girltalk has evolved, thanks to social media.
I really enjoyed this piece, which I discovered through the After School substack from Gen Z expert Casey Lewis (highly recommend subscribing).