[017] Monday Scroll Starter: everything to save, watch and post this week
Unfortunately, Elon Musk has been talking again.
Greetings Victims!
Is it just me, or is every influencer starting an electrolyte brand these days? In Australia we’ve got Hyro with Sarah’s Day, the UK has Sult by Milly Goldsmith, and the US has Waterboy, founded by Connor Saeli. This might be worth a deep dive!
Inside today’s newsletter:
The brand content that inspired me last week
Social news you may have missed (Elon is back…again)
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:
Rains launching their new collection using IRL stickers.
I’ve written before about how real, tangible, human content will become more valuable in the AI era, and this post is a good example. Taking things out of the web and into a physical context automatically disrupts the feed and is highly engaging. Bravo!
Now for the best of the rest:
Sundae body using a trending format (the emoji keyboard) to introduce a longer carousel about the making of their body fragrance line. This content also tapped into the scrapbook look/feel that is currently all over social media feeds, to take what could be a fairly dry subject and make it visually engaging.
HGA youth ministry - perfectly executed, no notes!
The Nature Conservatory tapped into the Nicki Minaj challenge and honestly? Slay.
Elf cosmetics collaborating with sharpie in response to the latest viral TikTok trend - using a sharpie as *checks notes* lipliner (I am shuddering). A smart way to capitalise on a trend, and for Sharpie to be seen attempting to dissuade people from a potentially toxic pastime.
The New Yorker with photos of teens in their bedrooms before the age of selfies. This technically isn’t a brand post but it had such high engagement (350k + likes, 2.5k comments!) that I wanted to feature it here. I found it personally found it very moving, and I think this is yet another example of brands/accounts tapping into our nostalgia for a simpler time.
Frida launching Breast Milk ice cream - I mean, a giant truck saying “breast milk” driving through brooklyn is bound to get my attention! I always enjoy seeing the reactions of normal folks to a launch, instead of hearing from the brand - humans love watching other humans!
Craighill explaining their key fob design using their “problem + solution” formula. Every single one of their social posts uses the same formula and the system works! I never thought I’d be fawning over a key fob, but watching this video had me thinking “yeah, I do hate fishing my keys out of my bag”.
Surreal cleverly roasting themselves for a failed announcement that made users think they were launching into Subway, not Morrison’s.
The best (unbranded) content I saw over the past week.
The top comment being “that’s Aurora’s three fairy godmothers” had me smiling.
I’m very invested in this “AI psychosis” divorce story of two influencers I’ve never followed up until this point.
Everyone be quiet, my show is on! I’m so happy to have this show up on my algorithm.
He’s a girls girl :’) I do love to see a GNO (girl’s night out)
The social media (and adjacent) news you need to know this week.
Your favourite influencer is either using LTK or ShopMy (or potentially both!) for affiliate linking. Now, ShopMy are banking on how badly consumers want to shop their favourite creator’s recommendations by launching a fully online platform, which will initially be a web-only experience. The website will use AI to create “circles” for each user - a shopping experience that uses your existing tastes and the influencers you follow to create personalised recommendations.
Something no one asked for: Elon Musk says Vine will be coming back in AI form
Thanks, I hate it! Given that Musk hasn’t provided any further details of what this will actually look like, this is a case of “I’ll believe it when I see it”.
Viral beauty brand Freck has been sold to an undisclosed group of investors.
Freck, a product for creating fake freckles which went truly viral in 2017 and rode the freckle trend wave (powered by Gen Z), has been sold to investors, with founder Remi Braxton stepping down. With Ami Cole also recently announcing a shutdown, many are reporting that this is a reflection of the extremely tough beauty market for smaller, indy brands. However, I do wonder whether the fact that Freck was riding an extremely specific beauty trend had a part to play? Trends don’t last forever.
Gen Z say Australia including YouTube in under 16’s social media ban is a “blow to culture”
This is potentially the most controversial aspect of Australia’s social ban legislation (set to be enacted on Dec 10, 2025), and it’s fascinating to see how Gen Z feel about YouTube being thrown into the mix. In short: they’re not happy.
TikTok releases first ever UK shopping report
And (unfortunately), Labubu’s are at the top.