Meme Team: The Pop Culture Marketing Podcast

Sonia sits down with Jason Levin, founder of Memelord Technologies, to talk about: organic marketing isn't dead, it just got industrialized. And if the audience loves the music, does it matter how they found it?

We're talking about:

• Geese psyop: Wired exposing Chaotic Good Projects running narrative campaigns for the band, TikTok backlash calling them an industry plant, and whether engineered ecosystems count as organic discovery
• Chaotic Good's playbook: Building networks of TikTok accounts to play background music, share live clips, engineer engagement circles, and the co-founder saying "we can drive impressions on anything at this point"
• Record labels using Memelord: Breaking new artists using videos, secretly putting music behind meme videos, and Jason getting calls from labels because breaking music is hyper-competitive right now (Suno is number one music app)
• Astroturfing 101: Fan pages on Twitter for artists are run by record label interns, phone farms, buying YouTube views, and how the music industry has always worked
• Historical context: MySpace bands figuring out the algorithm, Justin Bieber discovered on YouTube, Taylor Swift building relationships on Twitter/Instagram, and why TikTok is just the next iteration
• Brand fan accounts: Arby's Boys and Not Spirit Airlines pretending to be employees, getting more views than official brand accounts, and why saying things the brand can't say is more effective
• In-house influencers: Staples baddie doing ASMR videos for love of the game, companies realizing people want organic content from regular people, and hiring content creators to get personality without messing up the brand account
• Secondary pages strategy: Jason's been running fake pages for unicorns for a year, allows brands to take more risk, leverage humor without touching the main account, and why memes won't save you if you don't have a good business
• Follower economy is dead: TikTok proved followers don't matter, Twitter still follower-dominated but people complain about not getting access, and why early YouTubers with 3 million subscribers are asking "what do I do now"
• Clipping economy: Movie studios putting summaries of Netflix shows directly on TikTok, Jason investing 10 grand into clipping with 40,000 kids on WhatsApp earning $2 per thousand views, and creativity from the masses beating three in-house editors
• When clipping works vs. doesn't: Great for fame/virality/music/movies, doesn't work for startups (go into your CRM and book calls instead), and companies burning hundreds of thousands on clipping and failing
• Monoculture vs. summary content: Project Hail Mary/The Pit/Game of Thrones getting teaser trailers and fan cams to drive viewership, Netflix shows getting summaries because people won't spend 6-10 hours, and fan cams originally from fans trying to save shows
• Launch video bubble: Everyone copying Roy, agencies doing $10 million a year in launch videos and quote tweets, Jason spending $300 and getting 1.1 million views by editing himself, and why you don't need to spend 50 grand
• What is organic anymore: Finding creators who genuinely love your brand, helping customers create better UGC, in-house employees as subject matter experts, and Project Hail Mary's behind-the-scenes content outperforming Ryan Gosling fan cams
• Proving you're human: Gen Z assumes everything is AI, showing behind-the-scenes proves it's real, and why that's worth money in 2025
• Jason's AMC Instagram Reels event: Rented out movie theater for $3K, 100+ people showed up including big influencers and investors, watched reels for an hour, biggest surprise was everyone booing when they realized something was an ad
• Meta reached out: Instagram columns team contacted Jason after the event, investors are ex-Meta, and why doing something unique gets companies coming to you
• Stop hosting dinners: Tech bros don't even eat (half are on Ozempic), Jason hosted ping pong event and bug horror stories for Halloween, and why the bank everyone copies is burning more cash per month than Jason has in his account
• Platform-specific creators: Twitter discovering social media managers, writing-first platforms (Twitter/LinkedIn) vs. video-first (Instagram/TikTok/YouTube), Jason's team split with Jovian on Instagram/YouTube and another on Twitter/LinkedIn
• Social media manager vs. creator: Morning Brew's in-house writers doing skits, journalists joining in-house teams but bringing their audience (CNBC example), and why they're freer as non-employees

Timestamps

00:00 Geese psyop and manufactured virality

15:00 Brand fan accounts and in-house influencers

28:00 Clipping economy and when it works

40:00 Jason's AMC Instagram Reels event

52:00 Platform-specific creators and trial reels

Guest: Jason Levin – Founder of Memelord Technologies, raised $3M to make memes, hit 100K ARR in 9 months with zero ad spend (@IAmJasonLevin on Twitter)

Sonia sits down with Sophie Vershbow, a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, and Esquire (and who spent six years doing social media for Random House), to break down how politicians are running creator playbooks and winning, OpenAI's podcast acquisition, and why competency porn is the new political content strategy.

The big thesis: video is non-negotiable, and showing your work builds trust faster than promises. Zohran Mamdani is fixing potholes and shoveling snow on TikTok while other mayors hold press conferences no one watches. OpenAI bought TBPN to control their narrative after losing the Super Bowl ad war to Anthropic. A24 turned Zendaya's fake wedding into an immersive press tour that overshadowed her real one. And the New York Times cut ties with a book reviewer who used AI, proving craft still matters in elite industries.

We're talking about:

• Zohran Mamdani's competency porn strategy: Fixing 100,000 potholes, paying New Yorkers to shovel snow, talking to street vendors about regulations, and why showing the work beats political theater
• Hot Democrats as the new political playbook: AOC, Graham Platner (Marine running for Maine Senate), Sam Forsag (smoke jumper in Montana), Bob Brooks (firefighter union president in Pennsylvania), and why being good on camera matters as much as policy
• David Plouffe's creator playbook thesis: Obama campaign strategist saying forward-facing video is mandatory for anyone running for office in 2026, and why the JFK vs. Nixon TV moment is now the TikTok president moment
• Why Mamdani's video strategy works: 10-minute shoots, biking around the city, calling into local shows, showing up on Fallon for three minutes, and treating digital as part of the job (not a bonus)
• Eric Adams vs. Mamdani: Fake daily schedule videos vs. real competency porn, and why New Yorkers want to see what their mayor actually does
• Artemis II astronauts as competency porn: Explaining their process in understandable terms without talking down to audiences, and why people are desperate to watch experts do their jobs well
• OpenAI buys TBPN: Sam Altman acquiring the tech podcast hosted by Jordy Hayes and John Coogan, winding down ad business, promising editorial independence, and whether they can criticize OpenAI after the Ronan Farrow profile
• Why OpenAI wanted TBPN: Tech layoffs blamed on AI, bad storytelling about AI replacing jobs, needing a megaphone to reach tech insiders first, and TBPN hosts not being journalists (no gotcha questions)
• Celebrity podcasts as safe spaces: LA Material article on why celebrities prefer podcasts over journalists, Amy Poehler vs. traditional press, Leonardo DiCaprio's first podcast on New Heights, and Aubrey Plaza talking about her husband's death
• Ronan Farrow's Sam Altman profile: New Yorker exposé on OpenAI's CEO, pathological liar allegations, Karen Hao's "The AI Hire" book covering similar ground, and whether Altman is the person we want leading AI
• AI in book publishing crisis: New York Times cuts ties with freelance reviewer Alex Preston for using AI, Shy Girl scandal, Curtis Brown literary agency concerned editors are putting manuscripts into ChatGPT, and why elite industries can't use AI like commodity brands
• Publishing's AI problem: Hachette not catching AI-generated text in a self-published bestseller, underpaid editors cutting corners, and why trust is sacred in literary spaces
• Human-made as a brand position: Apple's "shot through glass" ad, Oxford commas as AI tells, leaving typos in tweets to prove authenticity, and why craft is becoming a luxury differentiator
• A24's immersive wedding campaign for The Drama: Zendaya and Robert Pattinson fake wedding website, Boston Globe announcement, RSVP to Google Calendar, Vogue bridal spread, something old/new/borrowed/blue press tour looks, and doing wedding season publicly while Zendaya's real wedding stays private
• Why A24's strategy works: Small studio competing with Warner Bros and Netflix, making marketing so interesting fans talk about it, and creating immersive experiences (not just press junkets)
• Repurposing content across platforms: Twitter, Instagram, TikTok each getting different engagement moments, and why diversification is mandatory (not optional)

Plus: Why Eli Lilly is sponsoring the New Yorker Festival, Final Destination 405 log truck Easter eggs, and Delve's YC compliance scandal

Timestamps

00:00 Competency porn and hot Democrats: Zohran Mamdani's political playbook

15:00 OpenAI buys TBPN podcast

28:00 Ronan Farrow's Sam Altman profile

35:00 AI in book publishing: New York Times reviewer scandal and Shy Girl fallout

48:00 A24's immersive wedding campaign for The Drama with Zendaya and Robert Pattinson

Guest: Sophie Vershbow – Freelance journalist (New York Times, New York Magazine, Esquire), former social media lead at Random House (@SVershbow on Twitter/Instagram)

This week Sonia Baschez and guest Yury Molodtsov discuss Project Hail Mary, which crossed $300M globally in its second weekend — only a 32% drop from opening, which almost never happens. Sonia and Yury get into why space-as-adventure is having a cultural moment, what IMAX has quietly done to become one of the most powerful co-brands in film, and why optimism is a content strategy, not just a tone.

Then: Delve. The YC-backed compliance startup sold SOC 2, HIPAA, and GDPR certifications to hundreds of startups — and now faces an anonymous Substack exposé alleging the audits were fraudulent. The CEO's response contradicted itself in a single statement. Investors quietly deleted their blog posts. Yury explains why shortcut-to-trust brands are the most fragile in any market, and why "AI-powered" is not a business model.

After that: Sora is dead. OpenAI shut it down after six months, $1M a day in losses, and — somehow — one hour's notice to Disney. Yury's take on why OpenAI's Series B scrappiness and its $100B data center ambitions are fundamentally incompatible when you have institutional partners.

And to close: Yury's State of Media Report 2026. The middle tier of tech media is getting squeezed out. Getting on TBPN is now harder than TechCrunch. And the funding round is the last thing a journalist wants to lead with. Sonia and Yury walk through what it actually takes to get coverage in 2026.

00:00 Project Hail Mary, Artemis II & Optimism as a Content Strategy

15:00 Delve: The $300M Compliance Catastrophe

28:00 Sora Is Dead (and Disney Found Out One Hour Before You Did)

33:30 State of Media 2026 & How to Actually Pitch Press

Yury Molodtsov is a partner at MA Family, a PR firm behind campaigns for JetBrains, Miro, and Flipper Zero. He publishes the State of Media Report, an annual breakdown of how press coverage and the media industry are shifting.

AI is getting bad PR, and audiences are fighting back. 78% of Gen Z can now identify AI-generated images and will scroll past them, causing CTR to drop 40%. Hatchet Book Group pulled Shy Girl after weeks of speculation that sections were AI-generated, and readers went back to edit their positive reviews to call out the AI use. Meanwhile, Yahoo is having a moment on social—partnering with Cardi B to launch their new planner feature with a campaign called "FOMZ" (Fear of Missing Out on Something Important), proving that craft and celebrity endorsements still beat AI shortcuts.

This week Sonia sits down with Chi Tuckerel (Head of Social at Beehive, formerly ran Dunkin's social) to break down why AI is losing trust with consumers, how Miley Cyrus willed the Hannah Montana 20th anniversary special into existence by promoting it before Disney even agreed to it (stealing a trick from Dolly Parton), and how Beehive is winning creators over from Substack and ConvertKit by elevating user stories instead of just product features.

The big thesis: your voice is your competitive advantage—don't outsource it to AI. Gen Z is rejecting AI-generated content because it feels fake. Hatchet's author lost her book deal because readers felt betrayed. Yahoo brought Cardi B in to make their product relatable instead of leaning on AI marketing speak. Miley used her own platform to build hype and force Disney's hand. And Beehive's strategy is all about amplifying creators' voices, not just showcasing the top 1%. Craft, authenticity, and lived experience are what separate great marketing from AI slop.

We're talking about:

• K-pop Demon Hunters Oscar win: Best Original Song and why McDonald's knows how to tap into culture at the right time
• Project Hail Mary's tech optimism: Record box office, science and technology as hopeful (not dystopian), and why audiences want to root for progress that benefits humanity
• Gen Z's immune response to AI: 78% can identify AI-generated images, CTR dropping 40%, companies switching back to real product photos, and why trust is the new brand risk
• Hatchet Book Group pulling Shy Girl: Weeks of online speculation about AI use, author admitting a contractor may have used AI without her knowledge, readers editing positive reviews to retract support, and why "the contractor did it" isn't a defense anymore
• Retroactive betrayal as a brand risk: Audiences changing their opinion after discovering AI involvement, Goodreads reviews being edited, and why transparency matters more than perfection
• AI's bad PR problem: Dario from Anthropic saying all professional jobs will be gone in five years, layoffs being blamed on AI (even when it's overhiring corrections), and why leadership needs to stop threatening workers with replacement
• Yahoo's Cardi B campaign: "FOMSI" (Fear of Missing Something Important), launching their planner feature, Cardi as a relatable ambassador, and why celebrity endorsements work when they're authentic (not just transactional)
• Why Yahoo is winning on social: bringing craft and humor back, and making people care about Yahoo for the first time in 10 years
• Marketing AI as a feature is boring and why younger audiences don't care about AI as a selling point
• Miley Cyrus willing the Hannah Montana special into existence: Taking Dolly Parton's advice to promote before it exists, using her star power to build hype on red carpets, showing Disney the fan reactions, and forcing them to greenlight it in under four months
• Promote before you build: Pre-announcing creates demand, reactions become data to pitch leadership, and Miley made it impossible for Disney to say no without a cost
• Celebrities going direct to fans: Miley using her platform to make the special happen, Kristen Stewart buying a theater in LA and doing a PR tour, Sarah Michelle Gellar explaining why the Buffy reboot got canceled, and why stars are bypassing traditional PR
• Beehiiv's social strategy: Chi running the account, interacting with every creator who tags them (not just the top 1%), celebrating milestones/birthdays/writing streaks, and using merch codes to reward community members
• LA Material launch on Beehiiv: pricing tiers named after LA highways (the 10, 101, 405), and why new media companies are choosing platforms that empower creators over traditional publishing models

Timestamps

00:00 — K-Pop Demon Hunters: Oscar win + McDonald's collab

03:30 — AI's bad PR: Gen Z detecting AI images, Hachette's "Shy Girl" scandal

27:40 — Yahoo x Cardi B's FOMSI campaign

34:10 — Miley Cyrus wills the Hannah Montana special into existence

45:00 — Beehiiv's social strategy with Chi Thukral: Tyler's CEO persona, Washington Post response, LA Material launch

Chi Thukral is Head of Social at Beehiiv. Find her: @ChiThukral on LinkedIn / Twitter / Instagram

Follow Sonia: @SoniaBaschez

Subscribe to Meme Team: YouTube: @MemeTeamPod | TikTok & Spotify: @MemeTeamPodcast

Timothy Chalamet won zero Oscars this week. Sinners won four. Michael B. Jordan's humble acceptance speech reminded us what we're actually rooting for—humility, craft, and people who remember where they came from. Meanwhile, Chalamet's campaign flew too close to the sun, turning from "movie star we love" to "guy who thinks he's in the Venn diagram of cultural influencers." We break down what went wrong, why Disney's "Midnight Magic" cruise ad made us cry, and how Staples turned a 22-year-old print specialist into their biggest brand ambassador without fumbling the bag.

This week Sonia sits down with Cynthia McGillis (Head of Marketing at Laribel) to talk through the Oscars' hidden lesson on authenticity, Disney's generational storytelling play, Home Depot accidentally becoming a family destination, and why the $99 AI CMO is a shortcut that misses the entire point of marketing. Plus: Stripe's comms hire proves storytellers are the new CMOs, and why brands that make you want to root for them are the ones building lasting equity.

The big thesis: be the person (or brand) people want to root for. Chalamet lost the plot when he made it about himself instead of the work. Michael B. Jordan won by thanking his mom and the crew. Disney's betting on experiences and family moments that span generations. Staples sent roses to their viral employee instead of a cease and desist. And Stripe's hiring storytellers while startups think a $99 AI agent can replace a CMO. Humility, craft, and gratitude aren't just nice—they're competitive advantages.

We're talking about:

• Oscars 2025: Why Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler won (humility, crew shoutouts, paying dues), Chalamet's campaign going from beloved to backlash (Venn diagram comment, Kylie Jenner overshadowing Marty Supreme, losing the authenticity), and SAG Awards as the turning point

• Disney's "Midnight Magic" cruise ad: Up piano music opening, three-generation storytelling (past/present/future), nostalgia without being purely nostalgic, and why companies with generational equity should remind customers of it

• Disney's family-first pivot: Bluey Disneyland experience, Bluey movie 2026, DisneyVerts (closed content ecosystem for kids vs. TikTok/YouTube Shorts), F1 partnership, ESPN Super Bowl integration, and ticket price reductions signaling recession or accessibility play

• Staples Baddie phenomenon: Kaden Roland (22-year-old print specialist) going viral with ASMR-style TikToks, Staples sending roses and making it official, employee-generated content done right, and why compensation matters (she's getting paid beyond her salary)

• Home Depot's accidental family moment: Moms taking kids to Home Depot as a "busy board," Saturday kids' craft hours, New York Post article, and the opportunity for Home Depot to amplify (please don't fumble this)

• Costco's IVF support: Helping members with fertility treatments, creating future customers, and companies staking territory as family-friendly vs. alienating parents

• $99 AI CMO disaster: Launching an AI agent to handle SEO, content, social, community, and Twitter auto-replies, Reddit/Hacker News spam bots, and why this misses the entire point of marketing (strategy, positioning, messaging, taste, judgment)

• Stripe's comms hire: Looking for storytellers with taste, judgment, and founder DNA, ability to design microsites/launch podcasts/write keynotes, and why craft beats AI slop (mini city campaign callback, using AI internally but marketing human connection)

• AI as a tool vs. AI as a crutch: Linear and Stripe using AI internally (minions fixing buttons, Slack bug tracking) but marketing craft and thoughtfulness, spray-and-pray doesn't work even with AI sparkle emoji, and why storytellers are the new CMOs (Wall Street Journal trend)

• Founder-led marketing: Why early-stage companies can't skip founder-led comms and sales, fractional marketers as a solution, and the importance of figuring out positioning/messaging/channels before hiring tactics-only roles

• Claude Ambassadors vs. Pete fumble: Anthropic launching ambassador program after fumbling Pete (the first Claude ambassador who got a cease and desist, then hired by OpenAI), and how acknowledging mistakes builds trust

• Taylor Swift's gratitude playbook: Constantly thanking fans, special behind-the-scenes moments, and why humility keeps you relevant for 15+ years despite criticism

Plus: Why Zendaya and Tom Holland's relationship feels wholesome vs. Chalamet/Kylie Jenner, Chevrolet's holiday ad callback, Target's gift-wrapping employee moment, and the Monster's Inc marketing theory (laughter beats screams)

guest: Cynthia McGillis – Head of Marketing at Laribel (@CynthiaMcGillis on X, cynthiabellmcgillis.com)

ChatGPT uninstalls surged 295% after the Department of Defense deal, the Pope told priests to stop using AI for sermons, and Netflix just opened its ad inventory to Amazon audiences. We break down all of it. Disney/Hulu's marketing mess, Claude's new community ambassadors program, Timothée Chalamet's hot take on ballet and opera becoming irrelevant, and Twitter's new exclusive threads feature.

Plus filmmaker Nina Lee (@NinaSerafina) joins to go deep on the Sinners marketing campaign, from Ryan Coogler's viral IMAX/Kodak video to fan cams, crew spotlights, and the social strategy behind one of the year's biggest films.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro

00:16 ChatGPT uninstalls surge + the Pope vs. AI sermons

02:43 Netflix opens ad inventory to Amazon audiences

04:29 Disney/Hulu marketing problems and new CEO

06:32 Claude's Ambassador Program and organic growth strategy

18:28 Timothée Chalamet vs. ballet and opera / Marty Supreme campaign

30:58 Twitter exclusive threads and creator monetization

38:30 Sinners marketing deep dive with Nina Lee

1:00:19 Outro

ABOUT THE GUEST Nina Lee is an award-winning filmmaker and social media strategist who worked on campaigns for Sinners (dir. Ryan Coogler) and HBO Max. Find her on Twitter @NinaSerafina and Instagram @NinaSerafinaaaa.

SUBSCRIBE AND FOLLOW YouTube: @MemeTeamPod Spotify & TikTok: @MemeTeamPodcast Host Sonia Baschez: @soniabaschez everywhere.

The McDonald's CEO posted a video eating the Big Arch burger and couldn't bring himself to swallow it. Sam Altman publicly backed Anthropic's stance against the Department of War, then swooped in to take the same contract hours later. And Friend AI released an ad so bleak it made loneliness look like a feature. This week was rough for brands.

Sonia Baschez and guest Nic Allum (founder/CEO of Cultureland, an LA-based cultural strategy consultancy) break down five marketing moments that went sideways, what went wrong in each case, and the lessons brands should actually take from them.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro + Friend AI necklace ad controversy

5:30 OpenAI vs Anthropic: the Department of War contract and 1.5M user exodus

18:00 AMC Theatres premium seating backlash and the future of cinemas

32:00 McDonald's CEO Big Arch burger video fail (vs. Burger King's response)

42:00 H&M "New York" campaign: multi-generational casting and what's missing

49:30 Key takeaways and lessons for marketers

About the guest: Nic Allum is the founder and CEO of Cultureland, a cultural strategy consultancy based in Los Angeles that helps brands understand and connect with cultural moments.

Subscribe to The Meme Team Podcast for weekly breakdowns of the marketing strategies creating breakout cultural moments.

Connect with Nic Allum: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nicallum | Substack: cultureland.substack.com Connect with Sonia Baschez: @SoniaBaschez everywhere | @MemeTeamPod on YouTube | @MemeTeamPodcast on Spotify and TikTok

ChatGPT launched ads this week and they're underwhelming. No personalized targeting, no memory integration, just basic in-line search ads that feel like Google in the 90s. Meanwhile, OpenClaw is setting the internet on fire as the first AI agent that actually works—controlling your browser, joining meetings, managing calendars, and doing everything a computer can do autonomously. Created by Austrian developer Peter Steinberger, it's the most famous open source project of all time with 200,000 GitHub stars and sparked a bidding war between Meta and OpenAI. It's getting normies excited about AI in a way nothing else has, with people buying Mac minis and naming them like employees.

This week Sonia sits down with Martin O'Leary (head of marketing at Tap Payments, writer of Uncharted newsletter) to break down ChatGPT's boring ad rollout, Google's Pomelli Photo Shoot AI tool turning product snapshots into studio-quality marketing images, F1's Netflix tie-in with Damson Idris, AMC's AI film controversy, and why Spotify's Bad Bunny Billions Club Live event is a masterclass in using CRM data to reward actual fans instead of chasing new customers.

The big thesis: craft still matters more than AI, but AI is abstracting complexity in ways that create new opportunities for builders. ChatGPT's ads prove OpenAI doesn't understand personalization yet. Google's Pomelli tool will make everyone's product photos look the same unless brands invest in distinctive assets. OpenClaw is bringing the future forward by letting one person build what used to require teams. And Spotify is doing what every brand sitting on CRM data should be doing: rewarding top fans with exclusive experiences instead of gating events for clout.

We're talking about:

• ChatGPT ads: Why they're underwhelming, lack of memory integration, missing personalization opportunities, and how they compare to Facebook's data trove
• F1's Netflix crossover: Damson Idris (star of the F1 movie) appearing in the Driver to Survive promo, Apple taking over F1 broadcasting, and Carlos Sainz acknowledging Thea (the girl who created Sparkles the unicorn mascot)
• Google Pomelli Photo Shoot: AI tool turning basic product photos into studio-quality marketing images, targeting e-commerce sellers, integrating with Google Ads and Merchant Center, and competing with Amazon and Shopify
• Why AI product photography risks: Reverting to the mean, losing brand differentiation, DoorDash's AI food photos looking too clean, and why craft + prompting beats automation alone
• Real estate using AI: Justine Moore's observation that realtors are early adopters, creating multiple views of homes (day/night/sunset/party mode), and why it works (showing aspirational living without hiring drone operators)
• OpenClaw phenomenon: Austrian developer Peter Ticksteinberger's open source AI agent, 200,000 GitHub stars, bidding war between Meta and OpenAI, normies buying Mac minis as "employees," and why it's the first AI tool exciting people outside the tech bubble
• How OpenClaw works: Persistent memory across conversations, soul.md and identity files for customization, integrations with Slack/WhatsApp/Telegram/Gmail, and why it's a chief of staff + EA + COO combined
• Designing for agents vs humans: Websites optimized for AI scraping (pricing, specs, structured data) vs brand storytelling, billboards becoming prompts for humans to prompt their agents, and why real-world activations (Super Bowl, Olympics, World Cup) will matter more
• Spotify's Bad Bunny Billions Club Live: Invite-only Tokyo show for top listeners, leveraging Bad Bunny's 28 tracks in the Billions Club, rewarding actual fans instead of gating for clout, and why more brands should use their CRM data this way
• CRM data goldmines: Banks, cable companies, phone companies rewarding new customers over loyal ones, why discount codes only support churners or new users, and flipping the model to reward top fans with exclusive experiences
• AMC AI film controversy: Igor Farov's Thanksgiving short made with Gemini Nano Banana Pro, Screen Vision competition, backlash over AI-generated work in cinemas, and the craft vs livelihood debate (echoes of Snow White in 1937, animation not in Oscars until 2002, Luddites protecting livelihoods not rejecting technology)
• Sam Altman's bad week: Responding to Anthropic's Super Bowl ad with an essay (if you're explaining you're losing), saying humans need training too (tone-deaf in America), and why OpenAI needs a designated hater
• The designated hater thesis: Every company needs someone independent and well-paid whose only job is to say "do not release that crap" (McDonald's AI Christmas ad, Coca-Cola AI disaster, Mount Rushmore metaphor)

Plus: Why F1 movie sequels are in production, Martin's theory that OpenClaw agents will game Spotify's top listener algorithm, and the Don Draper "I don't think about you at all" moment OpenAI should've had with Anthropic

A24 built a full wedding website, a Boston Globe announcement, and an RSVP-to-your-Google-Calendar function to promote "The Drama" starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson. It's the latest in a string of immersive campaigns that are making A24 the most interesting movie studio in marketing right now. We break down why it works, what other brands can learn from it, and why making it about the characters instead of the celebrities is the move.

This week Sonia is joined by Trishla Oswal, AI and tech reporter at Adweek, to talk through A24's playbook, Frida Baby's sexual innuendo backlash, the Chase Sapphire x Whoop partnership, and Kalshi vs. Polymarket's competing free grocery stunts in NYC.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

0:17 - Ring/Amazon pulls Flock Safety integration after Super Bowl backlash

5:49 - Surveillance, privacy, and tech companies giving in to government pressure

7:00 - Fathom Entertainment's 2026 big screen classics lineup

8:42 - A24's immersive wedding campaign for "The Drama"

12:24 - World building in movie marketing and why A24 is beating Disney

21:46 - Frida Baby backlash: sexual innuendo meets baby products

27:25 - Reading the room and why silence makes it worse

31:00 - Chase Sapphire x Whoop partnership

35:25 - Is Whoop the right brand for Chase to partner with?

39:46 - Kalshi vs. Polymarket "grocery wars" in NYC 47:29 - Pop-up culture and prediction market regulation

50:06 - Takeaways and lessons learned

55:41 - Where to find Trishla

Guest: Trishla Oswal is an AI and tech reporter at Adweek covering the intersection of technology, advertising, and culture.

Sam Altman publicly clapped back at Anthropic's Super Bowl attack ad. Only 7% of consumers even know what Claude is versus 73% for ChatGPT. So why did the market leader punch down? Dr. Marcus Collins, marketing professor at the University of Michigan and author of "For the Culture," compares it to the time Drake made the mistake of responding to Pusha T and got bodied with "The Story of Adidon." When you're the market leader, you don't engage the challenger. You're just giving them more light.

This week we go through every major Super Bowl ad and figure out what worked, what flopped, and what it tells us about where marketing is headed. Marcus breaks down why Anthropic's ad felt like "they were in the group chat" while OpenAI's Codex spot was so abstract most people didn't even know it was OpenAI. We talk about Levi's making their first Super Bowl appearance in over 20 years with "Backstories," a spot that featured nothing but celebrity butts and the red tab. It somehow managed to be the only ad that night where the brand outshined the celebrities. Think Apple's iPod silhouette ads but for jeans.

We get into Coinbase's Backstreet Boys karaoke spot that USA Today gave an F and had people literally flipping off their TVs. But Marcus makes a case that they "broke the brief," and that breaking the traditional Super Bowl ad format is the only way to cut through now that expectations have gotten impossibly high. We talk about Ring Camera's lost dog ad backfiring into a full surveillance state backlash (they're finding one dog per day, Marcus did the math), Google Gemini playing it safe with their closed ecosystem approach, and why movie trailers like Scream 7 and Netflix's surprise Cliff Booth spinoff cut through harder than most of the actual ads.

We also get into my Monsters Inc theory of marketing. We're stuck on the scare floor right now, trying to make people angry or afraid to get engagement. But the laugh floor generates just as much energy. Marcus backs it up with Jonah Berger's research on why we share: biologically, anger and joy trigger the exact same physical response. It's the boring middle where people do nothing.

We wrap with why monoculture events are expanding beyond the Super Bowl. The Olympics in LA in 2028, the World Cup this year, F1 races where AI companies like Google and Perplexity are already attaching themselves to teams. If you're a marketer or a founder trying to figure out where brand advertising is going, this one's for you.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Intro 0:23 - OpenAI vs Anthropic/Claude: The Super Bowl AI Ad War

4:10 - Market Leaders vs Challengers: The Drake vs Pusha T Rule

18:27 - The Monsters Inc Theory of Marketing

24:25 - Levi's "Backstories": Celebrity Butts and the Red Tab

32:00 - Coinbase Backstreet Boys: USA Today's Only F

40:36 - Google Gemini: Safe Play or Missed Opportunity?

44:57 - Ring Camera: How to Accidentally Advertise a Surveillance State

56:54 - Super Bowl Movie Trailers: Who Showed Up and Who Didn't

1:10:27 - Takeaways: Break the Brief & the Future of Monoculture Events

ABOUT THE GUEST: Dr. Marcus Collins is a marketing professor at the University of Michigan School of Business, bestselling author of "For the Culture: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do, and Who We Want to Be," and co-host of the podcast "From the Culture." He's spent his career making ads for brands like Nike and Apple, and was named one of Advertising Age's 40 Under 40. Follow him: @marctothec