Watch this on the new Sweathead YouTube channel:

https://youtu.be/cqUmFaJ6Af4

It's part of our new series Brains On Brands.

Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle dropped one of the most talked-about ads of the year. In this video, we break down why the campaign is controversial what it says about celebrity marketing, and what strategists, creatives, and brands can learn from it.

Featuring:

Amira Barger - EVP, Edelman http://www.instagram.com/amirabarger
Anastasia Kārkliņa Gabriel - Culture Expert http://www.instagram.com/anastasiakgabriel 

Lola Bakare - CMO Advisor

http://www.instagram.com/titilola 

For more Sweathead: 

- Strategy classes and ebooks http://www.sweathead.com 

- Instagram http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 

- Mark Pollard on Instagram http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 

Many thanks to Chris Do from The Futur and Rakaa from Dilated Peoples from this impromptu walk around Los Angeles.

You can find them here:

http://www.instagram.com/thechrisdo

http://www.instagram.com/therealrakaa

Come to our annual conference -->

The Sweathead Do-Together happens online and in Chicago and New York this November, 2025: https://sweathead.com/the-sweathead-do-together/

My newish YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@markpollardstrategyfriend

Follow along on Instagram:

http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

http://www.instagram.com/sweathead

Follow along for the real-time version of these: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Find out about our upcoming summer camp and masterclasses at http://www.sweathead.com

Follow us at

http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

http://www.instagram.com/sweathead

For details about our upcoming classes, visit:

http://www.sweathead.com

Chicago, NYC, Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Prague, and more.

Find Mark here:

http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Watch us discuss all of this here on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/IAp_TsXrG7Q?si=OeGELRvjHM8FPNG9

- The USA vs the UK

- US clients vs UK clients

- Doing creative work in Corporate America

- The good and not good things about New York City

Strategy events and classes: http://www.sweathead.com

This interview comes from Part 2 of my YouTube series about surviving New York City, especially the Corporate America parts.

Jason has worked at Energy BBDO, Huge, and Amazon.

He recently documented his leaving of Amazon.

We discuss:

- Why he did this

- What he's learned from working in NYC

- Being an introvert in Corporate America

And more.

Watch us discuss all of this on The High Line:

https://youtu.be/IAp_TsXrG7Q?si=OeGELRvjHM8FPNG9

Jason: http://www.instagram.com/jason_swet

Mark: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Strategy events and classes: http://www.sweathead.com

Watch my first raw travel YouTube video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0josxmlLCKU&t=1437s

It features strategists and friends Julian Cole and Jack Appleby.

I also take you on a tour of NYC and share what the city has taught me.

Julian: https://www.instagram.com/juliancole.strategy/

Jack: https://www.instagram.com/jackapplebyny/

Mark: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Strategy training (including our events in LATAM in March/April 2025): http://www.sweathead.com

Lee Ci En and Amy Daroukakis have been collecting trend reports in a Google for years now. You've probably fiended for access :)

The thing is, trends can be useful but a lot of trend reports are not.

In this episode, we discuss:

- 7 trends they think we need to pay attention to,

Amy Daroukakis, Founder, Culture Concierge

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amydaroukakis/

Lee Ci En, Media Strategist at Publicis Groupe

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-ci-en/

Strategy ebooks and training:

http://www.sweathead.com

Mark Pollard

http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

In this episode, I reflect about some of the countries I visited in 2024 - from The Maldives to Saudi Arabia. I also talk about the mindset required to reach clarity, big personal reflections, and my upcoming attempt at YouTube.

Read about clarity here:

https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/clarity-on-a-page

https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/what-is-this-mood

The one-page documents are in Best Strategists Club:

https://www.instagram.com/markpollard/

Find details about our LATAM events in March and April and other training here:

http://www.sweathead.com