startup-brand

Hawaiian Tropic's 'I Touch Myself' Ad Hands the Joke to TikTok

Hawaiian Tropic released its second Alix Earle campaign on May 13, 2026, a dance spot scored to Divinyls' 1991 single "I Touch Myself" with the tagline "Touch yourself and glow." The brand is now two-for-two on the creator-plus-innuendo formula in 12 months. The risk Edgewell

Air Bought IRL Legitimacy Rights to Boy Throb's First Concert

Air sponsored Boy Throb's first real-world concert at New York's Bowery Ballroom on May 12, 2026, branded as "Air Presents Throbchella". Free RSVP tickets for the roughly 575-capacity venue cleared in under a minute, with a waitlist still open four days out. The brand

Coca-Cola Posted $12.5B in Q1. The Industry Was Studying Liquid Death.

Coca-Cola posted $12.5 billion in net revenue in Q1 2026, a 12% jump alongside 18% EPS growth and a 64th consecutive year of dividend increases, per the company's April 28 investor release. Mark Ritson's Adweek column on May 12 noted the marketing industry barely covered

Nike Direct Fell 7% While Wholesale Grew 5%. The 'Comeback' Is a Channel Story.

Nike reported $11.3 billion in flat Q3 FY2026 revenue on March 31, with Nike Direct down 7% currency-neutral while wholesale grew 5%. The 1,400 April layoffs and $230 million severance charge cut deepest in tech and supply chain, not marketing. The 'comeback' coverage focused on a

WARC's 68.8% Flip Explains r/advertising's Anti-Performance Complaint

A viral r/advertising thread on May 10, 2026 argued that performance marketing and A/B testing killed the craft of advertising. The diagnosis is half right. WARC data shows global marketers flipped the historical 60/40 brand-to-performance ratio to 31.2/68.8 in 2024, down from 40.1/

The Ordinary's $175 Banana Is the Only Anti-Markup Stunt a Beauty Brand Can Run

The Ordinary opened six fake grocery stores in Toronto, London, Paris, São Paulo, Mexico City, and Melbourne in May 2026, called "The Markup Marché," selling a banana rebranded as the "All-Natural Magical Energy-Boosting Bar" for $175.90, a coconut for $195.50, an avocado for $305.

Bilt's Roomies Pulled 8M Views From an Account That Never Says Bilt

Marc Jacobs, Crocs, Bilt, and McoBeauty all launched branded microdramas in the past twelve months, and three of the four ran them off accounts that don't carry the brand name in the handle. Bilt's Roomies has crossed 8 million views on @RoomiesRoomiesRoomies, a TikTok account that