Something feels off. Every marketer I’ve spoken to lately has said it. Like we blinked and March flew by faster than the Christmas holidays – but somehow, in that blur, everything still managed to feel a bit… off-kilter. Some campaigns went too big with too little thought. Others forgot that empathy is part of the job. And then there were the ones that just left us quietly confused.
Here’s everything that made me pause, screenshot, or silently whisper “oh no” this month.
Doritos Makin’ Me Feel Physically Unwell
I bought the new guacamole-flavoured Doritos. Opened the bag and immediately thought, “I don’t think I can eat this.” The chips were covered in green powder. Like, proper green. And sure, that technically aligns with the flavour – but visually, it looked wrong. Mouldy. Off. Unappetising.
I still tried. Took a bite. Looked again. Closed the bag.
It wasn’t about taste (which tbh wasn’t that great anyway). My brain had already checked out. And that’s the point – it doesn’t matter how good something is if the visual experience pushes people away. It’s true for food. But also decks. Ads. Products. If something doesn’t look right, people don’t give it a chance.
I now use these chips in my slides to talk about visual design and UX. Because the reaction is instant. You don’t need a user testing session to know when something feels off. People just won’t engage. And no, I promise I don’t use every single waking experience in my life as a marketing lesson, but this truely was a clear one.
Snoo Just Learnt The Cost of Forgetting There’s a Person on the Other Side.
This story’s been circulating for a few days now, but if you missed it: Brooklyn Larsen, a content creator and former So You Think You Can Dance alum, tragically lost her baby before birth. Months earlier, Happiest Baby had gifted her a Snoo bassinet as part of a brand partnership – she’d agreed to create content in exchange.
Four months later, the brand reached out to ask for it back. Not because it was a loan. But because she couldn’t deliver the content.
They offered to arrange a courier. Said it was a “misstep” in hindsight. But honestly, at that point, just write it off. Absorb the cost. No amount of policy or PR tone can make that email feel okay. And now, they’ve had to publicly apologise – because someone at some point decided the $1600 asset mattered more than the situation.
The whole thing is hard to watch – especially when we’ve seen how it can be done with care. Like when Chrishell Stause lost her dog recently and shared the empathetic messages she got from her dog food subscription company on her stories when she realised she’d forgotten to cancel her subscription. That was a moment of real connection. No brief. No brand tone of voice. Just kindness.
This stuff matters. Especially in moments that aren’t part of the “ideal customer journey.”
Lipton Really Thought They Did Something and Absolutely Did Not.
Lipton ran a campaign claiming they were discontinuing their Peach Iced Tea. The post was framed like a funeral – complete with the phrase “Rest in Peach” and the general energy of a brand trying to go viral via grief. The next day, it was revealed to be a prank (and some vague message about sending a surprise to people who gave the best reactions???).
But here’s the thing: it didn’t feel like a prank. At least, not a good one. There was no obvious wink to the audience. No punchline. No clear indication that it wasn’t real. Just… drama, then confusion, then backtracking. If you weren’t glued to LinkedIn and TikTok, you probably missed the twist entirely.
It felt like a copy of Duolingo’s now-iconic fake death campaign – but without the build-up, tone, or clarity. And that’s the problem. If you’re going to dupe something that already went viral and got mainstream coverage, you have to do something with it. Connect it back to your brand. Make it obvious. Add your own twist. Otherwise, it just looks like a watered-down version of something people liked better the first time.
I also can’t stop thinking about the timing. Was this meant to be an early April Fools’ campaign, just dropped too soon to avoid the brand clutter? Or was this an idea rushed through with no safety net, and now someone’s hoping it’ll disappear quietly? Because honestly, I can’t tell if this was strategic or if an intern’s having the worst week ever.
The only real winner in this campaign? Specsavers. They dropped into the comments with a casual “shoulda gone to Specsavers” and walked away with 1.7k+ likes. A perfect reminder that sometimes the best brand moment isn’t the post – it’s the reply.
Going Big Isn’t the Story – Who You Go Big For Is
There’s no denying brands are going big again. BÉIS turned Westfield Century City into a life-sized claw machine. Giant vending machine. Grab-a-bag moment. Total spectacle. And honestly? It worked. But what made it work wasn’t just the scale – it was that it felt designed for actual customers. Real people. Not just creators with ring lights.
Because while “big” gets attention, relevance is what actually makes it land.
What’s been standing out to me lately isn’t just the brands going big – it’s the ones doing it for their fans. For their communities. For the people who already love them. It’s big, but with heart. And it taps into the kind of user-generated content energy that doesn’t need a paid post to go viral.
Compare that to Poppi’s Super Bowl vending machine stunt. They sent $25K vending machines to influencers across the U.S. – not just creators, but creators with reach. And the backlash was instant. People felt alienated. It felt showy. Over the top. For some, it just didn’t land.
It’s not that big activations are bad. But when they’re built for performance instead of people, you feel the difference.
The brands doing this well are thinking beyond the stunt. They’re thinking about the story someone gets to tell after the moment. They’re making customers the main character – not just giving influencers a new backdrop. That’s the shift I’m watching.
Primark x Pinterest is What Branded Collabs Should Look Like
When I first heard about the Primark x Pinterest collab, I thought: yeah, okay, standard. Big platform meets big retailer. But then I looked into it, and it’s actually kind of genius.
For those who don’t know Primark – it’s basically the UK’s Kmart. Chaotic in the best way. Cheap, cheerful, a little overwhelming, and full of unexpected gems. And as a DIY girly myself, we all know how deep the Kmart obsession runs.
Instead of just slapping both names on a few product tags, they built the collection based on search data. They looked at what was trending on Pinterest – things like “calm bedroom colours” and “neutral interiors” – and created a line of homeware to match. Simple, right? But also very clever.
Because here’s what that does: it closes the gap between what people are saving and what they can actually buy. Pinterest has always been full of aspirational content, and Primark is all about affordability. This made that aesthetic accessible (Kmart: Take notes).
The launch felt clear, well-executed, and genuinely useful. The products looked good. The link between the platforms made sense. It didn’t feel like a gimmick. And importantly – it wasn’t a one-off. They’ve already said there’s more to come. Which makes this not just a product collab, but a broader retail strategy based on actual online behaviour.
Liquid Death Is The Perfect Reminder to Create For Your Actual Audience
Liquid Death dropped a campaign featuring Kylie Kelce – very pregnant, very funny – chugging water from a mini keg “for two.” The product? A limited-edition keg aimed at expectant mums (but really, anyone who wanted a weird little party-sized hydration station). The internet had feelings.
The first few takes I saw skewed negative. Things like “this is too far,” “this is offensive,” or “this encourages drinking while pregnant.” But what stood out to me was who those takes were coming from. Influencers, parents, creators – people who were never really Liquid Death’s audience to begin with. They were never going to buy the keg. It wasn’t made for them.
And that’s the thing. In the actual Liquid Death world? The kegs sold out in 14 minutes. Mainstream media picked it up. People online thought it was hilarious. The target audience got the joke, and leaned in.
It’s a good reminder: you can’t build for everyone. And you don’t need to. Not every campaign has to win over the broadest possible audience – just the right one.
Liquid Death knows their brand. They know what their customers want. And they keep delivering it in a way that feels consistent, weird, and unmistakably theirs.
The line between “controversial” and “culture-driving” is always thin. But when you know who you’re speaking to, it’s a lot easier to stay balanced.
PS – the ad is honestly pretty dang hilarious. Watch it if you haven’t already.
Is No Promo the New Promo?
A few weeks ago, Adolescence popped up on my Netflix homepage. I hadn’t heard of it. No trailer, no press, no influencer chatter. Just suddenly… “#2 in Australia.”
I added it to my watch later list and went back to White Lotus. Then yesterday, I started seeing articles about how the show was filmed in one continuous take per episode. Real-time. No cuts. No edits. That alone made me want to go back and actually watch it.
So maybe that was the strategy. No marketing. Just drop the show, let the algorithm do its thing, and drive post-launch buzz through behind-the-scenes stories and media coverage. It saves budget, avoids the chaos of the pre-launch hype cycle, and honestly—why spend on promo when you own the most valuable ad space?
Netflix controls what shows up on our homepages. They can push a new release straight into the Top 10 overnight. They don’t need a billboard if they can put it directly in front of millions of eyeballs the second it launches. Maybe the “campaign” is just… placing it at the top of your screen.
It feels like part of a bigger shift. More and more shows are launching with almost no traditional visibility. No trailers. No countdowns. Just an algorithm push and a hope that people will talk. And often, they do. (Still haven’t watched Severance despite 10+ people telling me to. But the word of mouth is clearly working.)
Still, I’d love to hear from people working in entertainment – are campaigns being pulled back intentionally? Or has Netflix just made traditional promo kind of irrelevant?
Also – if you’ve watched Adolescence, did the one-take format actually add anything? Or was it just a clever post-launch hook? Did you even notice?
That’s all from me this month – written mostly from the floor with a laptop on 5% and a brain on even less. If you made it this far, you’re doing better than I am.
