The Daily Carnage

The savvy marketer's hub for industry news, insights, resources, and culture.

Today’s Issue

TikTangled

TikTok US is off to a bumpy start.

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Lookin’ Up

KitKat’s latest campaign hinges on two truths: 1) we have a collective screen addition, and 2) KitKats happen to be the same shape as mobile phones. 📱🍫

So, VML Czechia swapped smartphones for KitKats in clever OOH ads to remind us that chocolate is way better than doomscrolling. The famous “Have a Break. Have a KitKat” line stays small and subtle—perfect for an anti-distraction message.

Brit Grit

Mini USA is skipping the New York Auto Show—but not quietly.

With help from Goodby Silverstein & Partners, the brand launched a plucky outdoor campaign riffing on rival car brands’ iconic taglines.

Billboards around the Javits Center feature lines like “’ELLO, JEEP PEOPLE. There’s only ever been one street-legal go-kart,” playfully poking at Jeep’s “There’s Only One.”

Other ads take on Mercedes, Ford, and Porsche in the same irreverent tone.

Full-page New York Times ads and billboards in key cities reinforce Mini’s challenger spirit.

I’m Loanin’ It

Chili’s is taking aim at redonkulous fast food prices with its new Big QP burger and a saucy little NYC pop-up called “Fast Food Financing.”

Created by Edelman US, the campaign highlights Chili’s “3 For Me” menu—offering the Big QP (with 85% more beef than a McD’s QPC), plus fries, bottomless chips and salsa, and a drink for $10.99.

The April 16–17 pop-up, located directly beside a certain fast food joint known for its clown mascot, mimics a loan approval experience. Visitors are rewarded with gift cards and access to a Chili’s speakeasy to try the Big QP for themselves.

Warning: Thirst Trap

You know what’s good? Bad Bunny’s steamy campaign for Calvin Klein.

You know what’s even better? Progressive’s perfectly executed stunt to piggyback on the Bad Bunny buzz.

With billboards of the nearly-naked superstar turning heads in New York and Miami, the insurance brand worked with Gut Miami to place branded trucks near the ads, warning drivers with lines like “Thirst trap ahead” and “Less staring, more steering.”

Hitting the Nail on the Head

Bloomberg Media’s new campaign, “The Contextualist,” reexamines familiar idioms in a modern context.

Directed by the acclaimed director of “The Brutalist,” Brady Corbet, the campaign marks his commercial debut and lends his cinematic sensibility to three 30-second spots.

Each ad explores idioms like “a bird in the hand” and “the price of tea in China,” reinterpreting them through a business lens to highlight Bloomberg’s global reporting.

Created by Wieden+Kennedy New York, the campaign spans connected TV, digital out-of-home, audio, and social channels across key markets like the U.S., UK, and Singapore.

Coke Zero Goes Low Budget

Yes, Coke Zero! Serve us nothing!

The brand’s latest campaign from Ogilvy India omits the product altogether.

Committed local actors pantomime through the motions of enjoying a “zero-calorie” Coke Zero. No cans, no script, no jingle.

“We realized that the biggest inspiration lies within the name Coke Zero,” said CCO Sukesh Nayak. “We designed a campaign that simply and effectively shows the Zero impact—by not showing the product at all. Sometimes it’s the simplest ideas that bring out the most magic.”

Snapchat’s New Chatty Ad Format

Snapchat has teamed up with Wendy’s to test Sponsored Snaps, a new conversational ad format that delivers branded messages directly to users’ chat inboxes.

The idea is that Sponsored Snaps will engage users seamlessly within their chat feed, feeling more like a friend’s message than a traditional ad.

Wendy’s campaign—featuring a playful message, “Can we yap now?” and “Saw this and thought of you <3″—generated 52 million impressions in just one day, making it the highest-viewed U.S. takeover ad in Snap’s Q4 Alpha test.

The campaign also boosted Wendy’s organic Snapchat following by 55% and drove nearly 12,000 clicks, resulting in a 17% increase in brand awareness.

In Q4 2024, Sponsored Snaps were the platform’s largest single-day reach product.

Rest in Peach

Lovingly, we gotta say Lipton Ice Tea’s April Fools’ stunt was the loser this year.

On March 18, the brand announced it was discontinuing its beloved Peach flavor, to which the masses and media replied “wtf” and “summer is ruined” and “what else even is there.”

Then, on March 19, the brand clarified that the announcement was an early April Fools joke… in mysterious first-person (“I’ve got your back!”). Ok, narcissist?

In the words of a top user comment, “I cried when you took it away, and I cried when you brought it back.”

We’re too delicate for this, Lipton! But for real, the brand’s unhinged persona strategy on IG does seem to be paying off.

In Defense of Color

A mysterious creative collective called Ghost is behind a new billboard campaign to protect the local art scene in Charlotte, North Carolina from “beige.”

That’s the message that began appearing on cryptic billboards across the city—before revealing their true purpose: saving local arts nonprofits like ArtPop from financial ruin.

The campaign, backed by Adams Outdoor Advertising, drives people to saveartfromdeath.com, urging support for struggling creative organizations.

The message is simple but powerful: without art, Charlotte becomes a colorless void. It’s a bold move, but as ArtPop’s founder puts it, “It’s Hail Mary time.” The campaign runs through April.