The Daily Carnage

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

Today’s Issue

Is Rainbow Capitalism Dead? 🌈

Brands scale back support.

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Mall Date

Auntie Anne’s has launched Sparkleberry Lemonade for the holidays, along with matching “Smittens,” a tri-mitten set featuring one you can share with your boo while sipping lemonade together.

The campaign is peak Y2K mall-culture energy with infomercial-style ads, a throwback hotline (844-4-SMITTEN), and limited-edition merch, like a giant “Together Tether” scarf.

Ricola Couture

Riiiiicola has dropped some scented scarf merch.

The branded scarves are infused with the brand’s signature Swiss alpine herbs and made with premium Euro textiles. You can cop Lemon Balm + Mint or Peppermint for a limited time.

Delightfully, each scarf has a hidden cough-drop pocket. Forty bucks.

Ricola Couture

Riiiiicola has dropped some scented scarf merch.

The branded scarves are infused with the brand’s signature Swiss alpine herbs and made with premium Euro textiles. You can cop Lemon Balm + Mint or Peppermint for a limited time.

Delightfully, each scarf has a hidden cough-drop pocket. Forty bucks.

Til Death Do We Art

You know we had to cover this campaign from The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, the home of Carney HQ.

To promote the debut of the museum’s latest exhibit, Vanitas, BarkleyOKRP crafted The Warhol Death Kit, a limited-edition, interactive art box that encourages visitors to reframe death as a personal act of self-expression.

Included items let participants write their own eulogy, customize “in lieu of flowers” requests, color tombstone designs, experiment with coffin poses, vote on their afterlife destination, and leave a recorded message for loved ones.

It also comes with the official Vanitas exhibition art book.

IRL, Chat?

Most of us live in our group chats (94%), but don’t see each other as much as we’d like (only 29% of Americans meet up monthly).

Heineken’s “Group Chat Bar” pop-up is inspired by NBA player Josh Hart’s own chat, Cold Water.

The effort supports Heineken’s #SocialOffSocials brand platform.

Facebook Status Update

After a four-year pause on brand campaigns, Meta has revived Facebook’s emotional appeal with “A Little Connection Goes a Long Way” from Droga5.

The 60-second spot follows a group of friends reuniting on Thanksgiving Eve through a Facebook message, all set to Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash’s “Girl from the North Country.”

It’s a pivot from Meta’s heavy AI push in an effort to attract Gen Z and millennials back to the platform.

Bot Breakup

Tinder is getting rid of bots. So, why not put out a breakup album?

In an effort to promote its new “Face Check” verification feature, Tinder released Bot Ballads, a six-song EP told entirely from the bots’ perspective.

Each track, from the country “Didn’t Know I Had a Heart… Until You Broke It” to the 80s-inspired “You Ctrl Alt Deleted Me,” laments the digital rejection.

Available on Spotify, Bot Ballads hides promo codes for a free week of Tinder Gold within its lyrics. Like Taylor Swift or something.

Duck Face

Pringles is running back one of the most iconic snack slogans of the ’90s.

Say it with us: “Once You Pop, The Fun Don’t Stop!” 70% of consumers still recognize the slogan.

In a new campaign from FCB New York called “Duck King,” directed by Thomas Ormonde, a young man is crowned leader of (real) ducks after wearing his Pringles as duck lips.

Fun fact: They left the duck talent at the park.

Goin’ Out Tonight 🎺

Uber Australia scored a mega feature from Shania Twain and Australian comedian-musician Tom Cardy for a new campaign.

The film opens with Cardy jamming in an Uber before Twain magically appears beside him for a little duet, reminding us that solving a Wordle, applying lipstick, or nailing a trombone solo just can’t be done behind the wheel.

Let’s go, friends! 🤠