📱 Even with a new U.S. TikTok deal in sight, marketers feel uneasy.

📺 Late-Night in chaos after ABC pulls Jimmy Kimmel.

📩 Apple’s iOS 26 will push most brand SMS into an “Unknown Sender” filter.

🌐 Google adds Gemini to Chrome browser after avoiding antitrust breakup.

⚙️ X is moving to a customizable AI-powered algorithm.

🛍️ Aldi’s viral big bags sell out in minutes.

🎤 Cardi B and DoorDash team up to celebrate the launch of “Am I The Drama?”

Does advertising actually sway consumers through emotional inception and Pavlovian associations?

While this theory is a huge part of our “lore” as advertisers, Kevin Simler argues that it overestimates human susceptibility. Most ads are just too passive to really alter our desires.

Instead, ads shape the broader cultural landscape, signaling social meanings that influence how products are perceived in public.

A conspicuous ad works by showing that everyone else has seen it. Consumers then make rational decisions, choosing products that align with desired social signals.

Here’s what really works:

• Awareness: Informing or reminding customers about a product’s existence and functionality.
• Promises: Establishing explicit or implicit commitments, like “Disney as a family-friendly brand.”
• Honest signaling: Conveying commitment via obvious investment, like billboards or expensive campaigns.
• Cultural imprinting: Embedding products within social and cultural norms.

Chewy stuff.

Monday.com has unveiled Monday Campaigns, expanding its CRM beyond sales into marketing.

The new features will hopefully solve a huge pain point: too many disconnected tools.

Now, by tying campaigns directly to CRM data, you’ll be able to launch and optimize without waiting for sales syncs.

There’s also AI-powered campaign creation, intelligent automation triggered by CRM updates or customer actions, and optimal timing recommendations for higher engagement.

Move over, Skelly. Home Depot has built up a viral frenzy with a new Halloween item:

A simple 2-gallon orange bucket decorated with jack-o’-lanterns, bats, ghosts, and spiderwebs. It’s just $2.98.

You might wanna pick up a few more bags of candy this year, because it looks like the kids will be slinging buckets this year.

One thing’s for sure: affordable + seasonal + limited edition = scary good results.