Why are brands getting so weird? If everyone is unhinged… Is anyone unhinged? Is it more unhinged to be hinged? Has the counterculture become the mainstream? And if so, WTF is next?

In this episode, Shannon traces the rise of unhinged marketing through the lens of postmodernism and surrealism, movements born from similar periods of cultural instability.

Learn how marketers use chaos, irony, cynicism, and disruption to resonate in a fragmented, meme-driven digital culture.

🎙️ Stream now (15 min):

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CULTURE

🧳 Why marketers are leaving… and what it takes to stay.

• 💡 According to our poll, 20% of respondents rate their burnout at a 5 out of 5.

📚 CMOs share their beach reads.

Monday: Growth marketers are using an interesting (and maybe controversial) hack: AI Share Buttons. Instead of relying solely on Google, AI Share Buttons like “Summarize in ChatGPT” or “Explore in Perplexity” let users input content directly into the memory and citation streams of large language models. What’s the advantage?

• 💡 According to our poll, 30% of marketers say, “Help AI rip off my original work? No thanks.”

Tuesday: Google used AI to analyze 4,700 top-performing YouTube ads, revealing 3 major themes consistent across great video creative. Hint: Multi-format storytelling works.

Wednesday: Trending TikTok sounds are like rocket fuel. They catch attention fast, help you ride algorithm waves, and often come with a built-in joke, format, or moment. The trick, of course, is using them before they’ve hit saturation. Here are 9 ways to get ’em while they’re hot.

Thursday: The Marketing Accountability Council has published a working version of tthe MAC Stack, a new system designed by and for marketers who are tired of fads, fluff, and frameworks that fall apart in the real world. Here’s how it breaks down.

Can you solve this puzzle? 🔨

Trending in The Daily Carnage Facebook community this week:

“Am I crazy? Is everyone relying on AI all the time for generating content? I’m on the edge of a spiral over this.”

💬 Our community of experts says…

• “I’m a one-man marketing department with next to zero budget allocated for seeking third-party help. You’re damn right I use AI. Do I love that fact? No. But if I have any hope of doing my job well and covering everything it entails, I need to rely on it for certain things.”
• “I don’t use it because it always offers up errors or inferior quality.”
• “I use it ‘responsibly.’ It can do drudge work for me, so I can focus on strategy and creatives.”
• “I will not be utilizing AI as long as humanly possible.”
• “Our company is pushing it HARD but the amount of impact it has on our environment is so alarming to me that I just try to avoid completely.”

🦉 Duolingo’s chaotic marketing has driven real brand growth.

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Answer: Dance The Slurp.

For real. Anyway, don’t forget to grab your free Slurpee today.