🎃 See Halloween brand costumes from Pillsbury, Chili’s, Vita Coco and more.

👻 Also, Google’s “Frightgeist” Halloween search trends overview is here.

📊 CMOs share what brands get wrong when marketing to Gen Z at Advertising Week.

🤖 New ads for ChatGPT scored low on fluency and even lower on branding basic.

📱 Meta’s TikTok-ification continues with a new algorithm for Facebook Reels.

🛒 Why Walmart is selling badly designed cans of Axe body spray. Hint: TikTok.

🔥 Ragebait is everywhere. Should marketers lean in?

Got some travel budget burning a hole? Here are the top social media conferences to follow in 2026:

• SXSW (March 12–18, Austin, TX) — The festival at the intersection of technology, culture, and creativity, featuring sessions on media, innovation, and storytelling.
• Social Media Week (April 14–16, NYC) — Hosted by Adweek, this one explores how social-first strategies and AI are shaping marketing growth.
• Social Media Marketing World (April 28–30, Anaheim, CA) — A top industry event for social media strategy, organic vs. paid marketing, and the future of AI in content.
• ANA Digital & Social Media Conference (July 8–10, Los Angeles, CA) — Focuses on networking and thought leadership around influencer marketing, retail media, and CTV.
• Content Marketing World (Oct. 5–7, Denver, CO) — Covers brand strategy, analytics, and AI in content creation.
• Advertising Week (TBD, NYC) — Brings together leaders from across the marketing spectrum for panels, exhibits, and workshops.
• VidSummit (TBD) — Geared toward influencers looking to monetize and scale their personal brands.
• VidCon (TBD, Anaheim, CA) — A hybrid creator, community, and industry event for digital content professionals.
• TwitchCon (TBD) — For streamers and gaming creators, offering panels, meetups, and live experiences.

Perplexity has officially launched Comet, its free AI-powered web browser, now available for global desktop download after months on a waitlist.

Its integrated AI, Comet Assistant, supports research, meetings, coding, and everyday tasks directly within each tab.

Perplexity also introduced Background Assistants, which lets you delegate ongoing tasks asynchronously. Future plans include a mobile app with advanced voice technology for seamless, hands-free interaction.

Where were you the day the world went blue?

Apple’s latest “Underdogs” installment (8 min), directed by Bertie Ellwood, takes us to a chaotic trade show where Apple’s team must navigate Microsoft’s famous blue screen of death.

And yeah, Apple has its own problems, but, to be fair, there hasn’t been a global Spinning Wheel of Death Day. Yet?