SOCIAL

📉 Instagram, LinkedIn and Threads engagement declined in 2025.

📱 Gen Z is always on TikTok, but they don’t like it anymore.

🤖 LinkedIn is becoming a top source for AI chatbots.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

🤝 Google, Microsoft to continue work with blacklisted Anthropic.

🛡️ Anthropic’s Pentagon refusal is paying off.

🛒 Retail and grocery brands dominate ChatGPT ads.

RESEARCH

🍳 Marketers report highest rates of AI “brain fry.”

🎙️ AI voice-over is coming to your PMax videos; opt out by March 20.

💰 Influencer pay lacks transparency.

🤖 65% of marketing jobs may not survive AI.

BRANDS

🔎 Google launches dedicated Merchant Center hub for agencies.

🧼 How Procter & Gamble got “good buzz” by briefly retiring Mr. Clean.

Monday: This week on The Daily Carnage Show… OpenAI accepts a controversial contract with the Pentagon following Anthropic’s refusal to enable mass surveillance and autonomous killing. Plus, Meta rolls out updates to creation and scheduling tools; a clever campaign from a photography museum demonstrates the transgressive role of out-of-home; and the real reason everyone’s talking about the viral McDonald’s CEO mukbang. Stream “Meta, McDonald’s Mukbang, and The OpenAI Mess” (14:41) everywhere.

Tuesday: Successful Reddit marketing looks like brands participating as helpful community members. Be useful first, human second, and promotional last. Why? Overt advertising is often downvoted or ignored on Reddit. When your comment adds real value—like sharing experience, data, or practical advice—other users engage with it naturally, increasing the likelihood that people will explore your brand later. Here are some helpful frameworks for Reddit comments.

Wednesday: New data from BrightEdge suggests that AI is evaluating brands and inserting its own editorial tone into responses. While overall negative sentiment from both Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT is rare (just a few percent of total mentions), the type, timing, and source of criticism vary significantly between them. Here’s how.

Thursday: Organic social success takes understanding the deeper dynamics of how attention works on modern platforms. For one, follower counts no longer guarantee reach. Many accounts reach only a small fraction of their audience per post. Organic growth now behaves more like a media product than a marketing channel. Platforms reward content that keeps users engaged, sparks conversation, or delivers clear value. Here’s a cheat sheet.

Can you solve this puzzle? 🦉

🔥 This week in The Daily Carnage Facebook group:

“I feel like I’m at a potential crossroads in my career. I’m acting as a marketing consultant of sorts for all the businesses that sell the companies product. I’m constantly battling the older management that wants to keep things the same, but also find new ways to advertise in a market that is awful for home services. I feel scared to switch jobs in fear that it will be worse than what I’m dealing with now. Is every marketing manager position just a total cluster?”

💬 Our community of experts says…

• “Embrace the cluster. It goes with the territory.”
• “It cannot hurt to apply places and actually interview, it helps you remember how smart and capable you are, and all of the knowledge you actually have that workplaces can start to dim with bureaucracy and lack of innovation.”
• “Hang in there and hold your ground. Everyone has a little imposter syndrome when times are overwhelming. Just keep pushing and trying to make little changes along the way, and celebrate those small victories.”

“The Daily Carnage was the newsletter that brought us the most meaningful demo clicks and new trials.” — Digital Summit

“Open rate was nearly 50% and CTR was relatively high, especially considering this newsletter’s audience was likely being exposed to our event for the first time.” — Adweek

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Sunshine Bakers, 1968

Answer: Ford Explorer.

Ford delivered a customized Chicago-made Hybrid version to his holiness, who is said to be enjoying “driving a sporty ride.”