The Daily Carnage

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

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Gone Tumbln’

Tumblr’s latest campaign, created by Rival, positions the platform as place of refuge from the dynamic digital landscape full of toxic masculine energy and controversy. Lookin’ at you, X. …And Meta.

Come embrace escapism, creativity, and self-expression without divisive rhetoric!

Tumblr is a place with “asexual trampoline ghost energy,” apparently, which is a) one hell of a differentiator and b) starting to sound pretty good right about now.

Gentle chaos only.

Fishy & Cheesy

The Uber Eats football conspiracy theory campaign continues.

No, we’re not talking about the NFL fixing the Chiefs win to get Taylor on TV. We’re talking about McConaughey’s idea that football was invented to make you hungry.

Among a slew of other teasers, the brand took over the Caesars Superdome—which will host the big game on February 9—by placing green banners over the stadium logo to read “Caesars Salad?”

The banners’ QR code directs people to the Uber Eats app, where they can order Martha Stewart’s Super Bowl Caesar Salad.

Major Points

The good news: IKEA just launched a points-based rewards program!

The bad news: They’re comically late to the party. What year is it?

Fortunately, they’re in on the ribbing.

In a new series of videos, they bring back viral moments from the last decade, including the Harlem Shake, the Mannequin Challenge, and the Bottle Flip.

If you have no idea what we’re talking about, just enjoy earning points on your new BILLY bookcase and don’t worry about it. It was a weird time.

Verizon FanFest

Verizon is making Super Bowl history next month with event activations in 30 football stadiums across the U.S. on the day of the big game.

For the first time, stadium doors will be opened to thousands of Verizon customers and their guests on the biggest day in football, where they’ll be treated to local food and drink vendors, meet and greets with local NFL heroes, and performances by local music acts.

“The Super Bowl is practically a national holiday, but very few people actually get to experience the Super Bowl live in the stadium,” said Nick Kelly, Verizon’s head of partnerships.

“We’re leveraging the power of our sponsorships, national and local partnerships across the country, along with the unmatched strength of the Verizon network in stadiums and venues, to put our customers at the center of this unique experience.”

Sticky Jingle

Band-Aid is celebrating 50 years of its hall-of-fame jingle, “Stuck On You.” Kind of brings a tear to your eye and a scrape to your knee, no?

The brand is releasing a limited anniversary edition of bandages in its iconic tin packaging—introduced in the 1926 and discontinued in 1994—which is often collected and creatively repurposed.

The “Jingle Tin” will naturally feature the lyrics to the playful tune and will be supported by interactive store displays, influencer campaigns, and a cash giveaway.

You Clearly Need This Hat

Sports Clips teamed up with Lids to bring you Clear Hat, so you’ll never have to give up your drip to show off your fresh cut again.

“It’s the answer to a problem that we completely made up,” wrote the brands in an Instagram post.

For National Hat Day, 100 commenters were selected at random to win the campy little cap.

Fake holidays! Manufactured need! The unabashed spirit of marketing transparently on display! We love it.

Oh Zuck

Mark Zuckerberg announced last week that independent fact checkers would be removed from Facebook and Instagram in favor of community notes.

In response, UK’s Channel 4 parked a van in front of Meta’s London offices with a digital billboard that read: “We fact check the Zuck out of our news.”

“Fan of facts? Us too. And right now, trust is more important than ever. Truth builds trust—and for our viewers, for our brand, for our advertisers and for our people—we think that’s worth reminding you of,” Katie Jackson, Channel 4’s CMO, told The Drum.

It’s McValue Season

McDonald’s launched its new McValue platform yesterday with some help from John Cena, their official McValue ambassador, in a social campaign.

Sharing his faves from the new menu, John Cena said in a statement, “I always talk about ‘earning my sunset’ and there’s nothing like heading to McDonald’s after completely crushing your day.”

The more flexible McValue menu will include the Buy One, Add One for $1 Deal and the $5 Meal Deal from 2024, with lots more local and mobile promos to come.

Cena is actually a lifelong Mickey D’s fan, by the way, but he’s probably ordering off the full-priced menu, right?

Gassed Up

You remember Enron? The American energy corporation that went down in the flames of internal fraud and corruption 24 years ago?

Well the guys from the Birds Aren’t Real performance-art project have resurrected the Enron brand for parody gold, and they’re launching their first product: an at-home nuclear conductor.

After a series of deadpan appearances and interviews to build interest and confusion, the new “CEO” introduced the satirical “Enron Egg” in a Jobs-esque announcement video at the “Enron Power Summit.”

They even staged an old-fashioned CEO pie-in-the-face a la Bill Gates 1998.

The College Company purchased the rights to the Enron name for $275 to communicate “the dangers of coporatism and corporate greed,” so there’s really no telling what’s next for the Enron cinematic universe.

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