A brief overview of what is currently trending in news, culture, and/or trending hashtags and formats.
Bears: The Chicago Bears defeated the Washington Commanders in a nail biter on Monday Night Football last night.
Trump: President Trump arrived in Tel Aviv yesterday to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Phil:.Youtubers Dan and Phil have confirmed to fans that they’ve been in a relationship for 16 years in a video posted to their channel.
A deeper dive into a subject that is impacting culture on a macro level, beyond just the social space.
Gushers Goes Gory
What It Is: In a feed of reactive, short-form, quick-to-consume content, it takes something unique to stand out – and that’s exactly what fruit snack brand Gushers has done. Flipping the status quo, Gushers released a 9-minute short horror film based on their haunting commercial from the ‘90s in which children’s heads were turned into actual fruits after consuming the snack. Directed by Mike Diva, director of pretaped shorts for Saturday Night Live, the film tells a story of revenge after a mishap behind the scenes while filming the original ad. The film has already seen great reach, boasting almost 7.5M impressions across TikTok and Instagram, and more importantly heavy engagement with the 10 posts across their channels garnering over 84,000 shares.
Brand Takeaway: First, this campaign is an incredibly unique way to tap into brand history – building lore through brand assets that typically may never have seen the light of day again. But, on a larger scale it is just the latest iteration of a rising trend among brands to begin posting long form episodic content as opposed to easy-to-digest clips. While the general thoughts on social content right now surrounds the lack of attention span, these story based series’ push back against this; showing that extended attention spans do in fact still exist. On top of that, releasing a series with multiple parts, episodes, or seasons draws people to return to your account beyond just the initial post as they begin to get a sense of the “oh my show is on” feeling. Building that appointment style viewing experience allows for people to feel more connected to a brand as it becomes a part of their weekly routine, which in turn results in a dedicated, consistently engaged follower base.
Examples: 1, 2, 3
Four must-click links that crossed our feeds today.
The Knicks brought back Keegan Michael Key’s iconic substitute teacher role to celebrate the upcoming start to the NBA season.
The Toronto Blue Jays dropped a masterclass of a reactive tweet, posting a simple gif in response to the 15 inning game 5 instant classic between the Mariners and Tigers.
Shockingly San Marino’s national soccer team has to LOSE their next game for a chance to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
The 6 7 meme has gone mainstream with Michail Antonio referencing it on TNT Sports broadcast of the FA Cup draw.
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