A brief overview of what is currently trending in news, culture, and/or trending hashtags and formats.
Grok 3: X released the latest update to their in app AI, Grok, with users discussing the new features.
The Bachelor: Last nights episode of ‘The Bachelor’ was filled with drama as fans share their opinions on this seasons cast.
Toronto: A Delta Airlines flight crashed and overturned while attempting to land at Toronto Pearson International Airport. All on board survived the crash.
A deeper dive into a subject that is impacting culture on a macro level, beyond just the social space.
The Death of the Bird
What It Is: The world of advertising faced a monumental loss this past week; the death of our beloved owl friend and mascot Duo from language learning company Duolingo. The news was broken on Duolingo's social media accounts through an official corporate statement, providing Duolingo with almost unlimited content to post. Posts have included sharing that the bird had been killed by a cybertruck, announcing the deaths of all other Duolingo mascots, and most importantly sharing a call to action for users to band together and accumulate enough XP to bring Duo back to life, the latter which has increased app usage. If that weren’t enough, countless other brands have joined the stunt by commenting and making content of their own about it.
Brand Takeaway: Knowing how and when to show up for another brand’s big moment on social can give your brand a big moment too. The key to success in cases like this one is making sure that your participation is incredibly ownable to your brand and that you’re evolving the original stunt instead of hijacking it. A prime example of this came from Buffalo Wild Wings, who playfully joked about making Duo into buffalo wings on TikTok; a piece of content that has now drawn over 8.8 million views and 1.7 million likes on the platform. While not every stunt by another brand is your moment to shine, knowing how to show up for them not only adds to their success but can be a huge moment for your brand as well.
Examples: 1, 2, 3
Four must-click links that crossed our feeds today.
Sir Patrick Stewart celebrated SNL 50 this week, recreating an iconic moment and John Mulaney joke.
Jeff Probst thinks he invented Survivor (he did).
Vince Staples wants to be on Severance season 3, and Ben Stiller is listening.
Adam Sandler brought the house down with a song recapping the last 50 years of Saturday Night Live.
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