Sunday Strategy: So You've Been Brand Shamed, Weird Chalamet, Serious KFC + More
Volume 2: Issue 29 // July 20th, 2025
In this issue of Sunday Strategy, we look at four stories to think about next week, including: Brands Punching Down, 16 Year Olds Voting, a US Retail Sales Mirage, Country as Culture and five.
In addition, we have ads from: Yumbo, KFC, Cash App and Sapeurs & Pompiers de France.
// Stories of the Week:
1.) So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by a Brand.
The internet was almost completely subsumed this week by the extramarital C-suite affair of two Astronomer executives, unearthed through a random ‘kiss cam’ at a Coldplay concert. The footage, which showed the CEO and Head of HR in an embrace with each other, while being married to other people, resulted in his departure from the company and a torrent of viral memes and discussion from both people and brands.
As pointed out in the news, and on LinkedIn by people like James Whatley and Jack Appleby, the ensuing furor and scandal opens questions about public shaming and moral outrage in the age of personal brands, social media and cultural marketing. When anyone can go viral (for right or wrong reasons), what limits should exist on how brands use these moments to sell their services? While I’m not excusing their behavior in any means (either the affair or Coldplay), a world where every talking point is fair game for brands to use in marketing is risky.
So far, one influencer’s account has incorrectly claimed to be the CEO’s daughter, newspapers have asked about its implications for the ‘surveillance state’, a video game has been made and brands have used the moment to sell everything from flights to movies. While people’s tendencies to join in on moral outrage has been documented from Ronson to Hawthorne and beyond, brands look to add fuel to the fire with their involvement and in the process, exacerbate the direct and indirect damage on people involved. Can brands be accused of punching down or are they just reflecting the tendencies of the people that run them?
2.) What Happens When 16 Year Olds Can Vote?
The UK has announced it will lower the voting age from 18 to 16 before the next general election, but will this have a seismic impact on politics? Other countries where similar changes have been enacted suggest that while the political landscape won’t instantly shift, though high voter engagement and turnout amongst new voters increase. Younger voters are shown to be a diverse block who will bring a range of opinions while taking more control of their future - increasing support for a range of candidates and issues vs. disproportionately breaking for one. While much has been said about ideological preferences amongst under 20s, gender skews (where younger men are becoming more conservative and younger women more liberal) seem to be providing a broad base of support.
Outside of politics, this is another reminder to marketers about a diversity of opinion and attitude amongst teens. The tendency to treat younger audiences as a homogeneous block often strips them of nuance and agency, in both politics and marketing. That said, the “Gen Z stare” meets polling place articles we will get should be fire.
3.) What Can We Make Of US Retail Sales?
Amidst continuing economic uncertainty and a power struggle at the Federal Reserve, US retail sales increased by .6% in June. However, the force behind this increase may be inflation and price increases over volume. With inflation increasing in June, calls of a continued retail rebound may need to be careful, with a mixed message across sectors.
Electronic sales increased by .1%, suggesting a lasting tariff impact - while food and drink service increased by .6%. With food and drink, a barometer of consumer spend increasing, is it time for marketers to have a little bit of guarded optimism or are we seeing increased pressure on consumers amidst a retail mirage?
4.) We’re All Members of a Country Club.
Pereira O’Dell’s recently released “Deep Cut” report looks at the “resurgence” of Country music culture. While the increased prominence of cowboy boots, bars, the Cowboy Carter tour and more makes it seem like country is back on the scene, it may be more accurate to say that it never went away. The Country genre is arguably the cultural spine of the US and naturally exists to intersect and adapt with culture around it. Modern country benefits from cross genre music creation and subversion of its cues to make a statement because in a way, it’s ubiquitous to American culture. Check out the full report below.
// Ads You Might Have Missed:
1.) ‘Meat for Real Meatheads’ - Yumbo:
You could argue meat is going through a tough time at the moment. People still love it, but as veganism and vegetarianism gets more accessible and available, who will stand up for steak? Meat stick Yumbo’s latest campaign commits to the role, telling the story of one young female meathead who’s suffered for love. From meat based tea parties as a child, to bringing steak to prom, Yumbo shows a meathead’s humorous credentials before using their endorsement in a way that would even scare the Peperami Animal.
2.) ‘The Rare Vegetable Shop’ - Cash App:
Fintech brand Cash App’s latest campaign, in partnership with two time Oscar winner Timothee Chalamet aims to spark intergenerational conversations about money, but does it leave more people talking instead about the ad itself. The unusual ad, which sees Chalamet shopping at an exotic vegetable store, sparks a conversation between a store owner and his son about their weird payment options (ingots, livestock, etc.).
The ad itself is unusual for a lot of reasons, but none involve a new reason to think about money. While ambitious, the conversation at the middle of it (traditional father, modern son) doesn’t feel fully representative of SMBs in today’s world and is well-worn. Coupled with the attention grabbing, but unusual execution - audiences, such as those who saw it before the premiere of Superman in theatres, may be left with other non-traditional elements to focus on than the ad’s traditional message.
3.) ‘Obsession’ - KFC:
Successful founders are often a little obsessive. Armed with a belief and an idea the formation and growth of a company is serious business. So it's often ironic that the mascots for these companies, often embodying founders like KFC’s ‘Colonel Sanders’ come across as so happy and affable. KFC’s latest ad rectifies this, going full Oppenheimer on the story of its founder and treating the 11th ‘herb and spice’ like it's the ‘7th seal’.
The ad proclaims that ‘the Colonel lived, so we can chicken’ and in the process it turns the brand into a story of obsession and dedication. KFC has famously stretched its founder mascot in many directions, from recasting him to where he shows up, but in its latest campaign it may find that emotions are the most obvious, and truthful change, no one thought of. It might be weird, but so was starting a friend chicken franchise at one point.
4.) ‘Fire Catchers for Hérault’ - Sapeurs & Pompiers de France:
We don’t talk about the power of cognitive surplus as much as we used to. In an age of AI, the concept, originally laid out by author Clay Shirky in 2010 to describe the opportunity to engage individuals in collaborative activities within new media, has seemingly been put to the side. However, a campaign to fight wildfires in France still puts its ethos at its heart.
‘Fire Catchers for Herault’ uses live streams of French forests and pre-roll formats on Twitch to engage viewers to help spot wild fires this summer, while waiting for their favorite streamers to go live. The concept is ingeniously simple and shows that alongside newer technologies, which I assume are also used to spot fires, there is a space to tap into the wisdom and time of the crowd.
// Sunday Snippets
// Marketing & Advertising //
// MLB unveils its latest campaign ‘You Seeing This’ fronted by Adam Devine [Ads]
// Can Goodles make Mac & Cheese more of an adult thing? If you didn’t believe it was already? [Food]
// Hankook tire says it knows that people don’t really care about tires in its latest campaign, but does it really want to believe it? [Ads]
// Halo Top celebrates national ice cream month by giving away free ice cream to anyone who’s name matches a competitor ice cream brand [Ads]
// Coney Island mainstay ‘Nathan’s Famous Hotdogs’ makes use of a hot dog-esque element of the new NYC subway map [Ads]
// UNO comes to Las Vegas for a limited time [Brands]
// The NJ Devils went full ‘dodgeball’ in their fixture release video for next season [Sports]
// Missed flights meant free margaritas for two days at JFK airport [Travel]
// Technology & Media //
// OpenAI seeks a piece of AI commerce driven sales [AI]
// Streaming accounted for 46% of TV viewed in the US in June [Media]
// Denmark is letting people copyright their faces to fight deepfakes [AI]
// 1/3rd of teens reportedly prefer speaking to AI companions over real world friends [AI]
// The risk of AI to feed vulnerable users’ delusions continues [AI]
// Life & Culture //
// Can Pokemon and Sports cards outperform the stock market? A growing amount of young collectors seem to think so [Finance]
// How GLP-1s are shifting what we buy [Health]
// Starbucks orders remote workers to return to the office four days a week [Work]
// With more AI resume scanning, is it time to rethink the one page resume? [Work]
// What is causing Americans to fall in love with British Food now? [Food]
// Austrian football club TSV Hartberg has unveiled a kit with 19 sponsors on it [Sports]
// Sylvanian families finds itself in the middle of lawsuit drama over a parody TikTok account [Social Media]
// Tanning is finding a modern resurgence [Health]
// Until Next Sunday
As always, let me know what you think by email (dubose@newclassic.agency), website or on LinkedIn.
You can also listen to an audio summary and discussion of each week’s newsletter on Spotify. We’re also on TikTok!