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It's officially September and so in this week's newsletter you'll find a deep dive into the curious return of a perplexingly popular flavor: pumpkin spice. As you'll read, its seasonal dominance may no longer be unquestioned as there are several flavors that might take its place.
In other stories, Heineken delivers with another wonderfully relevant and creative campaign which reminds us all of the power of gathering with friends in-person, and the hot new job of the near future may be hiring designers and writers to fix awful AI generated slop. Plus in bonus stories you'll read about the rise of AI pets, a new spinoff from The Office is finally here, explaining the millennial trend of "the great lock in" and why people are starting to talk like ChatGPT.
Enjoy the stories this week and stay curious!
Rohit
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An Advertising Campaign That Could Actually Make You Happier
You should go out and have a beer. And just in case you need a bit of encouragement, Heineken wants you to go and have a beer too. That seems like a pretty obvious positioning for an alcohol brand, but their latest #socialoffsocials campaign is just another reminder of how the brand has consistently been sharing this message for decades. I worked on Heineken's marketing when I was at Leo Burnett Sydney in the year 2000. Back then, they sponsored many live events and focused on how their beer encourages people socializing and having fun. Twenty-five years later they still sponsor events like Formula 1, soccer, tennis and Coachella ... and the brand is still about having fun at live events.
The message has a new relevance today as people struggle with loneliness and need more motivation to just go out and put the phone down, as this video linked above humorously points out. Amid mukbang videos of people eating and "cake or fake" challenges, the short video reminds us of the power of choosing to hang out with each other instead of our phones.
One of the most isolating experiences is streaming entire seasons of shows on Netflix. To counter the appeal of streaming, in Brasil Heineken just launched an advertising partnership with Uber where they are offering vouchers for people to pause their shows, jump in an Uber and go out to meet friends in real life. These ads are targeted to appear during moments within 75 different shows where the characters are in a bar enjoying a drink themselves. It's a clever way to interrupt someone to remind them that life is out there, waiting for them ... if they just choose to get off the couch and experience it.
How Fixing AI Slop Might Be the Next Big Job Opportunity ... For Those Willing To Do It
What do you do when your AI generated text or image comes out not quite right? A growing number of people are turning to writers and designers to fix that AI-generated slop and turn it into something useful. For several years, some people have predicted that the future of these sorts of creative tasks will involve some fusion of AI and talent. In The Future Normal, Henry and I wrote about the trend we called "Augmented Creativity" as a way of exploring this idea too.
This is a related, but perhaps slightly different idea. It's not so much augmenting creativity or making things in partnership with AI. Instead it's more akin to a design version of emergency surgery or a visit to the ER ... sometimes with a similar mix of desperation and panic baked into the requests themselves.
The end result is that in the short term this could offer a highly lucrative opportunity for designers and writers who can work under this sort of pressure, are willing to work off of AI-generated fails and have the emotional aptitude to handle these somewhat unreasonable and probably unrealistic sorts of timelines and expectations. If you're one of those professionals, how do you feel about this? Would you take on work that was initially created unsuccessfully by AI or is that a red flag for you to steer clear?
The Curious Modern Popularity of Pumpkin Spice
It's September and pumpkin spice everything is there. Coffee, candles, cereals, Oreos, dog treats, gum, hummus and even butt wipes (entertainingly rebranded as "Dumpkin Spice"). The inescapability of this random ingredient may leave you wondering why exactly it's so popular ... especially since it doesn't actually include any pumpkin (the term "pumpkin spice" is used to describe an aromatic blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger).
The credit for its modern appeal often goes to Starbucks for their invention of the Pumpkin Spice Latte. Some reports suggest the real explanation is rooted in a much deeper human tradition for using the component spices in food and culture. Here's one particular entertaining theory from Delish:
"Pumpkin spice is how we cope with changing seasons in a chaotic world ... Pumpkin spice is how we now mark the passing of time. Or rather, speed it up in order to summon coziness and warmth on our own time. Pumpkin spice absolutely gives people endorphins. Endorphins make you happy, and happy people will not stop buying pumpkin spice items."
Though I can't see myself ever putting pumpkin spice in my coffee, this desire for comfort as we roll into the cooler months of the Fall makes sense. Some recent consumer reports are suggesting that several other flavors may be challenging pumpkin spice this year for the top spot, including cinnamon, salted caramel and candy apple. Another report suggested we have hit "peak pumpkin spice" level and the hot new flavor will be pecan. Clearly there's a lot at stake here. It's almost enough to make me feel bad about still drinking my coffee without any added spices. Almost.
