Big Things Podcast
A weekly show where we talk about the big things we're watching in marketing, social media, pop culture and sports. We also talk through signals we’re seeing that could inform the future of digital marketing.
You can catch the podcast every Friday wherever you listen or watch it on YouTube. Be sure to follow us on Instagram or TikTok for updates on every episode.
Big Things Podcast
Why We Aren’t Loving NikeSKIMS Yet (E18)
Welcome back! We have a lot to cover this week. Between Love Is Blind drama, NikeSKIMS, and new signals around emotional-impact marketing, this is a jam packed episode. We also share a quick Super Bowl recap, thoughts around Mitzi’s first season diving deep into the NFL, the death of Duolingo’s beloved owl, and the end of personal style. Let’s get into it.
More from us:
- Mitzi Payne @mmmitzi
- Mike Payne @mmmiiike
Timestamps:
- 02:00 – Hockey fights are on the rise lately. Does it create more camaraderie?
- 03:45 – The Drake and Kendrick beef continues. Are we over it or ready to lean into our hater side?
- 05:30 – Love Is Blind drama.
- 08:20 – We missed our Super Bowl recap, so here are some key moments we wanted to talk (and complain) about.
- 15:00 – Thoughts around the Super Bowl ads. Did they actually perform well this year?
- 18:00 – Mitzi’s recap of her first big NFL year and her favorite team.
- 27:00 – Thing 1: Duolingo’s owl is dead? What’s going on with this campaign?
- 33:30 – Thing 2: NikeSKIMS; what’s going on here? And why don’t we love it yet?
- 46:00 – Thing 3: Have algorithms completely cooked our personal style? Addressing a larger conversation around what influences us.
Show notes:
- The SCAN 👀 CLUB 2025 Trend Report: https://scanclub.substack.com/p/what-digital-audiences-want-in-2025
Big Things with Mitzi (@mmmitzi) and Mike (@mmmiiike).
For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/
Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Oliver Banyard.
We ready? Okay, super variety Ready. Yeah, all right, are you ready? Let's do this.
Speaker 2:It's been a minute.
Speaker 1:Welcome to Big Things. I'm Mitzi. This is Mike.
Speaker 2:And this is our show where we talk about the big things we're watching in marketing, social media, pop culture and sports. We also talk through the signals that we're seeing that could inform the future of digital marketing.
Speaker 1:Here's a quick summary of what we're going to talk about today. We're talking about the Duolingo owl, how it died. Nike Skims announces a spring launch and the death of microtrends and life after brain rot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is going to be a good one. It was hard to pick what to talk about.
Speaker 1:Yeah because there's a lot going on.
Speaker 2:A lot going on, a lot going on. I think the thing I'm most excited about right now is the canada versus usa championship game. That or like gold medal game that's happening tomorrow.
Speaker 1:We're recording this on a wednesday yeah, but we watched the game and I actually watch. I actually drafted a linkedin post about this, but I'm not sure if I'm gonna post it because hit publish?
Speaker 1:yeah, I, maybe I should well, because it was the first time I watched a hockey game in like so long. I like sat and watched it and we all know what happened in that game. Like the first 10 seconds there was two fights back to back and that was so shocking to me because I haven't seen that. But it was also like strangely, I think, like what I needed and I don't condone fighting at all, especially like physical fights, but I've given the state of the world and like the political tension between Canada and the US, it was like. It was like good for us.
Speaker 2:Why was it good for us? I think it created like a monoculture moment, like everyone's kind of like A bit of an outlet for some of the tension.
Speaker 1:Yeah, maybe, but also I feel like so much of what brings people together can sometimes be conflict and, like sports is so good at doing that, like bringing the home team together, and I feel like that kind of happened this weekend.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think the two major things that people made a big deal about was the fights, for sure, but also the booing of the US national anthem, which and I think people kind of from what I saw, people were kind of lumping the two things together as, like, these are both like not the way that our country should present themselves, and I think I agree about the anthem Like I don't really think that that is necessary, but I feel like, in hockey, fighting even though, yeah, we don't condone physical violence in the streets, you know but fighting has always been part of hockey and there's also a bit of a you can't generalize this but oftentimes, and I think even in the fights that happen at the beginning of this game, there's a level of camaraderie and like a level of understanding between the players, like we don't actually hate each other in real life, but we're we're putting on for our country it's part of the show and even some of these guys play together in the NHL, so they're they have to go home after this and like, get back to business.
Speaker 2:You know, know.
Speaker 1:Just a friendly fist fight.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, not necessarily friendly, but it's not as deep as I think some people are making it online.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So I don't know, I hope there's that kind of like physical element again in this next game. It's not going to show it or present itself in the same way, but I agree, I think it's an interesting way to just kind of release some of the tension and express some of that rivalry that's existed before this political kind of discourse around the trade war.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly these guys have.
Speaker 2:I mean, you go back to the last time they played in the gold medal game in 2010 and there was fights in that game and it was very high intensity. So it's always been like that.
Speaker 1:It'll always be like, yeah, it's a hockey tradition it is um we also speaking of rivalries.
Speaker 2:I feel like the drake and kendrick saga just continues.
Speaker 1:I think most of us are over it, yeah no, it's not done.
Speaker 2:Kendrick lamar made it like the focal point of his halftime show, so I think. And then obviously, drake has put out new music and there's a lot of discourse around bots um in, like I wanted to say, inflaming or amplifying streaming numbers on platforms like apple and spotify, which is interesting, because some people are saying how drake's album um outstreamed kendrick's on Apple, but then on Spotify the numbers are way different. So it's interesting to kind of see some of that discourse. All that to say, I'm pretty exhausted with the comparisons and the back and forth. Just another way that it's been like that people have found to be polarized towards each other.
Speaker 2:We don't need more versions of that.
Speaker 1:It's funny because I feel like some people are like um, we had a meeting on our social team today and there's an idea that we were tossing around, that someone was tossing around. It was like you know, kendrick told us that we all need to like hate a little bit more, so like here's what I hate, but I feel like I don't know.
Speaker 2:It's like hate is a strong word for what we're trying to say and he's kind of shown like how you need to come for your enemies, yeah, and like and I think they Not Like Us.
Speaker 1:like is not only about Drake, like it's a lot about Drake, but it's also like the way people have like held on to it. It's like them, meaning those other people are not like me you know, so it's like I think it's less about Drake than it was initially.
Speaker 2:That would be great, that would be refreshing.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we also have. Love is Blind drama.
Speaker 1:I'm so shook that you put this in the notes, Like what do you have to say about? Love is Blind.
Speaker 2:Well, it's just because like-.
Speaker 1:You mean the drama between us?
Speaker 2:No, no, no, no. Like we only started watching this season me kind of begrudgingly, although I've said before and I'll say it again that I don't mind the episodes when they're in the pods. I think that's super interesting. But all hell breaks loose as soon as they leave the pods and like meet each other and like, start to meet their friends and family and also start to see the, the person from the pods and like meet each other and like start to meet their friends and family and also start to see the, the person from the pods that they rejected. That is way hotter than the person that they picked and all those dynamics.
Speaker 1:I'm here for all of it but I've also.
Speaker 2:Now that we start watching it, I'm starting to see stuff pop up on social around, like, specifically, that one couple, the girl who loves Taco Bell.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:And the short king.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the guy like he saw her beforehand or whatever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:Which is a huge violation of, like the experiment.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but to me it's just giving producer plant Like this is. They're just trying to find a way to make it interesting again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, we just started. Love is Blind, like you said. Said begrudgingly, but I'm excited, I love that show less begrudgingly for me. White lotus is back yeah, I'm excited about that, the first episode of white lotus it's I'm just stressed the entire time just because of the music yeah, but they changed their music, did you see that?
Speaker 2:I did, but it still is the same like music strategy yeah, and the same like character development strategy. Yeah, just the music. It's almost like it's not techno, but it's like techno in the way that it is always building. So you feel like you're always at the brink of something like crazy happening or someone getting killed or someone doing something.
Speaker 1:And you're suspicious over someone. Like you know something happens and like it could be anyone.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but really it's just a monitor lizard on the on the sidewalk okay, yeah, that like Thailand looks beautiful, but those all those animals and those monkeys.
Speaker 1:Like there's no way I could go to a wellness retreat where there's monkeys in the trees next to me, like I would never be able to just chill.
Speaker 2:I think it'd be kind of sweet, like it's just like a completely different experience. It feels like you're in a story, a storybook.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that sounds really monkeys.
Speaker 2:Those types of monkeys are just kind of like squirrels to us.
Speaker 1:They just are in the trees, kind of sussing you out.
Speaker 2:Maybe they might throw a nut at you, or something like that.
Speaker 1:No, they might come for your hair Like monkeys. I feel like would or something like that. No, they might come for your hair Like monkeys.
Speaker 2:I feel like would like attack you, certain breeds probably, but I don't. It seems like the ones in this show, in this context, are pretty harmless.
Speaker 1:No, I saw the monkeys and I was like I'd never go on a wellness retreat like that, I'll have to go by myself.
Speaker 2:Drew, you want to go to Thailand?
Speaker 1:Sweet, okay, the other big thing like we haven't had a chance to talk about on this show was Super Bowl, which I was super disappointed on because we had a great episode planned and then life happened Our kids' daycare got closed, shut down unexpectedly. So anyways, we couldn't do like a recap, a proper recap of Super Bowl, but we did want to mention it.
Speaker 2:I was kind of relieved actually.
Speaker 1:Why.
Speaker 2:I was just trying to think of how we were going to talk about all these like lackluster commercials, like it was just a miss of a year for me, like nuts to bolts or soup to bolts, however you say it soup to nuts, I think that's the term, but I think, just like from the game itself, it was so boring it was two teams with like polarizing, like agitating fan bases and both teams kind of have this like villain sort of aura around them and their story.
Speaker 1:I don't have any villain aura over the Eagles.
Speaker 2:I must be in another algorithm. Because you can't see past Jason Kelsey, who's like the friendly giant. No, no, no.
Speaker 2:Not, sorry, not, I don't see villain energy from the eagles I know oh yeah, but I think they have that like both from like their coach, nick sirianni, and jalen hurts. He's always like mean mugging everybody and giving attitude to the media, um, and then also their fan base is like they're always in the news and on and in clips on social media like physically assaulting people or stealing their jerseys or hats, you know stuff like that.
Speaker 2:So, for different reasons, both teams kind of have that aura around them and then obviously some people were hyped about the halftime show, but but I think for some it was like, in a way, fairly niche, just Kendrick being a very lyrical, like deep rapper, and I think also there's like probably a generation or two of people that watch football games, that have no clue who he is or why he was performing too. That might have felt like.
Speaker 1:This isn't for me anymore yeah, you know, I don't think it was for everyone and like.
Speaker 1:I the. At the beginning I was like, oh okay, like this is no Beyonce bowl. But as time has gone by I appreciate it more. But it's partly maybe because I watched so many deep dives on all like the symbolism and like extra meaning behind that whole performance that I kind of like respected a bit more, like he did a lot in that time and that at face value, as you're sitting there, like expecting to be entertained, like sure, no one flew in the air, but it wasn't really about that. It was like a broader message. So I kind of like I think there's nothing wrong with that Like I feel like I like it more now than I did when I first watched it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And also the Serena Williams thing. So when I first watched it, everyone like assumed and so did I that she was kind of like crip walking in the performance as kind of like because she had like romantic ties with Drake and so she's like crip walking in a Drake diss track. And at first I was like that's kind of weird. Like why would a happily married, like supreme athlete waste her time doing that? But she's talked about now. It's like she got so much heat and like because she crip walked after one of her like big the Wimbledon.
Speaker 1:Wimbledon, like wins and like that is not like acceptable. She's also from compton. Like she has like a like that's like a big important like dancing from like her community. So her doing that at the super bowl stage was kind of like like a redemption moment for her. So now it's like I'm kind of glad we didn't talk about it right after super bowl because I didn't like it, but now I understand it yeah, yeah, I think I didn't.
Speaker 2:It didn't personally offend me like the halftime show. It just felt like it was the wrong year just because the Super Bowl itself was boring. So it was like if it was in the in between two halves of like incredible football, it would have been like, yeah, this is hype. But I just think it was like, because it was less of a performance and more of like a political commentary and then an extension of the drake beef, it just felt like another like kind of sleepy moment in a series of sleepy moments right.
Speaker 1:So if the game was better, you'd like it better.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, I think if you put that in any of the last three super bowls it would have been complete. It would have felt completely different.
Speaker 1:I think that's the risk of the super bowl. It's like you're you're at the last stage, so you want the final game to be good. But there's so many like games during the season that are like uh, aren't that good of a game you know so like that's. I feel like the risk of that last so much tying into the last game. So maybe they should have Beyonce do the Super Bowl performance every single year and experiment with a different artist in the Christmas Day. Like game. Maybe, Because now they have two performance moments.
Speaker 2:Maybe, but I also. I do understand that, like Donald Trump, was in attendance. So it was like an opportunity to have a political narrative in a performance.
Speaker 1:And it's also he did it for his community. Like I also kind of have to like step back and think about like all the think pieces and deep dives I've seen on TikTok are from like like black people who are explaining, like you know, life in America right now, at this moment in time. Like he even prefaced his whole performance. You picked the right guy at the wrong time, like he was there to talk. Like so I I do have to kind of like I respect that.
Speaker 2:I respect that I'll stop complaining about the Superbowl after this, but I I do want to find data on how the Superbowl commercials actually performed, because I think, at face value and I'm not the only one saying this like there's other marketers and like brand people out there saying that they felt like a lot of the most of the commercials fell flat this year. Um, but I want to know how they actually did from a business perspective, because this is a huge investment. We're talking seven or eight million dollars per, I think, 30 seconds.
Speaker 2:It might even, yeah, 30 seconds. So you take the Jeep commercial with Harrison Ford, for example. That was 90 seconds long. So we're talking about 32 million dollars or no. That was maybe not, maybe 20, I'm not doing math right now $24 million 20-ish million dollars, and that doesn't even include production costs or the cost of Harrison.
Speaker 1:Ford Exactly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that was one like I like Harrison Ford and I liked where he was like saying how he loves to drive a Jeep, even though his last name is Ford or whatever, which was like witty, but still the commercial like went on way longer than it needed to like 90 seconds yeah, super bowl.
Speaker 1:You know what, though I think that's a movie. Yeah, totally, they're buying like impressions, not necessarily impact to brand, you know yeah, but there's still a brand lift from impressions like what.
Speaker 2:However they're measuring it, I want to know how it measured compared to expectation to justify that 30 plus million dollar total investment compared to something like the story we're going to talk about when we actually get into our stories Duolingo.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I thought it was interesting, like Uber Eats had like three Super Bowl commercials.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and there's a lot of confusing ones, Like there's even some that you're like for the longest time. You're like what is this even a commercial for?
Speaker 1:Didn't Canada have a commercial?
Speaker 2:I don't know.
Speaker 1:They did. I didn't even watch it, but I heard about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So one, I'm kind of glad that we didn't have to talk about it until now. Two, I want to know how some of these commercials actually performed because, like I've been saying for the last five minutes, soup to nuts. This Super Bowl was super boring. I wonder how engaged people really were, how much recall they have from those ads actually, how long they even lasted through the game, if they dropped off after halftime all that kind of stuff, because it just feels like a flop.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I feel like I had a different experience than you and I didn't even watch it live. Really, I enjoyed most of what I saw. I feel like I wasn't as invested in the teams. I was just wanted both teams to have fun and I was happy to see Jalen Hurts win, like, and I feel like I I've watched so much football this season so it was like a nice like ending to that. But again, like I'm not not a diehard fan of any team, so anyone winning is great. Love to see it.
Speaker 1:And then the Super Bowl commercials were kind of like. I wasn't too stressed by it, so I feel like it was fun.
Speaker 2:Consuming it all after? Yeah, consuming it all after, without any stress.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Also, I think I wanted to talk about it too, because for me, just like to put myself in the center of the Super Bowl for a second, it was like the finale of like a big football year for me. Like I really paid attention this year. I really like watched a lot of games like more than I have before. Every year I've been like creeping into like the NFL space a bit more and more. I feel like so much more happened just for me this year and it's like all the wag stuff, all the like like celebrity adjacent stuff. There's so many more people like tuning into football this year so I didn't feel like so alone in like my niche. So the thing I have to figure out now is like who am I going to root for next year?
Speaker 2:That's fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:What an exciting process.
Speaker 1:Because at the beginning of the season I was rooting for the San Francisco 49ers and that's because they have a really stacked group of wags. I love them.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Kristen Juszczyk and Claire Kittle and Olivia Kolpo Kolpo so. But now and their season went like didn't go well, because so many injuries?
Speaker 2:They had a lot of injuries. Yeah, Christian.
Speaker 1:McCaffrey got injured.
Speaker 2:Brennan Ayuk.
Speaker 1:So now, next year's Super Bowl is going to be in San Francisco, so I do hope that they get another shot at it.
Speaker 2:I don't think they are. They're probably going to trade their wide receiver one, debo Samuel, and Christian's, another year older. He might have a bit of a comeback season, but it's not going to be better than any of his other seasons. It's only going to start to decay from here.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's okay, because I think I've also. I'm also intrigued by the detroit lions because of dan campbell. I love him. He's the coach of the detroit lions. He's such a wholesome, just sweet older man who seems like he really cares for his team. But the problem with rooting for them is that his whole like coaching staff has moved on to other teams because they did so well last year. So they're kind of a toss up too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think. I think he's going to be OK without his offensive and defensive coordinators. I think he's built a system that can outlast those guys and he's got people from within that he can promote into those positions that already know the system Right. So I feel like maybe you can probably remove that caveat or that concern factor from your decision making.
Speaker 1:Okay, the other team, like I also, when I think about teams I want to root for, it's like okay, maybe one year I'll go to a game and I'm not trying to go to Detroit, no offense. So maybe I should pick a team that has like a fun city. So I was thinking about the New York Jets. Now I've had an up and down relationship with them because I was like all gung ho after I watched Hard Knocks on HBO about like Aaron Rodgers and that season, and then of course we all know he got injured in the first play. He was out for the whole season, then last season he was actually playing but like literally took the whole team down with him, like they are a mess, they did terrible and he just is, like has a stinky attitude, like he seems like he's not who I thought he was.
Speaker 2:Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so anyways, they kicked him out, but they have. What's his name, that coach that they just hired?
Speaker 2:From the Detroit Lions, the defensive coordinator, Aaron Glenn.
Speaker 1:Yes, that handsome older black man, the salt and pepper beard. Yeah, yeah, so he's on Short king. He's on the New York Jets and I feel like if they get a new quarterback, that'd be great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're not going to get a new quarterback immediately, so I feel like the last thing you want to do is pick a team to start cheering for that doesn't have a quarterback.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So it's tempting to follow Aaron Glenn from the Lions over to the Jets, but I just feel like the Jets, it's a world of hurt. They always find a way to take the L.
Speaker 1:I know that's the other thing, like if I'm going to pick the New York Jets like I got to, like choose to suffer and like I'm, you know that's not me.
Speaker 2:I like the idea of you picking an interesting city. I think you should also consider a team that with a young quarterback that has shows promise, but they haven't yet performed at that elite level. So you're not a bandwagon jumper miami no, I don't think you want to get behind mike mcdaniel why he seems like so nice.
Speaker 1:I love how he like runs away.
Speaker 2:I saw a stat recently that his record against teams that against winning teams, like teams over 500 is three for 14 with Miami so he'll. They only beat teams that suck you know I?
Speaker 1:that actually brings it up an important point. Do I want to pick a team that's going to win, like I'm?
Speaker 2:you want to pick a team that's going to win in the next three to five years yeah, exactly, so like. Miami's going in the wrong direction. No, but I Tyree Kale's going to retire in the next year or two if he doesn't ask for a trade.
Speaker 1:So they have. I also just like what Mike McDaniels said to his quarterback Tua when he got hurt.
Speaker 2:He If you need to pick Miami, you can pick Miami. I'm just giving you fair warning.
Speaker 1:He got hurt. So Tua is their quarterback and he's had like crazy, like history with concussions. He was like they've had like so many concussion protocols with him and he had this game and he like I don't know why, but he slid with his like helmet first and into someone and like he was on the field like laying down. Everyone was freaking out Like they knew that like of his history. They had like the like the medics out there. He like stood up and like Mike Mciel was like down there running to go check on his quarterback. He got up and he like patted on his head and they like took him off field, of course for like concussion, like whatever. And he's like don't worry about us, you're the quarterback of your family, like what a nice thing to say to your quarterback. And then I was like wow, I'm a fan so you're gonna pick, pick Miami.
Speaker 1:It's between Miami or the Jets.
Speaker 2:Really.
Speaker 1:Or San Francisco.
Speaker 2:If it's between those three, I would go with San Francisco.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:They're going to pay Brock Purdy. They're going to give him a big contract. So, like Mr Irrelevant, that's a great story, mr Irrelevant to like a paid franchise quarterback and they still have the wags you like. They still have christian mccaffrey.
Speaker 1:They still have brandon iuke.
Speaker 2:They might trade for another wide receiver, although they did draft a first round wide receiver last year, ricky pierce all, who is also a great story because he got shot in the preseason oh, yes, and then came back mid-season played and like was good.
Speaker 1:Why did he get shot?
Speaker 2:Someone was trying to steal his watch and they shot him.
Speaker 1:Crazy.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's also crazy how like these NFL like NFL is one of those like games where they wear so much jewelry, like they have like a full diamond, like chain going on.
Speaker 2:You got grills and some lifeguards.
Speaker 1:And they're allowed to wear all that jewelry. Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 2:I think between all these, Detroit would probably be your best pick, but then second to that would be 49ers. Okay, my team's Stay away from Miami and New York.
Speaker 1:My team so far are in order. San Francisco.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Miami? I don't know, it would be funny.
Speaker 2:I have like a good logo. What about the Pittsburgh Steelers? You also like Mike Tomlin. I do like Mike.
Speaker 1:Tomlin yeah, I do like him. I like Mike Tomlin because he just like looks like he's like a tough guy.
Speaker 2:But like he's nice, he's been there for a long time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and he's like legit and he's like, yeah, stands up for his team and he really did a number in russell wilson, like he brought him back to life, if you see footage. So russell wilson is a quarterback, he's married to sierra and he's also a really good man because he like basically adopted future junior, which is sierra's son, with future the rapper, and he just like was at I can't remember what team, but he was at another team with like a kind of a jerky coach and he you could see him like on the sideline just like so beat down, like having such a hard season. Everyone was like criticizing him. And then he went over to the Steelers and Mike Tomlin like you see footage of him.
Speaker 2:They're like hugging and like he's just so much like they've really like yeah, leveled him up and like affirmed him just so much like they've really like, yeah, leveled him up and like affirmed him, and that's like the power of good coaching.
Speaker 1:It's true. So I want to root for them.
Speaker 2:You need a good coach.
Speaker 1:I do need a good coach. Anyways, there's a lot of football talk and I thought we were done with football for the year, but that's where I'm at with my favorite teams.
Speaker 2:Since you're undecided, I think I can just make an executive decision and say you'll cheer for the Colts.
Speaker 1:No, okay.
Speaker 2:Just jump on my bandwagon, baby.
Speaker 1:You know I really admire your loyalty. That's like one of the things I love about you, but it's just I'm numb.
Speaker 2:You want to have a good time?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm here for a good time. Yeah, well once you pick, you're going to have to be loyal.
Speaker 2:I won't be Fair. At least you told us ahead of time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's not my brand as an NFL fan.
Speaker 2:Fairweather fan. I'm a fairweather fan, Okay, well then all my criteria doesn't apply so just pick your favorite team right now that you think will be the most fun next season. Then you can just regroup for the next season after that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, or I can regroup every week, yeah.
Speaker 2:So okay, I pick san francisco. Okay, stick with the wags see you there well, should we get into our actual three stories for today yes, all right think thing one duolingo owl dies, so ding, the duolingo is dead ding the duolingo isn't that like a phrase, oh like ding dong, the witch is dead that's the one yeah ding is not the name of the owl, duo is the name of the owl, but the owl is dead nonetheless. The language learning app shared on social media right around the super bowl actually yes that duo.
Speaker 2:the avian in question had passed away. They published this obituary-style letter with a cutout of an owl talking about it. They also shared that authorities were currently investigating his cause of death and they were cooperating fully. And they also said TBH, he probably died waiting for you to do your lesson. But what do we know? Since the announcement, they've had a little bit more context to this with the website bringbackduolingocom, which I checked it out and it's a bit of it's like a xp counter from the app itself, where people are gathering experience points from doing language lessons what is x?
Speaker 2:Experience points, so that's not like megabytes. Have you ever used Duolingo like the app?
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:Because you're already bilingual.
Speaker 1:Thank you for saying that.
Speaker 2:You're already a Duolinguist.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:Well, for those of us that have used the app, when you complete lessons, you get experience points.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And you kind of level up as you go. So they have this like xp counter on this website that is counting up worldwide experience points over a period of time. They need to hit 50 billion for duolingo to come back to life. It's kind of like the classic christmas movie. I think it's the santa claus people's like yeah, holiday spirit. The holiday spirit meter is like at zero. Oh, no.
Speaker 1:And as people start caroling, the meter fills up again. The best way to spread Christmas cheers for singing loud for all to hear. So Duolingo needs everyone to bring on that cheer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, bring them back to life. Do Dua Lipa a favor and bring back Duo. Do Dua Lipa a favor and bring back Duo. So, yeah, they need to hit 50 billion experience points as soon as possible for Duo to come back. And they also I thought it was interesting they have like a country ranking board, kind of like the Olympics, and they've got like a gold medal and a silver medal and a bronze medal. I think right now it's the US, someone in China that are in the lead. The US someone in China that are in the lead.
Speaker 1:The US, someone in China?
Speaker 2:I forget who's in second.
Speaker 1:Cool.
Speaker 2:But yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's the plot.
Speaker 1:You know, duolingo just does Duolingo things. They totally beat by like their own drum, like they're so outside of the box and I love to see it like. This is definitely a marketing stunt. Yes, it's cheesy, yes, it's like obvious, but whatever, it's Duolingo like happy to see it. I am a fan of what they do. I feel like it's hard to think outside the box, like it's really hard to like come up with their like owl TikTok and all that stuff. Like I love to see them like be creative. So yeah, yeah I love.
Speaker 2:At first I was kind of skeptical, but when they introduced this like this landing page with the experience points counter, I thought that was a great way to actually tie it back to using the app right you know, because you can make so many viral owl tiktoks from being goofy on yeah but like this actually pushes people and like unifies people towards a common goal that is their, like whole business.
Speaker 1:The thing is like I can't imagine people care enough to bring him back to life to like go and use the app.
Speaker 2:But it's not. It's not a big lift to go do one language lesson. Yeah, you know, especially if you're already trying to learn a language. You're getting push notifications from the app all the time, from Duo himself.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And you're like, yeah, I do need to like pick up my Spanish again or whatever, so it's not a big lift to be like oh Duo might never come back. I need to tap in and like actually do this lesson.
Speaker 2:This is serious and just to be part of the moment, like we talked about monoculture, even in our trend report we talked about shared moments. It's a great play at that trend and bringing people back into the use case of the app itself through a social first campaign. And I also thought it was interesting back to the Super Bowl commercials. But there's been various social listening tools that have shown that this stunt or campaign, if you want to call it that has actually generated more impressions than a lot of the Super Bowl commercials themselves.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the more you talk about it, like you're right, like this, if at in three months time or whatever, when Dua comes back to life and they have those like usage reports and they can see that there's a notable lift during his like death period because people are trying to bring him back to life, even if it's like like it doesn't have to be like 100% lift or whatever, even if it's like a small lift, it's like a great way to use social to drive activity through an app which is actually kind of hard to do, like social media marketing, especially for apps like Duolingo. It's like about brand and a brand awareness. It's not necessarily driving user like results.
Speaker 2:A hundred percent and and there's even if it is about driving people to an app. I think rarely is there like a unified experience from social to within the app right so I think that's really cool in this context where, like what you're seeing and experiencing in the discourse that's happening on social media, you follow that into the app itself and the experience is true there too yeah, yeah, that is really nice.
Speaker 1:We love to see like social, really like leading the way in that.
Speaker 2:Zaria just kill.
Speaker 1:Zaria. Zaria Perez, we got we had the chance to see her speak at a conference and we did some content with her and she is like so cool. She's like the brains behind the Duolingo owl. She has done things that have really pushed the boundaries just for brand social in general. And one person on LinkedIn I saw like people talking about the dual death, and one person on LinkedIn summarized dual owls impact perfectly. They said marketing has hit an inflection point where emotional impact is losing effectiveness and cultural impact is now paramount to success and I feel like Duolingo really does that. They lean into like cultures and subcultures. Like they had a bunch of owls at like the first tour of of uh, charlie xcx's sweat tour and like she shouted them out at the concert. Like they Like they're in the culture and I love that they're sharing the moments with us.
Speaker 1:They do a good job.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I chalk that up as a win.
Speaker 1:Yeah, into it.
Speaker 2:Do you want to take us into thing? Two Okay.
Speaker 1:Thing two Nike and Skims tease a new brand Nike Skims. In a collaboration post this week, the brands revealed a dual logo Nike Skims with the caption post this week, the brands revealed a dual logo nike skims with the caption introducing nike skims a brand, a new brand coming this spring for the body obsessed, designed to sculpt and engineered to perform. So that's all we got. I mean, two billion dollar brands are creating a new brand within the athletic wear space. I should love this. This is like right up my alley, you know, but I don't want to be a hater because it's very premature, Like we don't even know what the product is.
Speaker 2:I think in the end you will love it. But like talk to us, I hope so. I hope I love it.
Speaker 1:But I don't know if I'm here for it and part of it's like. So, part of it's because, like I love the attention that sports is getting right now. I really love the attention that women's sports is getting right now and obviously it's like an important time in the culture to like be giving these like female athletes their dues, also injecting more money and investment into the space athletes their dues, also injecting more money and investment into the space. But I just feel like Nike, to me, represents a brand for athletes and a brand that empowers everyone to be an athlete.
Speaker 1:Skims, to me, represents a brand that really isn't at like they're inclusive in some ways, but at the end of the day, they're like creating products that help women fit into a mold. And the thing that, like I, up to date, have really loved Skims marketing. I feel like they've done a really good job with their campaigns, but they had a campaign a few weeks ago and it was they were launching their butt enhancing shorts and it's basically like shapewear shorts with butt pads in it, and they did this like video where Kim Kardashian was like the fairy butt godmother or whatever Fairy buttmother and I just like really it rode me the wrong way Because up until that point I felt that Skim did a really good job at celebrating different body types.
Speaker 1:And then suddenly there was this product that was trying to like change your body type and trying to like promote a different shape, and I just that didn't sit well for me and it also feels like a little bit like predatory on like women too, to make them feel like this is an area of insecurity that you should fix with this product like I just didn't like the tone of it and the product itself. And then I've seen like Skims does their their kind of like marketing schedule or cadence is like they'll have the launch campaign or a teaser campaign, launch video, high quality, like content, and then they do like seating with influencers. So after those like initial campaign videos, I've been seeing so much on like TikTok people getting the product trying it on and showing like how they look after and even just that experience and like it's. I don't like it. This is not. This feels like not the kind of product I want to support.
Speaker 1:And so then seeing them right after that step into this arena with Nike, it feels like not the kind of product I want to support, and so then seeing them right after that step into this arena with Nike, it feels like for me like athletics, female athletes that's a space maybe the only space where women are judged solely on their performance, not how they look and so for, to see them kind of marry into a product that might be for athletes or might not be, I don't know yet.
Speaker 1:It just doesn't feel like it's a match and I just hope that it's not like contour wear or like shape wear that makes women feel like they have to look a certain way in order to perform. You know, because that's the only space that, like athletes have. Like it's not about your looks, it's about what you can do on the field, exactly Like everywhere else in this world. It's like about how we look, and I'm not naive enough to think that like how you look in general as an athlete doesn't lead you to like more brand endorsements and more this and that Like it's still, you know, I understand how the world works, but I just hope that the product they end up releasing isn't something that's like designed to make women look a certain way when they're performing.
Speaker 2:I think that's valid. I hope Skims is listening, but I think you nailed it. I hope that they're already thinking about these things and I kind of my perception of skims is that there's like different iterations or like versions of their product or like ecosystems of their product, because I totally agree with the butt enhancer.
Speaker 1:that was weird, um, and they also did that like nipple bra yeah, and the nipple the way the nipple bra is different for me than the butt enhancer. Yeah, is that the nipple was like for fun, like show your nipples, and it's almost like contrarian, like most bras are designed to like not show your nipples you know, but it's like show, it's like free and liberating, and like you don't have to be like that.
Speaker 1:It's like and liberating, and like you don't have to be like that. It's like. But this was like have a bigger butt, because bigger butts are better.
Speaker 2:You know, and I just didn't like that tone so it's almost like the butt enhancer piece is like a bit of a exception to the rest of their product mix, which is interesting. So it very well could be a test. It could even be like a bit of a like conquestual thing with like a brand like Lululemon. Maybe they're trying to see if they can take market share.
Speaker 1:Yes, well, I saw there's a sports marketer that I really respect. He was doing like a deep dive on it and basically he is saying that, like Nike hasn't been able to corner that market and it's the market of, like lululemon and aloe, it's like the lifestyle athletic wear leggings, rich women doing pilates, that's the market that this could fit for nike because nike hasn't cornered that right and I think, to be fair to skims, like they were, the official underwear of the, the women's team, in the olympics in the summer olympics in 2021.
Speaker 2:They also have a partnership with the nba and wnba and usa usa basketball already, and they do have a performance line as well, don't they? I think they launched it in 2023 so anyways I feel like they're in.
Speaker 2:if we're acknowledging that they have different types of product, kind of mixes, then I'm hoping that we can give them the credit that they understand what belongs where and that they've shown too, through some of those partnerships, that it can be less about aesthetics and more about the true nature of these games like yeah performance and output yeah, and and it like from a business perspective it makes sense like WNBA is starting to get like all these other sponsorships too, like Sephora is one of the lead sponsorships with WNBA.
Speaker 1:That that also rubs me the wrong way because like makeup and in general like sure make Sephora sells more than just makeup, but like the beauty industry in itself, like is, also makes money off of women feeling like they have to look a certain way. So like that shouldn't necessarily play a role in sports. Personally, like that that just might be like my personal opinion or whatever, but like sports should be a place where women can just go and play and they don't have to wear makeup or they don't have to feel like they look a certain way.
Speaker 2:And if you want to, that's fine, but you shouldn't like I just feel like the partnership feels wrong, like off do you think so, though, because, like, I agree to an extent, but I think there is today a lot more about sports than just the in the games themselves, like you even think about, especially in basketball, like the tunnel, the shots in the tunnel, of the athletes walking up and they're kitted out in like crazy designer clothes, you know, like it's all a spectacle still yeah and so there is that element of it, when still the game itself, when when the, the puck gets dropped or the tip-off happens like it's all about performance and whatever they're wearing needs to support that narrative.
Speaker 2:But I think, like makeup, in just the same way as like clothes and fashion and jewelry, like when you're talking about the NFL, those do have a part to play in some of the spectacle that happens before and after the game yeah, sports at the end of the day.
Speaker 1:At the end of the day is entertainment but, I think, for women's sports especially, there's a huge drop off in youth girls like advancing their sports. Like there's so many studies that show that, like girls usually quit sport at a certain age. It's around puberty. It's when they feel a bit more insecure about their bodies, more like stuff is happening in life and social circles and development. A lot of them are getting their periods, which actually stops them from pursuing sports too, like competitive sports. So, with knowing that, that's why I have an issue with women's sports specifically just getting cozy with like makeup brands and shapewear.
Speaker 1:Personally, just because, like there's steps that sports, women's sports leagues are making that create more opportunities for girls in sports. The more the WNBA advances, the more it opens up opportunities for like younger girls leagues to do more and they get more resources and training camps and all that. It helps the sport in general. With that in mind, knowing there's so many barriers in girls sports helps the sport in general. With that in mind, knowing there's so many barriers in girl sports, I just doesn't feel like the partnership I I was hoping to see you know sephora, yeah, or like, and I I don't know exactly what the skims nike product's gonna be. I just I just think of it from that lens yeah, yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker 2:I think I wonder the mechanics of it too. Like, is it Nike going to skims being like let's do this together Because? If so, that makes a lot of sense Because, to your point, they have a woman problem in their audience.
Speaker 2:I think, women make up 40 percent of Nike's audience right now shoes, yeah, exactly and overall too, beyond just that female market, nike's struggling like they've been slipping across the board for the last three to five years I think um, my, I was talking to my friend asim on instagram about this, because I posted that we were going to talk about this and he mentioned that nike's down 35 over the last two years and 23 over the last five wow because of that they've had leadership changes, like people have resigned, they've hired new executive leadership and they're trying different things. I think they made some mistakes with how much they flooded the market with all sorts of different sneaker styles and colors and now there's kind of there's way less demand for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and they're losing ground to to other sneaker brands like on running hoka, yeah, brands like that, solomon so yeah, it's just like they need to do something. So if nothing else, skims is relevant. It has a corner of the, the female audience.
Speaker 1:I get it, I want to. I hope I like it yeah, I hope too.
Speaker 2:I hope they show us that they've got a great team that's done their research and and actually cares about sports.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I have faith in Emigreed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:Okay, do you want to talk about the last big thing here?
Speaker 2:Yeah, our uh. The last one is really interesting. I'm excited to talk about this with you and just kind of like get a little bit more granular into your thoughts. But thing three is all about how micro trends could be a signal of low status and what life post brain rot could look like.
Speaker 2:So we had an interesting discussion in Slack this week over a TikTok video that we found by Huge Brandstrat, who's a brand strategy consultant and lecturer, and basically he was breaking down how, over the last few years and he he wrote a piece in vogue about this as well but he was saying how the last few years, algorithms have completely cooked our personal style from mob wife to quiet luxury. It's just impossible to keep up to the fast-paced nature of the internet and micro trends, which is true. We talk about this all the time internally and with our clients, because algorithms are meant to exaggerate the most extreme of any trait. So, um, what was happening is that microtrends and fashion were going further and further away from what people actually wore in real life. One of the quotes that really stuck out to me from the video was when he said it's not fashion, it's cosplay.
Speaker 1:Totally. And then he talked about how, like, who actually looks good in a bubble skirt? It's so true, like that was everywhere and like no one looks good on it in them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly so.
Speaker 2:He went on to talk about how we're heading into what he calls a post brain rot era, where IRL will become a status symbol and dressing according to microtrends will feel more like a low status activity, because it shows that you're chronically online and people are really trying to move away from that.
Speaker 2:So that's why you're starting to see people embrace the opposite side of the pendulum, where there's more emphasis on basics and simple kind of capsule styles and I would say too, it's not just limited to fashion either.
Speaker 2:That was like a big kind of part of his case or like examples. But he mentioned architecture and I would say the same, for you know, even in our space, like design trends, like graphic design, or even like content styles or the way you edit photo or video, there's been a lot of that that just all kind of started to look the same because it's all connected to a micro trend on TikTok, for example, but I think we're going to see more of a kind of disbursement away from that. So I think the last kind of point he made was that we're going to start to see a need for brands to embrace what he called the pulse of the Internet, while not appearing to be too online. He said there's a difference between those brands that understand how to leverage the pulse of the Internet to make engaging content that spreads across social, and brands that hover around like vultures waiting to feast on the carcass of the latest meme that the Internet throws up.
Speaker 1:That line, though, was such a good one it was so convicting like seeing this video Also just refreshing.
Speaker 2:So refreshing and validating.
Speaker 1:Because I think in our work, especially since we work in social, it's easy to fall victim into, like micro trends and to feel like you have to do every single trending thing that's happening on TikTok. But it really validated, kind of like, our approach where we've been looking a bit more macro and not just at, like, what's the like the hot thing right now in this moment? But really, what like? What are the digital behaviors that like are informing how we move and operate in the world? Because there's a lot of factors that contribute to that, which is why we love ScanClub, we love our newsletter. If you haven't subscribed, you should go check it out. We have a trend report that outlines all of this and what's happening right now in 2025.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I thought it was really really interesting. I can definitely. I feel like for me, I so agree that being IRL is so luxurious luxurious like the more you're off your phone, the more you're like exploring. I've had this like weird desire to be like more literary and it feels like. The other day I was like how do I become literary? Like I don't know, is this just reading? But I can't just read my like little fiction books. I need to like like read a textbook or something like go back to some like literary classics.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and sometimes I'll be like aware of like what I'm looking at on like my phone and like read a textbook or something or like go back to some like literary classics, yeah, and sometimes I'll be like aware of like what I'm looking at on like my phone and TikTok and stuff. I'm like I can't believe this garbage, you know. So I do feel like that's not just me that's feeling that, it's a lot of people that are feeling that. And when you see someone who's very trendy and sometimes I get embarrassed too because I'm I like like pop culture and I like you know all this stuff that is trending on TikTok and I know a lot of it and in in my friend group I'm usually the I'm the most online of everyone.
Speaker 1:So sometimes it's embarrassing because, like, I know so much, like I can't even I can barely participate in some conversations Cause I'll like'll, like, I'll just like like bombard people with too much information and it just like becomes boring. So I can completely relate to this. It's like a balance of being able to like go with the waves of the internet. I love how you described it like the pulse of the internet, without feeling like too online yeah, and I think it'll be interesting because inevitably, as humans, we are influenced.
Speaker 2:So it's like, if we're not being influenced by the doom scrolling and the micro trends, what are we going to be influenced by?
Speaker 2:yeah could it be a return to like our early, like late 90s, early 2000s, like school days where it was like the class system was like jocks and like nerds and and like the mean girls and and whatever other like groups there were in school? Is that? Is it more around function Like we all dress kind of nerdy cause we're all into Harry Potter, or we all dress in like athletic wear cause we're all on the football team? What are the things that we're all into Harry Potter or we all dress in like athletic wear because we're all on the football team? What are the things that we're going to kind of cluster around, if not these trends on TikTok? So it'll be interesting to see that. But back to your point about macro trends and like thinking bigger.
Speaker 2:I totally agree. That's why I love ScanClub and why I think it's really valuable for brands and creators. But I also just think in general what it all comes back to, if you were to really simplify it, is for brands and marketers finding a way to be proactive in our strategies and in our approach to content instead of reactive, because that's what reacting to trends is. It's in the word reacting. You know, we're just trying to keep up with how culture is moving at the speed of social um. So what does it look like for a brand to be proactive in their approach to content? And I think scan club and our process of, like looking for signals and anticipating behavioral shifts is one aspect of that.
Speaker 2:But what other ways can brands be proactive it also is so similar to another thing we talk about a lot with our clients, which is like don't obsess too much with your competitors. You know, because that's another way to be reactive, like yeah oh, our competitor did this, so we need to jump on that, so we're part of that discourse, or because you're comparing yourself so much you're trying to, you're almost. Your actions inevitably mirror the movements of the other brands in your space.
Speaker 1:You almost want to like act independently of not just competitors, but just like the internet, almost like 100, that's cool like it's, and it's not about being ahead of the trend, like to your point, about like proactive. It's almost like doing something that's different, that feels like you came up with an independent thought yeah, and it's not even necessarily anticipating a trend no, it could be, that could be part of your proactive approach, but also requires, like actually having values and actually
Speaker 2:having a belief system within which your brand exists and a true, an actual problem that you're trying to solve. Because if you have those things, then you can build content and marketing strategies and tactics around that, rather than just like clinging on to relevance just because you were one of the brands that posted a meme about the grammys I do feel like it also means like you kind of have to be a little offline, like for real, not just like look like you're offline, but like actually like.
Speaker 1:To me, events come to mind, like events is a great way to like connect to your community and capture something that's not online and it's like feels really like real and authentic and like gives back things like that. But even in like one of the things he said in his video and like gives back things like that. But even in like one of the things he said in his video is like even photography, in like architecture and design. It used to be like blank, like very like open spaces and like very like blank spaces, but now they're starting to design or be more intentional about their art design, about like including real life stuff like clutter and messes.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because you want to show the offline in the online, kind of like. So it's almost like you kind of have to get out of like out of your feeds a little bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, or even I think maybe a more practical way is just to change the order of your like process. You know, it's not, it might not be like completely social media agnostic, but maybe instead of like starting on the channel, like like TikTok, and identifying trends and then building your content, like kind of like forcing your brand through the, the shapes of those trends, to create posts.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Maybe instead it's like creating content around the problem that you're solving or the realities that your audiences experience, or your values or whatever it is, but then still before you publish that content, using these trends or the pop culture moments or the public discourse as a filter that you apply against that content, and then you modify the content in smaller ways to still connect, if that makes sense yeah so it's just like, instead of starting with the channel, you're starting with the idea, and then the channel influences the final iteration of that piece of content.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and back to ScanClub. If you want a way to like kind of start those ideas, we've outlined some five macro trends, digital behavior trends that we've been following all year round. You can check that out at ScanClclubsubstackcom. And, yeah, I think that's a great place to start.
Speaker 2:Do it.
Speaker 1:Do it up. Anything else you wanted to add?
Speaker 2:That's all we got. Thanks for watching. You can find this on YouTube or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Make sure you leave a review. If you haven't yet Join us on Instagram or TikTok, where we are part of the chaos, you can send us a message. You can tap like. Haven't yet join us on Instagram or Tik TOK, where we are part of the the chaos, you can send us a message. You can tap like. You can leave a comment whatever you want, but other than that, that's all we got this week. Should I bang the gong?
Speaker 1:You better See you next time. That was good. That was the perfect gong volume.
Speaker 2:Very low volume Good job. That was fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, perfect gong volume Very low volume. Good job, that was fun. Yeah, good job.