Welcome to Silence, Brand!, a potluck of internet absurdity at the intersection of brand marketing and internet culture written by a collective of award winning digital marketing professionals. If you like what we do, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
In this week’s Silence, Brand! Live, the gang returned from a brief hiatus armed with scented fidget toys, tinned fish tote bag discourse, and an unexpectedly philosophical debate about what even is an influencer???
Between anti-influencer signage, Fishwife's second (third?) wind, Ryan Murphy rebooting everything, and bean tattoos somehow making perfect marketing sense — culture keeps rewarding brands that understand community, while everyone else is still trying to figure out whether they're banning creators or just asking people to stop filming.
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The anti-influencer sign heard ‘round Nantucket. The crew unpacked the viral gift shop that posted a custom "No Influencers" sign, sparking a debate about whether businesses should prioritize the customer experience over content creation.
The conversation shifted toward whether the problem is influencers themselves or the behavior associated with constant recording. With airlines, Trader Joe's, and other retailers increasingly discouraging filming as concerns around customer privacy continue to grow.
One of the biggest questions became definitions. Is an influencer someone being paid to create content? Someone with a camera? Or has "influencer" simply become shorthand for anyone documenting their shopping trip?
We also floated the idea that the sign itself could have been designed to go viral. If nobody knew the shop before, they certainly do now, raising the possibility that the controversy became the marketing.
Whole Foods enters the tote bag wars. The panel admired Whole Foods' new Fishwife collaboration, wondering why more grocery stores haven't tried competing with Trader Joes for the internet's favorite reusable bag.
Are all these brands reheating someone else's nachos? While Whole Foods may have been borrowing from Trader Joe's, the group also acknowledged Trader Joe's borrowed from LL Bean before them. Sometimes great ideas tend to evolve rather than appear out of nowhere.
Dejaih also explained how creator Toni Bravo helped breathe new life into Fishwife by making sardine content explode on TikTok again, eventually leading to collaborations, TikTok Shop success, and renewed momentum for a second Fishwife summer.
The Whole Foods summer ice cream sale became an event. What began as the store’s annual half-off ice cream promotion transformed into a viral moment thanks to videos of employees guarding the freezer section. Security standing between customers and discounted ice cream unintentionally made the experience feel exclusive, encouraging more people to visit simply because everyone else was talking about it.
Ryan Murphy is rebooting... everything. The group discussed the news that American Horror Story will conclude with its thirteenth season while also teasing a return to Glee. Fans immediately began speculating about how decades of interconnected stories could possibly be tied together.
The conversation expanded into the deep conspiracy theories that have surrounded AHS for years, including timeline theories, crossover speculation, and confirmation that Ryan Murphy has previously allowed fan conversations to influence the direction of the show.
Bean tattoos for everyone!!! Heyday Canning Company’s free bean tattoo pop-up became one of everyone’s favorite campaigns of the week. The flash sheet featured nothing but beans, and everyone agreed the line around the block would probably be worth it.
The bean tattoo campaign also sparked a conversation about the growing visibility of canned food brands online. Is this a recession indicator? Pantry staples are unexpectedly becoming lifestyle brands.
Our Lives are now available as podcasts on Apple Music and Spotify.
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We hope you enjoyed this installment of Silence, Brand!—a tri-weekly, late-night potluck of internet absurdity 🦀
Ryan J DiLazio • Dayna Castillo • Dejaih Smith • Janine Davis
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