Internet Ghosts: Part 51
9/20: Oh to be a cat overlooking a house show in Bushwick, 818 college tour, Boo baskets are back, Poppi Malone, EA Sports College Football and more.
A bit of the internet:
Boo Baskets | It’s that time of year again – pumpkin spice is in the air, spooky szn is here and our FYPs are filling up with boo baskets. If you’re unfamiliar with Boo Baskets, don’t worry, that's why we’re here! Boo Baskets are a Halloween-themed twist on traditional gift baskets, filled with spooky and cozy treats. These baskets are given to partners, family members, and friends as a fun seasonal surprise. So start getting inspired now to create that ultimate Boo Basket for that special someone.
Hey Want to Come Over and ___? | You ever get way too ahead of your friends and plan an activity no one has interest in? A tour agency in New Zealand has participated in this new trend highlighting this sensation. Leading with a pitch to bird watch, our friend is not interested, and despite playing it off, it’s quickly revealed how elaborate our pitch is as we swipe out of detailed plans to bird watch on the iPhone.
More Memes | Memes from the show Henry Danger and the penguin memes are the reason why R&B songs like Alicia Keys' Unthinkable and Ashanti's Rain on Me are climbing the Billboard TikTok charts. Rain on Me sits at #5 currently, while Un-Thinkable sits #30.
🫶🏻 A Nice Wholesome Moment 🫶🏻 | We all need some wholesome content on social media these days. This post about an unconventional friendship that sparked between a young woman and an 89 (now 98) year old man has been tugging at our heartstrings. The bizarre link-up sparked when a 19 year old woman moved to Scotland for school and began to work at a bookstore and started noticing this elderly man stopping into the shop multiple times a day clearly looking for some friendly conversation after his wife passed away. The two quickly built a friendship at a bingo night and the rest is history!
What brands are up to:
Duolingo Attends Sweat Tour | In true Duolingo fashion, they've attended the hottest tour on the Internet right now. With Brat Summer coming to an end, Charli XCX and Troye Sivan are just getting started, kicking off their highly anticipated 'Sweat Tour', taking social media by storm. Duolingo was spotted living their best life, being a true brat, green feathers and all.
Post Malone 🤝 Poppi | This week, Poppi announced Post Malone as their new partner and investor. The brand leveraged social media to build anticipation, turning the reveal into a moment that resonated with fans and elevated their brand narrative. Similar to Garage Beer’s tactics for announcing Jason and Travis Kelce as part-owners, Poppi is strategically using this moment to amplify its brand presence and generate buzz.
EA Sports College Football is Back | EA revived its beloved College Football video game franchise with the release of EA Sports College Football 25. The original series ran from 1998 to 2013 but was discontinued due to legal restrictions on profiting from the likenesses of amateur athletes. With the introduction of NIL deals, EA could now compensate current college athletes, spending $6 million to do so.
Flamin’ Hot | Frito-Lay is targeting college students with a playful campaign encouraging them to "cheat" on Flamin' Hot Cheetos to promote their other spicy offerings, like Ruffles, Doritos, and Funyuns. Inspired by Frito-Lay’s insight that many fans are committed to Flamin’ Hot Cheetos without ever trying the other Flamin’ Hot chip varieties, the company wanted to encourage fans to broaden their snack horizons. With cuffing season just around the corner, Cheetos is inviting fans to explore their chip options before making a commitment. The brand has launched a sweepstakes featuring a unique prize: a “Flamin’ Hot burner phone” with Chester the Cheetah on speed dial. Winners can call Chester, who will personally deliver a selection of “Flamin’ Hot sidechips” right to their door.
Collabs of the week | Highlighting some of the brand collabs we saw this week:
Platform News:
Meta Updates:
Meta has announced new ad updates for the holiday season, including improved discount codes, enhanced reminder ads, site links and in-store promotions.
Instagram is introducing new default protections for teen users, including private accounts, restricted messaging, sensitive content filters and time limits.
Snapchat Updates:
At its 2024 Partner Summit, Snapchat introduced a series of updates, including new AR glasses, an AI-powered interface with TikTok-like content recommendations and simplified tools for creating AR experiences. The platform is also rolling out enhanced chat features, including HD video calls, custom Snap messages and AI tools for object recognition and translation.
YouTube Updates:
YouTube is integrating DeepMind's Veo model into Shorts, allowing creators to generate high-quality backgrounds and six second video clips.
YouTube is rolling out more AI tools to help creators brainstorm video ideas, generate thumbnails and quickly respond to comments.
YouTube's new Hype feature lets viewers promote videos from creators with under 500,000 subscribers by boosting them up a leaderboard, offering smaller channels more visibility.
TikTok Updates:
TikTok is testing a Delete and Re-Edit feature that lets users remove in-app edits and start over.
Discord Updates:
Discord has introduced end-to-end encryption for audio and video calls.
Reddit Updates:
Reddit has introduced an Ads Inspiration Library that showcases top-performing ads.
Patreon Updates:
Patreon is rolling out new automated features, such as Autopilot, which helps creators convert free members to paid subscribers by offering targeted discounts.
Extra Credit Scrolling:
📱90s X-Ray/film negative style of image treatment coming back around
📰 Off-White is now the official style and culture curator of the New York Liberty
