Our four loyal readers will remember when we broke the news of Rat Girl Summer last year. Now we’re back with bigger news! Welcome to brat summer, inspired by Charli XCX’s hit album of the same name. The brat aesthetic celebrates grungy fun and individuality. (Personally, we can do without the lime green, but to each their own.) Brands like Kate Spade have jumped all over this. It’s not too late for your marketing team to embrace the brat. We’re still waiting for Elon to paint Starship lime green!
Citius, altius, ridiculus
The Summer Olympics are upon us! It’s time once again for that quadrennial festival of sports and, yes, laughs. While the world’s best athletes descend on Paris, we took a minute to look back at some of the funniest moments in recent Olympic history. Who can forget the 2016 Rio games when the pools turned green after a contractor added too much hydrogen peroxide to the water? At those same games, officials lost the key to the soccer stadium, forcing security personnel to use bolt cutters to open the arena. Or the time Snoop Dogg and Kevin Hart dropped their own commentary for the equestrian eventsat the Tokyo games in 2021. “Aw man, this horse is off the chain!” The lesson for brands is to keep a close eye on the games in Paris and look for chances to jump into the conversation when the inevitable lol flashes hit.
“Humor is tragedy plus time”
When you hear the name Paddy Gilmore, what’s your first reaction? We figured it was the title of an upcoming Netflix series about the son of legendary golfer Happy Gilmore trying to live out his dad’s dream of playing in the National Hockey League. As usual, we were wrong. Paddy, it turns out, is a humor consultant (although he spells it humour) who writes a sick Substack about how brands can successfully use laughs to engage with their audiences. His latest content dives deep into the timing of humor and how to use it effectively. Like that time an ad agency ran a campaign from a fake funeral homein the middle of a global pandemic. Trust us, it’s not as bad as it sounds.
PepperPick
If you’re headed to Tanglewood in the Berkshires this summer, hit up Bravafor their handmade pizza and amaze wine list.
