Poor is the New Rich (Pinterest Confirms)
Welcome to Friday, Futurists.
What a week. Christian Girl Autumn psy-op had us wondering if pumpkin spice season was cancelled. Psych! It was fantastic PR.
PR is at the center of both brand-centric LLM trust conversations right now. From Sports Drink’s tantrum about being rated among the “three worst” electrolyte drinks by Bon Appétit, to a recent study by MuckRack about “What AI is Reading” finding that gated authoritative content cited most often by LLMs weren’t advertorial.
Caitlin Covington’s stunt went viral through a variety of clipping outlets—we saw it on X via Pop Base—which has been described by Vox as a “wire service” for the new era of journalism, even crediting parent company Pop Crave with helping decide the 2024 election.
Small creators, and therefore brands, can reach giant audiences through crafted PR. But it seems like these media moments increasingly rely on deceptive stunts, bad behavior, and fakeouts to gain attention.
Is that how we want our brands to be remembered? Or do people remember anything at all anymore?
Oh look, Taylor’s making everything orange now.
— Phillip
Thrifty Trend Fragmentation. Pinterest's latest trend report for Fall 2025 confirms what we already suspected: Gen Z has officially given up on buying new things. "Dream thrift finds" searches are up 550%, because apparently finding a $3 vintage blazer hits different than dropping $300 at Zara. Pinterest, ever the opportunist, launched Thrift Shop marketplace to monetize this very real cultural shift toward secondhand superiority. With Vogue Business declaring this "the summer without trends," we're witnessing the beautiful chaos of taste fragmentation. Brands built on newness cycles are about to learn what "authentic expression" actually costs.
Denim Culture Wars. American Eagle’s campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney initially generated backlash, but after Republican leaders, including President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, defended the ads, spending growth among Republicans has surged, according to data from Consumer Edge. Trump’s public praise of Sweeney appeared to fuel the brand’s market-share gains, which rose from 17.5% on August 2 to nearly 19.5% on August 9. While initial foot traffic dipped, stores saw a rebound of 2.6% YoY in the week beginning August 10, suggesting the backlash has shifted to one-sided momentum.
🔮 Get Phillip and Brian’s take on the Good Jeans campaign outrage here.
This data and associated commentary underscore a clear reality: retail brands are no longer neutral spaces; they have become cultural flashpoints. The campaigns they execute and the partners they onboard shape consumer preferences and behaviors just as much as price or product. E.l.f. Cosmetics, a brand generally beloved by Gen Z and Gen Alpha, has also learned this the hard way since launching a campaign featuring comedian Matt Rife, which has received significant backlash from loyal customers.
BookTok Lied to Us. Despite the supposed "return of the bookstore," new research reveals that Americans reading for pleasure has actually plummeted from 30% to 16% between 2004 and 2023. Barnes & Noble's supposed resurgence and the proliferation of book-themed dating experiences might just be elaborate social theater?
Turns out, buying books as aesthetic props for your TikTok background isn't the same as actually reading them. Who could have predicted that the generation raised on 15-second videos wouldn't develop deep literary habits?
Flying Burritos, Grounded Logic. Chipotle has teamed up with Zipline to test drone delivery in the Dallas area, offering “Zipotle” service for burritos, bowls, and more. Orders are packed by store employees, loaded into a drone, and gently lowered to customers’ doorsteps. The move speaks to younger consumers’ appetite for convenience and novelty, as Chipotle looks to rebound from a sluggish quarter (same-store sales down 4% amid traffic declines).
But it also raises a bigger question: should burritos really be the battleground for ultra-fast fulfillment? Consumers clearly crave speed, but is this a case of anti-friction creating more friction? Other companies, including Amazon, Domino’s, and Walmart, have all thrown their hats into the battle for the skies, and Sweetgreen has a rollout planned for this year, but is the value for consumers meaningful enough to make a financial impact?
Tajín Tint. Rare Beauty is embracing the food-to-makeup pipeline by collaborating with Tajín on a liquid blush and lip gloss duo that pays tribute to the zesty spice and tangy sweetness of the popular seasoning. Founder Selena Gomez revealed the news with a hard-launch post on Instagram, giving followers a behind-the-scenes look at the collection’s photoshoot. The beauty brand will donate proceeds from the duo’s sales to the National School of Ceramics, an organization that Tajín closely works with. This component of the partnership shows that the brand isn’t just trying to capitalize on the cultural moment, although that certainly doesn’t hurt.
Amazon Declares War on AI Scrapers. Amazon is escalating its efforts to block out AI bots. Modern Retail reported findings from independent analyst Juozas Kaziukenas, who found updated code that now includes language that prevents bots from Meta, Google, Huawei, and more from scraping its eCommerce data.
Everyone Wants to Be Amazon Media Group. Taking a play out of the Bezos playbook, Best Buy is giving the marketplace space another go. The new eCommerce destination, developed with (who else?) Mirakl and featuring 500+ vendors, is doubling its assortment with everything from gaming gear to throwback DVDs, to better serve its 200 million shoppers. It’s a clear attempt to expand choice and speed to market; however, the long-term value lies in its ability to win advertising dollars.
Meanwhile, Ace Hardware has quietly entered the ad business with its new RedVest Media network, powered by Epsilon and integrated with platforms like Pacvue and Skai, to give brands targeted access across digital and physical channels, amplified by its 5,100+ stores and 73 million loyalty members.
Our Take: Both moves reaffirm the ongoing growth and evolution of the commerce media market. According to WARC, global retail media ad spend is expected to reach $178 billion in 2025, with the US market growing at 20% year-over-year and projected to surpass $60 billion this year. Retail Media Networks (RMNs) are attempting to cash in by broadening their offerings, providing full-funnel measurement and more dynamic ad experiences that combine onsite, offsite, and interactive ad formats. We recently chatted with commerce media expert Kiri Masters about how this space is evolving, and how brands can optimize their investments. You can listen to the discussion here.
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