Starbucks Took Over a Movie Premiere. Hot Cups? Groundbreaking
Welcome to Wednesday, futurists.
The Future Commerce team has a busy few weeks ahead on the event circuit.
Tomorrow, Phillip and Alicia will be venturing to Stord Summit to speak to a room full of merchants about our AI research. We’ll be bouncing from the Mansion at Glen Cove to Tribeca for a Salon Dinner with Klaviyo, and then back down to Miami next week for POSSIBLE.
This is our first year attending POSSIBLE as an official media partner, so stay tuned for our dispatch from the show. And if you’ll be there, let’s hang! You can still register for our happy hour with Fluent at Backyard Miami.
And that’s only the next two weeks. May will bring even more events, from B2B Online in Chicago to The Lead Summit in NYC. Hit reply and tell us your travel plans, and what you want to see from us.
But before we pack our things and go, let’s get into the news. We talk tariffs, new celebrity collabs, the UK’s new smoking law, and corporate comms’ obsession with AI slop.
The Devil Wears a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.
Did we learn nothing from the Wicked merch glut? It all started in good fun with the commemorative popcorn bucket. Now, we’re still a week out from The Devil Wears Prada 2’s official release, and we’re being smacked with a new collab or commemorative collection every day.
The irony lies in the original film’s intent to satirize the fashion industry and the media's role in capitalism. The sequel, now puffed up with a seismic marketing budget, has become what it was initially critiquing. Old Navy released an “official” collection, with Primark and Target shortly following. Starbucks launched a new beverage collection inspired by the film and hired “influencer-assistants” to dress in haute couture hot cups for the official premiere. And, the pièce de résistance was Anna Wintour posing with Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly on the cover of Vogue.
It all feels like such a strong departure from the first film; aesthetic dilution tied to sponsorship revenue. But maybe that’s part of the joke. We’ve all watched and loved “the cerulean speech” after all...
Time to Pay the Piper.
The Trump administration has begun returning the $166B collected from tariffs after the Supreme Court ruled the IEEPA tariffs illegal. Companies have been submitting documentation to recover the tariffs they’ve already paid, while many other organizations, including FedEx and Costco, are awaiting refunds after suing the administration. In a statement, President Trump said he would “remember” the “brilliant” US companies that don’t seek government refunds. (Amazon and Apple are among those brilliant companies so far.)
While this will provide some much-needed relief to merchants, especially small businesses, consumers who have also felt the aftershocks in the form of higher prices are not eligible for any financial relief.
Speaking of Collabs…
Two major luxury designers are attempting to reach “everyday consumers.” Stella McCartney is launching a new collection with H&M, a long-awaited follow-up to her 2005 collection with the retailer. The collection, which launches in May, has major resort vibes. Think airy silhouettes, Mediterranean patterns, and a simple color palette with pops of red and blue.
Gap is also expanding its rotation of big-name designer partners by bringing Victoria Beckham on for a multi-season deal. Her first 38-piece collection, which features denim, khakis, fleeces, and button-up tops, will drop this week. Mark Breitbard, President and CEO of the Gap, noted that Beckham was the ideal person to “reinterpret” classic pieces.
Smoke-Free State of Mind.
New laws and guidelines are leaving us wondering, wtf is happening in the UK? This week, parliament approved a new bill that permanently bans the sale or supply of tobacco and vape products to anyone born in 2009 or after. Essentially, the approved purchase age will increase as the target demographic ages. The goal: to create the first completely smoke-free generation. The bill just needs royal assent to go into action, and comes on the heels of the government banning the sale of single-use, disposable vapes last year due to youth use and environmental damage.
This Is Your Brand on AI.
We’ve all seen the LinkedIn thinkpieces about how AI is flattening what we think and how we write. We’ve seen the listicles of common “tells,” including the ever-popular, “it’s not just X, it’s Y.” That hasn’t stopped corporate comms teams and executive leaders from stuffing their messaging with them. In fact, the use of the phrase has surged since 2024, when AI-powered work started to become mandatory for many large enterprises. But the article explains why even the most obvious “tells” of AI writing can be a bit murky: “If the bot is fond of the phrasing, it’s because humans are, too.”
Creator Payout.
Visa is partnering with TikTok on a new debit card for UK-based content creators. The Creator Card (original, huh?) provides tools to help members better separate their business and personal finances. 88% of creators surveyed by Visa said they expect revenues to grow in the coming year, but income often comes in inconsistent spurts. The Creator Card will allow them to access earnings from livestreams and collaborations more quickly, so they can continue investing in their business. Visa’s partnership with Lumanu will also offer real-time payments to creators and contractors by integrating with Visa’s money movement network.
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