I think, definitely, the rises are getting lower. You're seeing more midriffs being shown. The company told analysts on the call that it expects pressure on its denim category as it learns from past missteps like leaning into fits that consumers weren't as interested in buying.
Technology companies are no longer viewed as distant, purely functional businesses. They sit at the center of entertainment, communication, and daily life, which naturally brings them closer to celebrity culture. The companies commonly grouped under the term FAANG, Facebook (Meta), Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google (Alphabet), function not only as technology providers but also as cultural platforms.
As has been the case for the last few years, basically every ad featured celebs and big-name actors selling out to help promote AI, donuts, crackers, and more. And almost all of it fucking sucked shit. It's depressing to watch talented actors sell out. So many of the ads were for awful products. Nothing about them was even fun or memorable.
Celebrity has long been a staple of B2C advertising, but in B2B, it's historically been treated as nothing more than a huge flex. Too often, an A-list name signals budget more than insight. When it's misaligned, the backlash can outweigh the buzz. Look no further than the ire Salesforce received in 2023 for paying Matthew McConaughey millions while simultaneously laying off thousands of employees.
The payout the richest influencers earn for a single post on Instagram is staggering - often rivaling the price of a luxury home or what many people earn over a lifetime. And leading brands with big marketing budgets are more than willing to pay the fee to gain access to their millions of followers and high engagement levels reported by the site's metrics, while influencers become the face of their brand.
When Quentin Tarantino insulted Paul Dano's acting abilities in There Will Be Blood, he inadvertently assembled the Avengers of Hollywood stars who have Dano's back. On The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast, Tarantino said Dano's acting was "a giant flaw" in the Oscar-nominated movie and that he was the "weakest" actor in SAG. Not every director agrees.
At the end of August, tennis star Serena Williams advertised a new weight-loss drug. The slogan, in Williams's voice, was: They say GLP-1a drug that mimics a hormone that regulates blood sugar, appetite, and slows digestionis a shortcut to weight loss, but it's not. It's science. Interestingly, Serena Williams's husband is an investor and member of the board of Ro, the healthcare company that offers it.
Celebrities are just like you and me. They enjoy some video games, just like the rest of us. And back in 2002, Sony was thrilled that so many famous people really enjoyed playing the PlayStation 2. Sony was so excited, in fact, that the PlayStation maker compiled a large list of "celebrity testimonies" and shared it with the press via the company's 2002 E3 Press Kit. And thankfully, as spotted by Devolver Digital PR manager Andy Kelly, someone all the way back in 2016 uploaded this press kit to the Internet Archive. Now we can all enjoy it.
Trump made accusations against Democratic celebrities, alleging illegal payments for endorsements during the 2024 election. He called for prosecutions based on these allegations, which lack evidence.
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