Greetings from Zoom, Slack, and the Cloud, where we're working on covert snack operations and demanding more mind blowing guitar solos.
RIP US patent holder Eddie Van Halen, this one's for you.
The Inimitable and Unpredictable World of Viral Content
Brands and marketers are constantly trying to replicate the kind of mystical alchemy that makes a great meme. At their best, Internet super-phenomena can transcend all demographics and borders, not to mention ongoing international health and sociopolitical crises. We were reminded of this fact just in the past week, one that may go down as the most eventful and patently insane in American political history, but also one where a nation in need rediscovered… Fleetwood Mac?
In the face of the fiercest possible competition for attention, an Idaho gentleman named Nathan Apodaca—TikTok username Doggface208—captivated literally the entire world with a clip of him skateboarding on the side of the highway sipping Cran-Raspberry juice and casually lip-synching to the bands 1977 hit “Dreams.”
TikTok plays count toward the Billboard charts, so of course the streams have doubled this week, and raw sales of the track have tripled. In other words, Doggface’s calming, distinctly DGAF mien made a song from one of the best-selling albums ever released feel functionally new again in popular culture. It spawned, as these things do, imitations from sources as varied as the US military, a Montana gubernatorial candidate, and Mick Fleetwood himself. In the weird melting pot of cultural ephemera that is TikTok, it sometimes seems anything is possible.
Take another look at Nathan Apodaca’s wry grin, the casual, appreciative way he swigs his Ocean Spray, the entirely unexpected but completely natural shift into channeling Stevie. It’s all so simple and yet all so perfect, in a way that really is hard to capture in writing.
Advertisers, try as we might, can only vaguely approximate such comet flashes of talent and prescience like Nathan Apodaca. All the creative talent and all the budget in the world can’t produce the sort of real world event that somehow transcends any statistical or rationally-minded model of virality. And it doesn’t help that we’re often hampered (often for good reasons!) by things like brand guidelines, legal approvals, and countless, countless stakeholders.
That’s not to say we shouldn’t make the effort. Branded content doesn’t need to go viral, but it should strive to be the best it can be within the obvious utilitarian constraints in which it exists. That means pushing the boundaries of creativity while also respecting business goals, and always caring about craft, whether you’re making a branded dance video or a deck for a sales conference. We may never be able to produce anything quite as magical as Doggface208, who lit up the darkest time in modern history in 15 seconds, but that’s part of what makes him so transcendent in the first place. As a TikToker might say, he snapped.
Things are happening
Hot tips for how businesses can adapt to the opportunities and efficiencies of new CMS featuring our very own John Hazard, local celebrity.
Google just put $1 billion into partnering with news publishers.
Sports are back and brands are trying to connect with fans at home. Might we suggest … IBM Fantasy Football?
Private equity firms are betting on the online shopping boom. We don’t blame them — don’t we all sometimes click “add to cart” just to feel something?
Musicians and McDonalds aren’t done! J Balvin is next up with his own ambiguously intentioned partnership with the golden arches, following the success of the Travis Scott burger. Still unclear if this just means his music is on repeat in the drive-thru …
While we’re at it, someone please give Burger King a Michelin Star.
Obligatory TikTok update: the newest trend? The bi-pirate (aka birate) aesthetic. For reference see Captain Jack Sparrow or Captain Hook. Discourse can be directed to our twitter.
What We're Listening To
Coming down from the classic rock, Phoebe Bridgers, a leader of the contemporary folk-rock scene, just launched her own record label: Saddest Factory. If you’ve heard Phoebe’s music, like at all, you’ll know the label name is exactly appropriate. True to LHC form, we’re super into the website theme — an office where no one gets any work done. The homepage is a desktop with folders labeled things like “Not Porn” and “Action Items (Circle Back Organically).” Sure, we’re excited about the music, but we’ll also be spending a substantial amount of time watching the pop ups (messages like “bring me the latest numbers! … JUST ANY NUMBERS”) appear on the screen.