The Drink Cart: Blankets at Half-Mast

If a 354-year-old brand dies during 2025 does it even make a sound? Hudson's Bay Company is gone and all you got was this rum-soaked ad newsletter.

Dear marketing fans and those doing all the mysterious and important work.

I’m going to start with some of the unhinged things people are saying about the meltdown of the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Lorne Gunter writing in the Edmonton Journal, “It’s hard to imagine a Canada without the Bay.” Or the, “This is a sad day,” wrote Harrison Faulkner on X.

Is it?

I mean there is a beaver out there somewhere whispering, “pathetic.” Likely.

Welcome to some serious brand Darwinism or the retail event horizon.

At least we’re not talking tariffs, right?

A Canadian brand going down after 350 years does seem crazy. The one time the mention of nostalgia on a brand presentation slide failed to achieve results, I guess.

I asked my trusted sidekick ChatGPT about this and it suggested, “The Canadian economy is now held together by poutine, bootleg cigarettes, and The Tragically Hip.”

Rude. But fair. It added this thought: “A ghost of a fur trader just appeared in your living room, asking if you take pelts as payment” and then suggested, “the entire universe was just a long-form ad for Molson Canadian.”

Not great.

Hudson’s Bay Company outlasted plagues, wars and 200 years of bad customer service (we guess) but somehow couldn’t navigate TikTok shop and Shopify?

My pet theory is that it was probably doomed when they stopped selling this amazing looking house branded rum. But man did they cook in the 1980s when it came to ads.

Real talk: If they can bring back this 1988 anthem version of the brand (send those trucks from coast to coast on a farewell tour) from this spot, we’re so back. Don’t forget about the pants.

Whatever you do, I encourage you to spend 10 minutes and watch this nearly ten minute Bay ad montage. And know that at some point, Leslie Nielson was an iconic spokesperson and one of the biggest stars going.

Since we’re talking about brands, I really enjoyed reading Amanda K Gordon’s newsletter, The Case For Brand this week. It was actually her interview with Sophie Bambuck from The North Face who said, “the brief is the contract. We don’t change the brief, the reason to do the work, midway.” It’s a great thing to remember.

She went on, “That means from the beginning, we need to be clear on, why do we need a campaign? Who do we need to reach? I'm going to make this up, but let's say we want to start reaching 18 year old women in key urban areas. We want them to be inspired by x, or y, and that's why we're doing this.”

Three thoughts that had my brain buffering like crazy:

• More people (42%) are interacting with tentpole cultural events on short for video platforms than TV (35%) according to a Magna and Tiktok study.

• Just imagine leaving the Yelp review by stone tablet.

• The odds of filling out a perfect March Madness Bracket? 1 in 9.2 quintillion. So you’re saying I’ve got a chance?

• This bit of a wine description from one of my favourites brands (shhhh, it’s from California), “On the palate, the dub rhythms of this wine move to a delicious beat, evoking the flavors of Tropical Skittles, followed by a zesty lime note that cuts through the richness. On the finish, there is a lingering note of white peach, leaving you wanting more.”

Bringing out the big guns for AirPods 4?

Only Apple would enlist director Spike Jonze and actor Pedro Pascal for a colourful 5 minute ad about headphones and a breakup. An ad that has a poster like it’s a film.

It’s beautiful, moving and kind of amazing.

Did you even notice the headphones at all? Like really?

Who dares to make a 10 minute ad now? The flood gates are open.

Is a national passport redesign the ultimate creative brief?

The only thing that could be equally over the top as a five minute Apple ad, is whatever Switzerland is doing to launch their new passports.

Is that the most iconic brief in creative? As Hype Beast calls it a “work of art.”

I’m not sure I can ad much.

When in doubt, work bears into your creative

I saw this incredible installation in Katherine Heath’s newsletter for Yeti and the line of copy is too good. “Nothing protects your food from bears like our coolers. This Tundra is here to prove it.”

And she nails why it’s so powerful too.

“Imagine if this piece of creative was also crammed with feature lists, pricing details and ‘where to buy’ information. It just wouldn’t have the same impact.”

All that stuff that is supposedly “required” in an ad, is not required, and shouldn’t be. You get everything you need.

Ad History: Salvador Dalí

I don’t even know how briefing Salvador Dalí would be on your campaign for Bryan’s Hosiery. What could you have even said to get these?

Do you give Dali insights? I think you hand him a stack of cash and the product and tell him to do his thing.

His collaboration with Bryan’s Hosiery in the 1940s turned stockings into these magical surrealist masterpieces that would work equally well today.

I’m sure someone in the C-Suite at Bryan’s was confused the entire time.

Hat Souvenir Cup of the week: TBD

We’re interrupting our weekly feature on baseball hats for a brief discussion of The new Trident Cup. “Designed specifically for Mariners fans at T-Mobile Park, the Tridents Up Cup can be used with all the ballpark’s beverage offerings, holding up to 32oz at a time.”

Apparently, it comes with 32 oz of soda and free refills for $24.99. But sounds like you can maybe get a beer in it too. The Mariners are getting this incredible chalice and Jays fans are getting, checks notes, cotton candy french fries for reasons that are very hard to explain, like not being able to sign Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

I take all this in knowing that the team has a prospect nicknamed “The Iowa Meat Truck.” And that you can get $6 Asahi’s from a backpack in Japan.

Last call: The Drink Cart Fair & Warmer

It might already be too hot to do this. People were already on King Street patios last night here in Toronto, it doesn’t be mean there won’t be at least two snows before real spring. But this cocktail caught my eye. Think of it like a rum martini.

Here’s my take on the recipe:

• 2 oz dark rum (I never have white rum, so I’m substituting what I have)

• 1/2 oz sweet vermouth

• 1/2 oz orange curaçao or cointreau

• Stir with ice, strain into a chilled martini glass and serve with twist of orange.

Don’t worry. As you’re sipping your Drink Cart cocktail, think about the fact that there’s now just 280 shopping days left until Christmas. We’ve got this.

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Drink Cart Approved™ agency discussion topics

• The on field replays from the Tokyo Dome this week have been incredible.

• I love this hot take from Tina Fey on why rich people do not need side hustles.

• There was a time you could make $166,000 per story in the golden age of Vanity Fair.

• The Parker Posey Quote “I don’t even have my lorazepam i’m going to have to drink myself to sleep” or the Sam Rockwell monologue in White Lotus. Discuss.

• There is a whole animated movie about sneakers.

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The Drink Cart is your weekly fuel for pop culture brains and ad junkies. A cocktail of ad insights and hot takes that feel like you’re hanging at your favourite dive bar after launching your latest campaign.