The Drink Cart: Final-Final-Final-V37.pdf

We start with vibes then leap into inflatables, 50 year old airline ads, steak and Shohei Ohtani ads for New Balance. Consider this the one thing that doesn't need 37 revisions.

Dear marketing fans and those dealing with never-ending revisions.

This week I wanted to share some observations that have nothing to do with tariffs, or the fetishization of the workplace. Just what’s causing me vibes. You know, in between writing old time-style radio tags and making even more forgotten printed brochures.

I know saying this on Substack is going to be hilarious, or even ‘meta’, but on Wednesday morning I spent 15 minutes just scrolling the Substack Notes feed. You know what? It was the most enjoyable feed in social this week. Just a constant scroll of interesting things, beautiful photos with all the BS from instagram removed. No agency hacks for this, rants on AI or 17 things the tariffs have taught me about B2B Marketing. Absolutely delightful. I even misread something as “Wellness Osysters” and thought that was what the world needed anyway with a martini. Highly recommend before we ruin it.

Our creative team spent at least 20 minutes this week deep diving on everything that’s wild about these red light contraption brands. I started by saying there is no way there is any science to any of this. After 20 minutes I think we decided that you can learn everything you need to about ecommerce product page design from Dr. Dennis Gross but the visuals are still nightmare fuel.

I’m loving how brands are starting to treat content across Youtube, Instagram and Tiktok. This video captures that beautifully using the partnership between Zendaya and On. And I really like how Toby Hart of NUSA Studios describes the subtle differences, “YouTube was the mid-form storytelling platform. Instagram reels was the mini story piece. TikTok was the purely aesthetic vibes content.” He has another great example that talks about it from Hi-Fi to Lo-Fi.

Three things that made my brain ache this week

• I loved this line about heritage brands from Aleks Cvetkovic of The Sociology of Business. “Football clubs don’t sell football. They sell victory and defeat; superhuman effort; dream-making and heartbreaking in the 89th minute.”

• I’m not sure the line “Pickle Yourself” is what I would do for this brine only launch but here we are.

• I used the word “sexy” on a Linkedin comment earlier this week and the platform warned me about. I wish I took a screen shot. Proving that Linkedin is the least fun social platform in the game.

Apple’s TV marketing is becoming self aware

I love that this is the billboard for their upcoming show, The Studio. It’s inviting you into another world they are building beyond the show. As one comment summarized, “Creative: "Hey can you give me some direction on the billboard?" Executive: 👍”

All while Severance has just done a collab with Ziprecruiter which is pretty funny.

The hottest thing in marketing right now? Inflatables.

Is it happening? My feed says it is. It feels like 2025 is the year for giant inflatables. It's time.

First to show off the new Slawn Air Max 90s where Nike x Slawn dropped an incredible oversized inflatable art piece in Shoreditch.

Of course, then Kim Kardashian dropped the biggest bikini inflatable in New York for her 2025 swim line.

Then I’m getting hit by the algorithm on vintage inflatable furniture.

So if your deck doesn’t have one inflatable by end of year, did you even 2025?

Ad History: Peter Sellers Edition

In March of 1975 (50 years ago) Peter Sellers did the most amazing ad for TWA. It will make you rethink booking that next flight on today’s airlines or flying over Pittsburgh.

Sellers would play three different and incredible characters in the spots. “The notorious Italian lover Vito D'Motione, the bargain hunting Scotsman Thrifty McTravel, and this British chap here, The Honorable Jeremy Peake-Tyme.”

Plus that ending jingle-tag is amazing as is the behind the scenes.

Ad History: Sony Bravia’s Paint

In 2006 Sony created the $2 million dollar “Paint” ad. What some call one of the most technically challenging ads of all tie.

After finding just the right building set for demolition, over 250 crew used 1,700 detonators, 455 mortars, 622 bottle bombs, 65 cameras and 70,000 litres of paint to sell TVs. It took 60 people 5 days to clean up. Iconic. Advertising should take a week to clean up.

The Art of Steakvertising

Last week was beervitising, this week it’s steak. I don’t make the rules. I like these ads for Smith & Wollensky steakhouse and the “Unchanged since 1977” tag. They are just the right amount of dad-cringe. Headlines like “A college kid runs our ‘Instagram.’ Whatever that is” is like comfort food in their simplicity.

As the agency notes, “The Unchanged Since 1977 campaign celebrated S&W’s authenticity, while also acknowledging that they aren’t exactly hip with everything the kids are up to these days.” I also like that even the media ties into that using phone kiosks as placements like it is 1977.

Bonus Unhip Steak Ad History: This is how you do it back in the newspaper golden age. No Urls. No QR codes. Just a phone number and a former baseball player.

Shohei vs. Shohei

Some beautiful black and white drama for New Balance in this incredible Two Swords short film by Teddy Santis and Walid Labri. I’m still thinking about the eclipse of the moon shot.

Hat of the week: Dog Hats

They don’t even have the hats available just yet. But this new sub-brand for the Arkansas Travelers, the Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners in the Texas League.

This is all in service of a staffer who’s worked for them for 50 years and his dog “Dizzy” (“The Goodest Boy in Baseball”) as they rebrand as the “Barkansas Dizzys”.

Dogs will be allowed in all six games of course. And the logo of Dizzy is so cool.

Side note: The giant New Era installation in Tokyo as the first MLB series kicks off there in just 5 days is pretty cool.

Last call: The Drink Cart Brainstorm

Since it’s nearly St. Paddy’s day and we are not allowed to buy bourbon in Canada right now this seemed like a good one

The Brainstorm cocktail originally from 1917 comes with some modern upgrades for the current times. Back in the day it was served over ice (which I still might recommend). This is a thinking drink. But it kind of just reminds me of Cocktail’s Doug Coughlin and his myriad of completely made up laws.

“Douglas Coughlin, Logical Negativist. Flourished in the last part of the 20th Century. Propounded a set of laws the world generally ignores, to its detriment.”

Some of the laws?

Drink or be gone.

Anything else is always something better.

Bury the dead, they stink up the joint.

That’s the kind of laws I need for advertising.

Since the Brainstorm also features Benedictine, boy do I have a story for you. Head on over to Linkedin and hear the totally fake monk story of Benedictine. it’s wild. Maybe while you’re over there I’d also read about the Emperor of World Building. Let me know what you think.

Here’s the recipe:

• 2oz Irish Whiskey

• 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth

• 1/2 oz Benedictine

• Dash or three of bitters.

• Stir it all with ice, and strain that into chilled coupe glass and garnish with an orange twist.

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Drink Cart Approved™ agency discussion topics

• These new Canadian Tire travel ads are fascinating. Both unapologetically pro-Canadian mixed with Drill Baby Drill energy. Discuss.

• The only thing you need to watch this week is the Season 2 trailer for The Valley.

• Breaking: Hot Dog Towers are in.

• I don’t even know what you call this kind of social media. Absurdist fun?

• This Unsolved Mysteries call center photo is incredible. Easily 5x more cool than Severance workplace nostalgia. I would watch that show, you?

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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.