The Drink Cart: Stephen Hawking Gets Air
The only ad newsletter getting air without a $10 million render farm and 47 GPUs.
Dear marketing fans and everyone whose electricity bill just tripled rendering videos of historical figures doing sick tricks on half pipes.
This week we’re doing the impossible, just like Stephen Hawking catching air on a half pipe while the rest of us can barely pull off looking interested in a video call.
In the spirit of defying physics, logic and our better judgment, we’re serving up ads and ephemera that resonates across space and time. Or at least this newsletter. Because if AI can generate a video of one of history’s greatest minds absolutely shredding a skate park, we can definitely mix scotch with apple cider and call it flannel.
OpenAI released Sora 2 barely a week ago. Naturally, the first thing humanity did was make Stephen Hawking do tricks on a halfpipe. Within hours, users generated videos of Hawking wiping out on skateboard ramps, being hoisted into a WWE wrestling ring, racing against cars, winning the World Series. Incredible stuff really.
OpenAI’s excuse? Dead celebrities are “historical figures,” so anything goes. The app also spawned SpongeBob cooking meth and a video of Sam Altman surrounded by Pokémon nervously saying “I hope Nintendo doesn’t sue us.” If only.
We’ve officially entered the timeline where you can deepfake the dead into extreme sports without permission and call it “creativity.” And if you followed the Claude brand glow up this past week (my original topic), I guess we can make the Stephen Hawking skate brand and pop up coffee shop now?
Drink Cart Approved™ agency discussion topics
One of my favourite local brands got a rebrand. The Iceman gets refreshed.
I too could look at old Range Rover ads for days.
I like this take about High Fidelity 25 years on and how it’s one of the last movies set in the pre-smart phone and social media era.
Ad History: JC Penny Dress Shirt (1974)
In 1974, a young Christopher Reeve starred in a JCPenney commercial selling polyester dress shirts for ten dollars. Ten. Dollars. I know, it’s crazy.
But they didn’t just point a camera at a shirt and call it a day. This was 1974, when advertisers still believed that a $10 polyester button-down deserved the full cinematic treatment. And a script that was as sharp as that god damned shirt. Reeve delivered those lines about affordable menswear with the same gravitas he’d later bring to playing Superman.
We went from “Let’s shoot this $10 shirt ad like it matters” to “We generated this with AI at 3am and the model has seven fingers, ship it.”
And you haven’t lived until you’ve seen this companion 1972 ad for polyester slacks for $13 staring three Judd Hirschs. And you totally can hear him as Jeff Goldblum’s dad in Independence Day in every single line. I’m bummed I didn’t get to work on a polyester campaign.
Supreme Court of Canada Uniform relaunch
Speaking of seven fingers. Is this the worst rebrand of 2025? We used to be a proper country and our Supreme court dressed like Santa Clause. If Amicus the mascot is gone, it’s all over.
This Hallmark x Star Trek Ad goes so hard
One minute you’re working a quiet Tuesday shift at the Hallmark store, pricing ornaments and helping someone find the perfect “Congrats on Your Divorce” card. The next minute? You’re beamed up to a Romulan Warbird, casually dropping lines about how they’re “just in town for the convention” like you negotiate with hostile alien empires every day.
The 1995 Hallmark Star Trek ornament commercial remains one of the most wonderful pieces of retail advertising ever committed to tape. A customer service employee goes from folding tissue paper to intergalactic diplomacy without missing a beat. Just pure “the customer is always right, even if they’re Romulan” energy.
Honestly, it’s the most realistic portrayal of retail we’ve ever seen. When you’ve dealt with Black Friday crowds, negotiating with the Romulan Empire is just another Thursday.
And since we are here. The all mighty algorithm decided to gift me this 1985 Wester Airlines ad with Shatner and Nimoy. It does not disappoint.
Why Aren’t There More Special Edition Cans?
This collaboration celebrating Godzilla’s 70th anniversary with limited-edition art cans featuring original artwork by Attack Peter transform PBR’s familiar blue into a canvas for mayhem.
While streetwear brands collab constantly and sneaker drops create lines around the block, beverage brands largely stick to standard designs. The Godzilla x PBR partnership shows what’s possible: PBR’s artistic counterculture edge meets Godzilla’s 70 years of pop culture longevity, bridged by Attack Peter’s artwork.
It’s not just a logo slapped on a can—it’s a genuine creative collaboration that turns a routine purchase into a cultural moment.
Last call: The Drink Cart: Flannel Shirt
As the leaves turn and the air gets crisp, there’s nothing quite like wrapping yourself in something warm and familiar. The Flannel Shirt cocktail does exactly that but in liquid form.
This fall sipper starts with a scotch whisky base (until Doug Ford bans all alcohol in Ontario), bringing that characteristic smokiness and depth that pairs so naturally with autumn evenings. The amaro adds a gentle herbal bitterness that keeps things interesting, while a touch of spiced rum introduces those cozy baking spices we all crave this time of year.
Then you throw some apple cider and demerara syrup to add a rich, molasses-like sweetness that ties everything together. A couple dashes of aromatic bitters round out the profile with warming spice notes.
The result? A cocktail that tastes like a weekend at a countryside cabin—woodsy, comforting and impossibly cozy. It’s like a Bath & Body Works foaming soap flavour. It’s the drink equivalent of that plaid flannel: reliable, warming and perfect for the season.
Here’s my take on it:
1 3/4 oz scotch whisky
1/2 oz Amaro
1/4 oz spiced rum
1.5oz apple cider
1/4 oz demera syrup
4 dashes aromatic bitters
Shake with ice, strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with an apple slice or star anise for max autumn vibes and watch some old Halloween ads.
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.