The Drink Cart: Trade Wars

No skip ads on this week. Everyone is still talking about the trade war that is just on pause long enough for us to enjoy ads and Super Bowl.

In the brief trade war that almost happened this week, every one was talking like this was going to be a new birth of Canadian patriotism. But if you watched too much cable news it felt more like George Lucas was directing some sort of montage about the ridiculous Trade Federation from The Phantom Menace.

I’m sure there were a lot of hours flushed in boardrooms across the country looking for angles, writing Canada-first briefs and coming up with well-intentioned Linkedin posts about adding “Made in Canada” to your profile picture, products or shelves. And then, poof, it was gone. For now.

Flags did go up on products, bourbon was taken off shelves (then put back), people were talking about cancelling Netflix, Doug Ford cancelled Starlink (then uncanceled it) and “designed in Canada” soup cans were a thing. Shirts about surviving the 2025 Global Trade War of Feb 3-Feb 3 were made.

For the record, I only enjoy soups if they are from the official soup design region of Canada.

As luck would have it, Ipsos dropped the 2024 Most Influential Brands in Canada list: And in a shock to nobody, the top 10 features not a single Canadian brand. The highest ranking “Team Canada” brands? A laughable Canada Post at 14, PC Optimum at 15 and Shoppers Drug Mart at 17. Just an embarrassment all around. Your top 10:

1. Google (no change)
2. Amazon (no change)
3. YouTube (no change)
4. Apple (no change)
5. Facebook (no change)
6. Walmart (no change)
7. Netflix (+3)
8. Microsoft (no change)
9. Visa (no change)
10. Samsung (+2)

And if you think that listing is fun, check out the brands leading the way for America’s Hottest Brands. If you guessed Sabrina Carpenter, Adidas Samba (instant no) and Wingstop, then you have your fingers on the plus of hotness.

The Condiment Bowl

I love that Heinz created a totally made up job for a collab with award-winning producer and extremely awesomely-named producer Mustard (who’s real first name is Dijon, imagine that). Chief Mustard Officer? Incredible idea. I love the job description: “He’ll be remixing exclusive recipes, hosting events, and generally.” It’s no Fentanyl Czar, but still really cool.

Why this collab? A few months ago, Kendrick Lamar screamed out “MUSTAAAAAAARD” on a song (for the aforementioned DJ Mustard) which has turned into a endless stream of memes and Tiktok remixes. It helps that Mustard has been flashing a $70,000 diamond chain of a Heinz mustard bottle since 2013.

In light of Mustard, or Dijon, it reminds me of a life changing visit to Maille in Paris. It was all after reading an article on the brand in a Sunday edition of The New York Times (back in 2005). The brand with a mustard boutique right across from the amazing looking La Madeleine is close to the Roman Empire in terms what occupies my brain on random times per week.

The reason is simple. You can get mustard on tap. And everyone knows mustard on tap is the greatest thing in the condiment game you can imagine. So yes, you can get a Maille jar, fill it up - then bring it back to fill it up again when you need it. They should have a super bowl spot. In three months in Paris once, I think I refilled my 2 jars 4-5 times. I was just eating mustard. It was amazing.

Mustard isn’t the only brand bedazzling their condiments this week. Paris Hilton is working with Frank’s RedHot sauce offering up a glam bottle and a lifetime supply of the spicy stuff for the Super Bowl. Exit question: What other condiment needs a bling-style glow up? Horseradish?

Ad History: The Best Super Bowl Ad of all time?

Ad Age is doing a bracket on best Super Bowl Ad of all time. I just want to flag an official protest over Terry Tate: Office Linebacker getting beaten in the Sweet Sixteen round. Losing to a totally “fine” Betty White Snickers ad is a regrettable chapter in advertising. Which of these is your pick for #1? I mean, it doesn’t matter. Just watch this classic:

A Bold UX Breakthrough

Someone went and made a cloth button for a website. It's absolutely wild. I want to click it so bad. Are we slowly working our way back to fun ux again?

I already don’t wan’t your Apple invite

Apple Invites is an app gives users the power to whip up custom invitations for birthdays, vacations, graduations and any other excuse they can think of to celebrate. But i already suspect that various busy-bodies might turn this into a hellscape of notifications for nights out.

Imagine Don Draper dealing with an agency full of Gen Z

This week on Tubi they are launching a new series about advertising today. The synopsis and trailer aren’t bad. “Generations clash when the award-winning C-suite at Atelier Ad Agency is canceled and pushed out and the Gen Z social media team is put in charge.”

Everything about it is as cringe as you can imagine it would be. Right down to the Gary Vaynerchuck producing credit. And perfect for hate watching. I for one am still cracking up of the setting of Toronto’s Coronation Park as the setting for their ad for headphones which ends (and what starts the Gen Z takeover) with the tagline, “All Vibez Matter.” This is no better or worse than Emily in Paris if you are looking for a cringe rating.

Hat of the week: Dog Hat or Uncle O’Grimacey hat?

Some weeks you just can’t choose one hat. This is one of those weeks. How can you choose between the most incredible Hudson Valley Retrievers hat - this despite it being a Yankees affiliate (and trust me, the logo brings receipts on it’s design choices). And the Uncle O'Grimacey Cap to mark the return of the Shamrock Shake legend? A simple solution: Get both.

Last call: The Drink Cart Old Fashioned Fourth Regiment

Funny story. I was thinking about the offering for the Drink Cart this past week. I’d heard about this cocktail, The Fourth Regiment, a variant of The Manhattan. What’s different about it? Pretty much just celery bitters. Such a random ingredient. So against my better judgement, a weekend walk in the cold drew me to Cocktail Emporium to score some.

And then after a longish day, I decided to make one. Except I totally didn’t add the sweet vermouth. What I made was simply an Old Fashioned Fourth Regiment - an Old Fashioned with celery bitters.

Taking a page out of a winery I went to on a trip a few years ago (You can read that story on Linkedin) this is “An Old Fashioned that veered off course, crashed through a farmer’s market, and came out the other side dripping in celery bitters and attitude. The kind of cocktail that looked over at the salad, flipped the table and said, ‘We’re gonna do this my way.’” Yes, it’s a really just a health cocktail.

So here’s your modified Fourth Regiment

• 2 oz Bourbon (Generous)

• 2 dashes Peychaud bitters

• 2 dashes orange bitters

• 2 dashes celery bitters

• A lemon or orange peel - I actually used a candied orange peel)

• Serve on ice.

---

Drink Cart Approved™ agency discussion topics

• Do not go to Miami Beach for Spring Break. Not sure as a campaign I like it, but would watch the show. Needed a cameo from like Jax Taylor or someone to sell it.

• I love the description (“super candid, no filter, no photoshop”) and roll out of the new headshots for the team from the Dude Wipes brand.

• Some great thinking in the new branding for the The Roald Dahl Story Company.

• I like that someone called the 45 year absence of Uncle O'Grimacey “The McTroubles”

• What can we learn from the incredible logo design of 1990s TV shows?

• Crazy that someone invented a post-credit teaser in a drone show for the Fantastic Four.

We did it. We made it to Filthy February. See you next week my Drink Carting friends and cocktail enthusiasts.

---

The Drink Cart is a weekly newsletter of advertising, pop culture, baseball and cocktails from Jackson Murphy.