exploring the Powerful Partnerships Shaping Culture Vol. 19
A wave of recent campaigns shows brands winning by making marketing feel like culture people can join. A24’s Marty Supreme turns a fake “leak” into a meme, then rewards the internet with IRL stunts, treating audiences as collaborators. BREAK ARCHIVE reframes Black Friday as “Break. Friday,” using finance-meme language to make archive shopping feel like a savvy portfolio play rooted in real resale truth. SEX BRAND’s “FCK SOHO” fly-poster takeover transforms the neighbourhood into the medium, reading like a street movement tied to a clear mission. Loveholidays and McDonald’s prove OOH works best when it becomes an experience or a live joke you discover and share, while GapStudio’s Gwyneth-plus-Apple casting blends nostalgia with next-gen relevance. The through-line: start as content, build a world, and invite people into the bit.
A24’s Marty Supreme rollout is brilliant social-first marketing because it starts as content, not an ad: the fake-“leaked” Zoom clip of Timothée Chalamet pitching unhinged promo ideas is instantly memeable, so people share it for fun and effectively market the film themselves. The campaign then rewards that online joke with real-world proof (over-the-top stunts and merch that mirror the video), turning a niche ping-pong story into a vibe-led cult drop. It works because it treats audiences as collaborators -inviting them into the bit.
Release the Hot Girl Guide to investing this Black Friday. They frame shopping like stock trading - sticky-note “ROI on it-bags,” price tickers, crash charts - turning the sale into a tongue-in-cheek finance meme. The joke sells the truth: archive pieces do behave like investments (rarity, resale value, price swings), so the financial language makes buying feel savvy, not guilty. By calling it “Break. Friday” and staging the products inside chaotic trading-floor scenes, they rebrand Black Friday from generic discount spam into a branded ritual - a playful “portfolio move” you want to join and share.
Black Friday is already about scarcity and urgency, and they’re matching it with brand truth (limited pieces / curated finds). So the sale feels native to who they are, not bolted on.
SEXBRAND
SEX BRAND’s “FCK SOHO” takeover is cool because it turns Soho into the medium — a 10-week wave of fly-posters that feels like a street movement, not a polite ad. The blunt, repeatable “FCK ___” slogans smash taboos in the exact neighbourhood built on nightlife and sex-positive culture, so the work spreads as something people discover, photograph, and pass on. And it’s smart because the provocation ladder-ups to a real mission: dismantling shame and censorship around sex, making the brand’s launch feel culturally necessary, not just noisy.
Loveholidays didn’t just show a holiday - they installed one on the street. Turning a 3D billboard into a live, sun-soaked “mini break” with real sand, loungers, and artificial sunshine makes the brand feel less like an ad and more like a portal: a tiny escape you can step into on your commute.
And it’s strategically sharp because it’s built on a real cultural tension (winter darkness draining moods) backed by Loveholidays’ research, so the experience isn’t random spectacle - it’s a tangible proof of the product truth: “sunshine is closer than you think.” Add Joe Marler as a genuine mental-health voice, and the stunt earns credibility and conversation, multiplying into PR, social, and word-of-mouth far beyond the five-day run.
McDonald’s x The Grinch festive OOH “hijack”
McDonald’s turns Christmas billboards into a story in progress: the Grinch “sabotaging” their own ads makes the brand feel playful, self-aware, and culturally plugged into seasonal theatre. It upgrades OOH from a poster to a punchline you discover in the wild — and that change-over / takeover mechanic is catnip for social sharing because people want to spot the next “Grinch move.”
GapStudio “04” Collection - Gwyneth Paltrow + Apple Martin
Gap’s power move is pairing a legacy celeb (Gwyneth) with a next-gen culture figure (Apple Martin) to signal both nostalgia and future relevance in one shot. It’s influencer logic applied to fashion: mother-daughter casting makes the drop feel like a family style moment people can remix, talk about, and copy - a built-in social narrative around generational taste. The campaign becomes a conversation about who Gap is for now.