Hi there,

Jimmy Kimmel just got canceled. Politicians are arguing about jeans ads. Every week, another cultural firestorm divides the internet.

Scroll through the headlines and it feels like everything is political, that every brand is one misstep away from becoming the next target.

The marketing industry has leaned into that story. We love clean narratives about customer behavior. Values-driven purchasing is in. Purpose matters more than price. Customers expect brands to take stands.

But real customer behavior doesn't follow those neat storylines. Outrage trends on social media, but sales numbers often tell a different story. What people say they care about and what actually drives their choices are rarely the same thing.

The reality is messier - contradictory, situational, and full of motivations that overlap in ways we can't easily separate.

When the Internet Explodes and Jeans Still Sell

Everyone knows what happened with Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle. The "great jeans/genes" wordplay, the internet meltdown, politicians weighing in on a jeans ad. Shit hit the fan.

But despite the public divide. The brand's market value jumped $200 million and the jeans sold out completely. Yes, foot traffic dropped 9%, but the actual product people were supposedly boycotting? Gone.

Why did people buy them? Probably a bit of everything. Some customers bought them as pushback against the outrage. Others liked what they saw as anti-woke positioning. Many just thought Sydney Sweeney looked good in jeans and ignored the controversy entirely.

The real insight isn't that customers don't care about politics. It's that customer motivations are way more complex and varied than the marketing and advertising industry assumes. We keep trying to create clean narratives about why things work when reality is messy, contradictory, and driven by multiple overlapping factors we can't easily separate.

The Brands That Win Quietly

Now, contrast that chaos with Toyota. For decades they've avoided cultural positioning altogether - no hashtags, no grand statements, no chasing viral moments. Their focus has been the same: reliable cars, predictable quality, strong dealer support.

That's not accident. That's internal discipline. Every day, Toyota shows up the same way - focused on engineering, manufacturing consistency, and long-term reliability. It hasn't made headlines, but it's made them one of the most trusted brands in the world.

Or take Costco. They don't wade into political debates or craft campaigns around social causes. Their formula is simple: good value, consistent quality, and employees who stick around because they're actually treated fairly - not because of a PR campaign, but because of real operational choices made every single day.

The result? Fanatical customer loyalty and steady growth, with no viral campaigns required.

Both brands win because they looked inward instead of outward. They focused on how they operate, not how they position.

What People Actually Say vs. What They Actually Buy

The advice about values-driven purchasing is everywhere — articles, case studies, LinkedIn posts about customers expecting brands to have purpose.

But step outside and ask someone buying groceries why they chose that pasta sauce. They might mention the company’s values, or they might talk about taste, price, and whether it worked last time. Probably some combination of factors they haven’t fully thought through.

The research everyone quotes often comes from surveys asking direct questions about values and purchasing. When you ask someone ”Do you expect companies to take positions on social issues?” you’re making them think about something they might not have been considering. Their answer tells you what they think they should care about, not necessarily what drives their actual decisions.

Most purchasing decisions still come down to:

• Does it work?

• Fair price?

• Easy to buy?

• Worked before?

• Solves my problem?

Cultural alignment might break ties occasionally. But it’s rarely the main driver.

The Success Stories Work for Specific Reasons

We often cite Nike, Patagonia, and Ben & Jerry's as proof that values-driven marketing is the future. And the data seems to support this - 71% of Gen Z say they factor brand values into purchasing decisions, compared to just 34% of Baby Boomers.

But here's what those numbers don't tell you: these brands succeed with cultural positioning because they found natural alignment between their values, their business model, and their customers' existing priorities. They weren't imposing external values - they were reflecting values their customers already held.

Nike can take controversial stands because they're selling identity products to consumers who care about cultural signaling. (They will always be the GOAT. The Dream Crazier Ad above is possibly my favorite ad of all time). Patagonia works because their customers genuinely care about environmental issues that directly affect their outdoor activities. Ben & Jerry's built their brand around progressive activism from day one, so their customers expect it.

These aren't just smart marketing moves - they're business strategies that make sense for their specific contexts and customer bases.

But for every brand that succeeded with cultural positioning, thousands succeed by focusing on operational excellence. The exceptions get conference presentations precisely because they're exceptional. The boring companies doing their jobs well don't generate case studies, but they're probably closer to what most customers actually want.

The Real Cost of Getting Distracted

While marketing teams obsess over cultural positioning, they miss what actually drives business results.

I’ve watched companies spend six figures on values campaigns while their customer satisfaction scores remained mediocre. Customers don’t care about your social media posts if your product breaks after six months.

Product quality gets ignored while teams craft inspiring messaging about changing the world. Customer service becomes an afterthought while resources flow toward cultural positioning. Basic operations suffer while everyone debates the brand’s stance on social issues.

All the purpose-driven messaging in the world won’t help if your website crashes or your employees can’t solve customer problems.

@wallstreetjournal

Costco co-founder Jim Sinegal said, “You can't say, ‘people are our most important product,’ and then treat them like s—.” Sinegal sat dow... See more

The Values Questions Nobody Wants to Answer

Most companies ask "What values should our brand have?" when they should be asking "What values do we actually have?"

If you want to know your real values, look at your actual decisions:

• How do you treat employees when no one's watching?

• What do you optimize for when choosing suppliers?

• How do you respond when doing the right thing costs money?

• Who gets hired and promoted?

• Where do you actually spend money versus where you say you spend it?

Your real values are already visible in your operations. The question is whether you're honest enough to admit what they are.

Maybe you don't have values that customers care about. Maybe your company exists primarily to make money, and that's fine. Not every business needs to save the world.

But if that's the case, don't pretend otherwise. Customers respect honest profit-focus more than fake purpose-washing.

The Simple Alternative That Actually Works

Instead of trying to figure out your brand’s position on complex social issues, focus on being excellent at what you do:

• Make better products.

• Treat people well.

• Be reliable.

• Solve real problems.

This approach might be boring, but boring often wins. Customers might not tweet about reliable, competent companies, but they keep buying from them year after year.

What This Actually Means for Your Business

The marketing industry created a false choice: take bold stands on social issues or become irrelevant. Most successful businesses prove this wrong every day by focusing on operational excellence.

The American Eagle situation shows something more nuanced than either side wants to admit. Toyota and Costco prove that competence compounds over time. Together, they point to the same conclusion: the real edge isn’t in guessing which cultural stand might trend next. It’s in building a business customers can rely on — products that work, prices that feel fair, service that solves problems.

Culture shifts. Politics flare up and fade. But reliability compounds. In the long run, that’s what wins.

Brand Wars: Battle of the Best Jeans

American Eagle

American Eagle didn’t set out to spark a culture war. A cheeky Sydney Sweeney ad, a pun on jeans/genes, and suddenly the internet is screaming about eugenics. Politicians pile on. Think pieces everywhere.

AE’s move? They don’t flinch. No apology video, no “we’re listening” statement. Just: “This campaign is and always was about the jeans.” And the market rewards them: stock up $200 million, denim sold out in most sizes.

Strategically, it’s fascinating. AE stumbled into outrage, owned it by doing nothing, and customers bought anyway. Was it authenticity? Dumb luck? Or proof that controversy sells if you stand still long enough?

Gap

A few weeks later, Gap launches its “Katseye” denim campaign. Slick, diverse, inclusive, global. It felt like the antidote to AE’s chaos — polished where AE was scrappy, intentional where AE was accidental.

Reaction was split. Some saw it as progressive and culturally tuned-in, exactly the kind of campaign a brand like Gap should run in 2025. Others saw it as derivative, safe, and maybe a little too careful.

Strategically, it’s just as interesting. Gap didn’t risk outrage, but they didn’t generate much heat either. Is that smart long-term brand building? Or a missed chance to take a bigger swing?

Ad Vault: Budweiser

Wassup? (1998)

Beer ads are weird. You can't say anything real about the product - regulations kill every claim that might actually sell beer.

So Budweiser said nothing. And it worked brilliantly.

"Wassup" is four friends watching TV, drinking beer, being bored on the phone. That's it. No joke, no story, no clever twist. Just guys doing what guys do when they're doing absolutely nothing.

It became huge because it felt stolen from real life instead of manufactured in a conference room. These weren't actors performing friendship - they genuinely seemed like friends who happened to be in a commercial.

The breakthrough wasn't the greeting itself. It was realizing that customers don't buy beer - they buy the moments around drinking beer. Budweiser sold belonging to a group, not a beverage.

When "wassup" became actual language instead of advertising language, they'd cracked something most brands never figure out: making their marketing disappear into everyday life.

Lento Vibes

A bit of random inspo from around the grounds:

• Jimmy Kimmel Gets Suspended: ABC pulls Jimmy Kimmel Live! following his comments on Charlie Kirk’s death, sparking debate over free speech and political pressure on broadcasters. 👉 Read more

• Brands Push Back on AI: A fresh ad movement emerges as brands like Adidas and Volvo reject AI-generated content, choosing authenticity and realness over algorithmic sameness. 👉 Go real

• Lime Wins Tube Strike: London’s Tube strike accidentally created a Lime monopoly: the “Good Service on All Limes” campaign nails the punchline while thousands turned to rental bikes for full commutes. 👉 Ride the campaign

• Depop Celebrates Style Connections” Depop’s “Where Taste Recognizes Taste” campaign celebrates the emotional power of secondhand fashion with “Depopelgangers” who share style across time and space. 👉 See the film

• McDonald’s x Kappa Serve Streetwear LIGA: McDonald’s teams up with Kappa to drop a sporty, logo-heavy capsule collection celebrating European football. Think athleisure meets fast-food flexing. 👉 Check the collab