Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know
Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.
Retail marketing hits and misses from the past week.
Home of the Good Burger: The sequel to the 1997 Nickelodeon movie Good Burger is hitting Paramount+ on November 22, and Arby’s is promoting the movie with a co-branded campaign featuring its Deluxe Wagyu Steakhouse Burger. While this may be the closest fans get to patronizing the fictional burger chain, some customers were less than enthused about the partnership. As one X user pointed out, Arby’s isn’t really known for its burgers. Others seemed more concerned with Arby’s bringing back its beloved “potato cakes,” a discontinued product which has garnered its own online petition, than trying out the chain’s new burger option. (Arby’s on X)
Cartoon cleaners: Household goods maker Unilever has produced a series of short form videos featuring anthropomorphized versions of its products. The animated cleaning supplies are involved in an elaborate soap opera-inspired drama called Dirty Deeds: A Kitchen Crime. The company is the exclusive sponsor of the #CleanTok hashtag, which became popular on TikTok during the pandemic. (Cleanipedia on TikTok)
Advertising wasteland: In related news, some TikTok creators are complaining that the video app’s embrace of e-commerce is hurting the user experience. In one popular video, user gracejohanna said the app feels “like Shein and AliExpress had a baby,” and that there were ads and links all over her feed. (@gracejohanna on TikTok)