This week, the marketing and advertising world has seen unexpected creative campaigns as well as new controversies. Catch up on the stories everyone is talking about in our Weekly Must Reads.

Coca-Cola’s New Christmas Movies

Advertising is going to the movies. This year, Coca-Cola is celebrating the holiday season with a series of three short films, released last week on Prime Video. The brand is calling the films their “Christmas Anthology,” with each depicting a 10- to 12-minute story about characters rediscovering joy and magic at Christmas. They’re not the typical cheesy, feel-good holiday movies, and they’re also not obviously produced by Coca-Cola. We see one character drinking a Coke in each film, but otherwise, the focus is on the film’s original story.

The films are part of Coca-Cola’s ongoing Real Magic platform, which seeks to bring consumers unique branded experiences. The Christmas Anthology is also a decidedly global campaign, as two of the three films are spoken in non-English languages. Learn more about the details of Coca-Cola’s new Christmas-themed campaign here: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/07/business/coke-christmas-movies/index.html

The AI Portraits Taking Over Instagram

If you’ve checked Instagram in the past few days, you may have seen friends or influencers share futuristic AI-drawn portraits of themselves on the platform. The trend comes from the app Lensa, which uses machine learning to create illustrations based on photos users upload themeselves. Within the first five days of December, the app saw 4 million new downloads. Users also spent upwards of $8.2 million to generate the AI images.

Users have clearly had fun playing with the app and seeing if the illustrations really looks like them. However, Lensa’s popularity also brings up important questions about representation and privacy. Lensa has been criticized by some for “Anglicizing” the portraits of non-white people and producing more inaccuracies in illustrations of people with darker skin. Additionally, the images used to train the AI were gathered from sites across the Internet, likely without people’s consent. Read more about the trend and surrounding controversies here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/08/lensa-ai-portraits/

E.l.f. Predicts a “Glow Storm”

A new three-brand partnership just dropped, and it comes at the unexpected intersection of beauty and weather. E.l.f. Cosmetics recruited The Weather Channel and singer Meghan Trainor to promote the return of its popular makeup product, the Halo Glow Liquid Filter. To launch the campaign, Trainor announced an “e.l.f.ing glow storm” on her popular TikTok channel. Additionally, the brands will hold a Halo Glow experience in New York City this week. At the pop-up experience, consumers can receive one of the highly coveted products.

The partnership came as a result of research that suggests eight in 10 women adjust their beauty routine based on the weather forecast, according to The Weather Channel. By positioning E.l.f.’s products as being reliable in any weather, the brands can meet an overlooked consumer need and bring value to their audience. Check out the announcement for the “Glow Storm” here: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/elf-glow-storm-marketing-weather-channel-meghan-trainor/638318/

Tumblr Capitalizing on Twitter’s Chaos

While Twitter continues to deal with its own chaos, at least one forgotten social platform is taking the opportunity to win back users. In recent weeks, Tumblr has been marketing itself as the next social media destination, where people can find sarcastic memes and communities with similar interests – just like they found on Twitter. Tumblr particularly hopes to win over brands and advertisers, who have shied away from Twitter given concerns over brand security.

For weeks, Twitter users have made jokes about leaving the platform for Tumblr. On November 17, Tumblr even temporarily became the top-trending topic on Twitter as people discussed their other social media options. Tumblr is not only in on the joke but hoping they can convert the chatter into sustained growth. Find out more about Tumblr’s strategy here: https://adage.com/article/digital-marketing-ad-tech-news/inside-tumblrs-strategy-use-twitters-chaos-bring-back-brands/2457626