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[SIC] 351: Promo Parker
Vol. 7, No 41: Exquisite Cannes Corpse, HIP REPLACEMENT Ep.14 Jaskaran Saini, a Tribute to Love Supreme and all the links.
[SIC] Weekly is a digest of developments in trends, tech, media, marketing, fashion, food, places and events, published free on Thursdays. Feel no compunction to open every item in a new tab; [SIC] is intended to be read as you would a bulleted list.
This digest was sent free on 6/19/25 to 7658 subscribers. Original source is cited. Corollary sources are listed at the end of each digest. I'm Ben Dietz, longtime media/entertainment business guy, and now advisor-for-hire to brands, publishers and agencies.
[SIC] is made possible by its paid subscribers. It's $8/month or $80/year.
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Many recipients expense subscriptions as research in marketing, advertising, entertainment + tech. You can too. It's sincerely appreciated.
If can't pay, help [SIC] proliferate by sharing with friends, family and colleagues. New original art each issue is courtesy of Gordon Hull.
Special thanks this week for stories: Piers Fawkes, Celeste Blewitt and Iolanda Carvalho.
Comments, Questions and Contributions are invited from everyone.Hi all,
Sending this one from Cannes, as I get towards the end of the International Festival of (insert your favorite byword for a media-like expression of marketable value that has supplanted) ‘creativity’).
Not a complaint, to be clear. It’s nice here. And since I’m over in a semi-official capacity (riding Marcella’s coattails as she produces a massive weeklong event series) before we go on vacation, I get the luxury of reflecting on the scene in real time, as opposed to the hindsight of previous trips.
I’ve heard the word ‘dour’ used to describe the mood in the media/marketing business a bunch recently. Which is nonsense, of course - everyone’s pretty sunny, actually. The weather helps, as does that this is a culture of peak salesmanship (fake to make, get in where you fit in). But beyond that I have gotten the feeling that folks here are coming to the conclusion that the only way around is *through* whatever existential challenges we’re facing (and also that those challenges absolutely pale compared to what’s happening elsewhere in the real world).
Which leads to is a time-out-of-timeline feeling of dissociation in almost everything; like all that we’re doing is happening simultaneously faster (AI, automation, short form everything, ‘solutions’) and necessarily slower (experiences, meaningful exchange, emotion, connection).
It’s an uncanny sensation - unsteady but not necessarily disconcerting, possibly even capable of being pleasant; unmoored. And minus their moorings, things are free to get weird. Which means they’re more interesting. I have been saying to friends here all week that short term pain in natural and inevitable, that flexibility is currency, that collective fun beats individual efficiency in the end and that we’re capable of wonder when we want it.
I came home late and found my way to a couple good examples of the dissociation as resting state feeling that I’m getting at, while at the same time being great examples of the new right way to behave. Wet Leg’s “CPR” Video is a one-shot drive in point-five that goes no place in particular but gets there in the end. And Turnstile’s “Seein’ Stars / Birds” pairs disparate dreamstates into a come-as-you-are celebration of leaving the timeline behind. I doubt I’m turning any of you onto these bands, but I like them both a lot of their instinctive sense of the moment. So the videos add a proof point I wanted to share.
Given that we’re OOT now and off next week, no real event recos this week, EXCEPT that If you’re in LA, this Saturday there’s a free, open-air celebration of John Coltrane's iconic A Love Supreme, marking its 60th anniversary. Longtime subscribers know about my connection to the John and Alice Coltrane home - and about how much I’d like to be around. Next time, I guess.
HIP REPLACEMENT Ep.14 Jaskaran Saini
Jaskaran writes the modestly titled “Best Marketing Newsletter Ever” and apparently talks to Kyle more than any other parasocial acquaintance - so it was fascinating talking to them as they met for the first time face-to-face (over video obvs). Meanwhile I tried to find a quiet place to record from Cannes, with limited success.
Here’s the Spotify link, too:
Last thing: Happy Juneteenth! First few links on that topic, and then the rest exquisite corpse style, as a periodic throwback to early days of [SIC]. Since I’m on holiday next week so digest next Thursday. Catch you back in July.
And now, the links.
Ben
[SIC] 351: Promo Parker
Juneteenth Is the Story of a Freedom Withheld / Hyperallergic
The history of Juneteenth in photos / Texas Highways.
Creative chefs and home cooks are evolving Juneteenth cuisine / NYT
Also evolving: Living With Less. The Psychology of Slower Growth / News Items
Corollary? Scrolling is over. And Apple just announced what's next / Embedded
Because? Everyone is using AI for everything. Is that bad? / NYT
Some more Provocations & Propositions. The State of Strategy, Addison Rae, and Cultural Value Systems / Gray Broderick
Here’s one: Dissonant Advertising. Things are getting weird as brands lean into the entertainment potential of social media / 8Ball
Also dissonant? What 8,900+ readers hate about the state of writing today / Internet Princess
So.. What’s happening to reading? Some theorists have even proposed that we’re returning to a kind of oral culture — what the historian Walter Ong described as a ‘secondary orality,’ in which gab and give-and-take are enhanced by the presence of text / The New Yorker
Corollary to that, and to Sean’s point a couple bullets up: NPR CEO says people want a relationship “not with an institution, but with an individual” / CNN
Hence why Some marketers think creators are the only way to advertise to audiences in an era of indifference to ads / AdAge
And Patreon will increase the cut it takes from new creators / Techcrunch
Gamers have increasingly turned their hobby into their job by leveraging social media to force a personal brand / London Daily
Related: Welcome to new york tiktok city / 8Ball
Meanwhile TikTok has been taken over by comical AI-generated Bible characters behaving like content creators / Fast Company
But at least?! LinkedIn’s founder claims that Gen-Z grads’ fluency with AI makes them appealing to employers / Business Insider
In contrast: Why Craft Schools Matter / Untapped
Even we’re all In the People Business / The New Garde
Speaking of people: How People Decided It’s OK to Wear AirPods Anywhere, Anytime / WSJ
More people: Chef José Andrés has released a new line of tinned seafood called Fishsnax / Snaxshot
Meanwhile, Jason Diamond’s Tinned Fish Book Club soon comes / The Melt
And [SIC] homie Patrick O’Dell had a Bunt Live episode / IG
The former food-critic-turned-opinions-writer at the San Francisco chronicle is launching their own independent news outlet: Coyote / IG
And here are 40 Things James Frey Loves and Hates / Dream Baby Press
Wealth porn corollary, from Celeste: A New Era For The Prince Of Mayfair / Tatler
Also new: From Iolanda: “From the screen to IRL - is Netflix the new Disney ;)” / Marketwatch
Because? Streaming is now officially bigger than cable and broadcast TV combined / Nielsen
What Good Is Fiction? / American Enterprise Institute
From Iolanda: The State of Beauty (in ugly times) [State of Beauty 2025: Solving a shifting growth puzzle] / McKinsey
Corollary to that: Reese Witherspoon announced a Gen Z-focused offshoot to Hello Sunshine called Sunnie. The vibe is very mid-aughts girl power / We Are Sunnie
Vibes corollary: Agents need context engineers / Ben’s Bites
From Iolanda: And a little bit of inspiration! [The 25 creative studios inspiring us the most in 2025] / Creative Boom
But, meantime, brands are ditching creative agencies by forming social creative content and messaging with media-side shops / Digiday
Not ditching: Speed Friending The Latest Trend Promising to End Loneliness / Cosmopolitan
Track how fast a person’s love life can change over the course of a single summer / Slate
Molly Jong-Fast on the Fleeting Nature of Fame / Time Sensitive Pod
She Brought Surrealism to America—and Painted Her Own Myth. How Was She Forgotten by History? / Artnet
Marisol Was Nobody’s It Girl / Hyperallergic
Which is maybe good because Fashion Castoffs Dumped in Protected Wetlands in Ghana. Fashion Castoffs Dumped in Protected Wetlands in Ghana / BoF
In contrast, from Celeste: “Magical and evocative outline of a billionaire using his wealth to bring a Scottish island back to life.” [The Tale Of Tanera Mor] / FT
Fashion corollary: Day One Agency had [SIC] Talks Alum Recho Omondi on their pod / Apple Podcasts
And Benjamin Edgar too / Apple Podcasts
More conversations: From Celeste: insight into the inner workings of Glastonbury, as a business and as a music festival [Sidetracked: Emily Eavis ]/ BBC
Donald Glover brings Moncler into a dreamlike new world with Gilga Farm / It’s Nice That
Less dreamy, from Celeste: A Carolyn Bessette Kennedy Costuming Controversy And Brad Pitt’s Midlife Stylist / Fashion People with Lauren Sherman-Puck Pod
School Uniforms: They're not just for Catholics / Articles of Interest
In Basel, the Art World Rewrites Its Rules in Real Time / Artnet
The dream of the Fediverse is alive on Threads / Platformer
Threads is adding fediverse content to your social feeds / The Verge
From Iolanda: “Learning from F1 racing” [What the F1 movie teaches us about authentic branded entertainment]/ Shots
Not learning: Syracuse University appears to have misjudged what some families will pay for college. Why Did Syracuse Offer $200,000 Deals to Teens Who Had Turned It Down? / NYT
From Piers: I don't have many links for you this week. maybe this will make up [Part of my 90s NYC crack vial collection] / Reddit
[SIC] 351: Prom Parker
Corollary Sources This Week: Nieman Lab / Lowpass / Feed Me / 1440