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- Your ATTN Please || Tuesday, 1 April
Your ATTN Please || Tuesday, 1 April
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"Sephora kids," AKA tween girls, are traipsing through malls spending hundreds on beauty products.
But they aren't just buying lip gloss and nail polish. Thanks to beauty influencers, they're splashing out on anti-ageing products (and potentially causing irreparable skin damage in the process). So California has just introduced a bill that bans the sale of skincare products containing ingredients like retinol to children under 18. Because, yeah, maybe 9-year-olds shouldn’t be buying wrinkle cream…
- Charlotte, Editor ♡
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WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MARKETING TODAY?
CA aims to stop “Sephora Kids” trend, Robinhood app is coming for banks & AI ruins more things
California wants to ban minors from buying anti-ageing products following “Sephora Kids” trend.
Thank GOD someone’s stepping in, since these parents don’t seem to be doing sh*t about it. This is actually the second year in a row that the state of California has introduced a bill, that if passed, would ban minors from purchasing anti-ageing beauty products. This is obviously following the insane trends we’ve seen on TikTok over the past few years. You know, the ones where young kids and preteens show us their hauls, using product designed for adults and highly likely messing up their skin barrier.
However, it’s not just the physical dangers this trend poses, but the psychological and cultural implications. If we tell kids it’s okay to worry about ageing when they are LITERALLY just babies, we’re practically sentencing them to lifelong insecurity and perpetuating an ideology that aging for women is a sin. The bill would make it illegal for businesses to sell products that contain anti-ageing ingredients to under 18s in California.
Robinhood will launch bank accounts that deliver physical cash to your doorstep.
This mobile-first financial services company is shaking things up again. The brand has announced Robinhood Banking, a new checking and savings service rolling out this fall. But there’s a catch: it’s only for Robinhood Gold members. Here’s what you get: 4% APY and FDIC insurance up to $2.5M, which we love considering this is a new, independent bank. Oh, and cash deliveries to your door, allegedly.
They’re also launching Robinhood Strategies, a new wealth management service. This will include curated stock and ETF portfolios that they actively manage. So basically, Robinhood is trying to be a one-stop money shop, as it even includes cryptocurrency management and trading. It's like the new age of banking. Will it work? We’ll see - but the whole “cash to your door” thing definitely has my attention.
ChatGPT takes on Studio Ghibli.
Any artist or fan of animation holds the iconic Studio Ghibli very dear to our hearts. Over the weekend, ChatGPT 4o and its new image generation tool began spitting out Ghibli-esque edits of user’s photos. And of course, this spurred an online trend, against which the backlash from heartbroken fans was swift and immediate.
If there was ever a single animator who would absolutely reject this trend, it would be Miyzaki himself. In fact, he famously rebuked AI tech at a demo, saying, “I am utterly disgusted. I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel this is an insult to life itself.” I can only imagine what the now-retired animator will be saying once he sees Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, with a Ghibli version of himself as his current profile picture.
-Sophie, Writer
DEEP DIVE
The death of bold advertising (& how to bring it back)
Once upon a time, advertising was unhinged.
And I don’t mean some Nutter Butter, Duolingo, social media mumbo jumbo. I mean, it was as absurd as it was beautiful. Some of the ads from my childhood could genuinely rival an Oscar-winning film. But somewhere along the way, the big, bold, beautiful, bonkers ad died. And what did we get in return? Minimalist, algorithm-pleasing content that feels like it was made in a lab.
So, what happened? And more importantly—how do we bring the magic back?
To get to the bottom of this, I dug into some of the wildest, most theatrical ads from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s and figuring out what worked, what didn’t, and what desperately needs a resurrection. Because well, it’s a damn lost art. Not many people know this, but my grandfather worked in advertising throughout its golden years, retiring as somewhat of a mogul and cherished member 15 years ago.
He’s the reason I got into this industry - but so are the ads I used to watch as a child. Bright-eyed and bushy tailed, my grandfather would proudly show me his work: from Mercedes to McDonald's. I was always in awe, excited to fill his shoes. Only, by the time I found myself in a cap and gown, the industry had shifted. The internet took over, and ads just weren’t what I remembered them to be.
So, let’s look at some of history’s most famous and beloved pieces.
First, the ever-iconic Levi’s “Launderette” ad, circa 1985
A ridiculously attractive man walks into a laundromat, strips down to his boxers, and casually throws his jeans into the wash while Marvin Gaye’s "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" plays. That’s it. No dialogue, no sales pitch. This little piece of magic led to an 800% sales boost of a struggling product in a flat-lining category.
Ads back then had this slow, sensual storytelling approach. They weren’t in a rush. They built tension, they had mood, they knew how to let a scene breathe. Now? We’d get a TikTok version with a voiceover saying, “POV: You’re in a laundromat and hot people exist.”
What needs a comeback? A commitment to aesthetics and atmosphere.
What can stay dead? The weird assumption that men need to strip to sell denim (unless we’re making it truly equal-opportunity objectification, in which case, proceed).
Next, the 90s: when ads were a fever dream
If you weren’t mildly disturbed by at least one 90s commercial, were you even there? Let me introduce you to the Fruit Gushers ad. A group of kids takes a bite of the candy, and boom—their heads morph into oversized fruits like something out of a Twilight Zone episode. Instead of screaming in existential horror, their friends just shrug it off like this is a totally normal Tuesday afternoon.
This was the golden age of advertising. Logic was irrelevant, CGI was used with zero restraint, and brands were locked in an arms race to create the most surreal commercial possible. Did it make sense? No. Did we remember it forever? Absolutely.
What needs a comeback? The absolute audacity to be weird.
What can stay dead? The borderline body horror. Maybe we don’t need kids sprouting fruit heads again.
Lastly, the early 2000s: the era of the (beloved) corporate mascot
Dude, you’re getting a Dell. No, I’m not riffing off a stoner movie about two dudes who misplace their car. These were real Dell commercials, featuring a college bro with frosted tips and the kind of laid-back stoner energy that made you trust his computer recommendations implicitly.
Every ad followed the same formula: Ben Curtis, aka the Dell Dude, casually helping some tech-clueless adult pick out a Dell PC before signing off with his now-iconic, “Dude, you’re getting a Dell” catchphrase.
This was peak early 2000s marketing—simple, character-driven, and built entirely around a vibe. No explosions, no insane stunts, just a chill guy you believed when he told you to buy a laptop. Of course, like many ad mascots of this era, Curtis’ reign ended in scandal. His real-life arrest for marijuana possession got him promptly dropped by the brand. Wow, you mean the guy who seemed like a stoner, was one? Crazy.
What needs a comeback? The power of a good brand character. We’ve seen a little resurgence with Duolingo’s chaotic owl and Slim Jim’s weird Twitter persona, but we need more human mascots we can latch onto.
What can stay dead? The cringe corporate attempts to be way too in touch with the youth.
Who actually had a comeback? Curtis. Appearing on shows like Orange is the New Black and The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel. Dude, you're getting a comeback.
So, what killed the bold ad?
Long story short: ads got safe. The rise of data-driven marketing meant brands started optimising for clicks instead of cult moments. Instead of storytelling, we got influencers holding up products and saying, "This is sauuur goord, you gouys." Everything became about short-form, fast-consumable content. We lost the drama, the absurdity, the fun.
But it’s not too late. If marketers are brave enough, we could absolutely bring back the cinematic, the weird, and the unnecessarily intense. Because let’s be honest—wouldn’t you rather watch a guy fight off security guards for a soda than another 15-second ad telling you to “Click the link below”? Maybe, like the Dell Dude, Big, Bold, Beautiful, Bonkers Ads deserve a comeback too.
-Sophie, Writer
TREND PLUG
I already know how this ends
Today's trend pulls audio from the Gnomeo & Juliet movie (yes, the cursed gnome version of Shakespeare).
The line is delivered in that over-it, I’ve-seen-this-play-out-before kind of way, "The story you are about to see has been told before. A lot." Now, it’s being used all over TikTok to call out moments where the outcome is painfully obvious because you’ve lived it, heard it, or done it a million times before; and yet, here you are again.
Creators are using the sound to call out repetitive, predictable behaviour—whether it’s their own, their friends’, or life just serving up the same storyline over and over. Some examples we've seen are:
How you can jump on this trend:
Use the audio, film yourself lipsyncing to it, and use OST to describe your own “I’ve been here before” moment.
A few ideas to get you stared:
When you say “final version” and it hits version 17
When the Teams chat says "this meeting won’t take long"
When you say "no more carousels" and then make three more
-Abdel, Social Media Coordinator
FOR THE GROUP CHAT
😲WTF: US State Bans Flouride In Water
✨Daily inspo: let it go.
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TODAY ON THE YAP PODCAST
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ASK THE EDITOR
What would your marketing advice be for a smaller trades business wanting to grow and get more leads? -Olivia
Hey Olivia,
Our founder, Stanley Henry, talks about this concept called the 5 stages of attention. The idea is that, depending on where you are in your business journey, you will be doing different things to build brand awareness. Sounds like you're a small business, so according to this framework, you should work on building your network in person as much as possible. Go to industry events, networking groups, and get your business in front of people. It's only when you have absolutely exhausted all of these avenues that you should worry about building a social media presence.
Especially since you're a trade business, I'm going to assume you're looking for local leads. This makes your local network the ideal place to build awareness about your business. If you have the budget, you could also look at running some paid ads to bring in leads. But these shouldn't be your only strategy! You need to do other brand-building activities like I mentioned above so when people see your ads, they already are aware of who you are and what you do!
- Charlotte, Editor ♡
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