A.I. is all around us. Like air, or sunlight, and hot takes, and hopes, and stupidity. Accepting its ubiquity, we are told, is just the simple, sane thing to do. In some respects, I would agree- and there is much to look ahead to with excitement. But of all the nooks of our lives that AI has crept or stormed its way into, some are better off without that insidious reach.

I found some actions and reactions of this kind today, strung together across design and music and communication and voice acting.

1. Fly Away: Flyers that shout the same thing.

2. A Bus-Stop Scrawl: A tiny pushback in Singapore stop.

3. Speak Up: No AI please, we’re singing & speaking.

4. Chat TJB: Something someone to talk to.

5. ➕ · HBO Shorts · Disney x Pods · Myspace murmurs ·

As always, grateful to have The Colour Bar in your feed, or your inbox, or both. If you have not already, please subscribe for these weekly dispatches or if LInkedin is your thing, join the many hundreds subscribed there.

Cheers,
Shakey

1. Fly Away

Is anyone else seeing this?
Digital flyers, real flyers, Insta posts, sports camps, calls for submissions, posters, restaurant promos, community events.

They. Are. All. Looking. The. Same.

Clutter! Big flashy letters! Dark contrasty background, bright AI-generated or AI-enhanced images, clutter, lots of text, boxes, bullets, icons, always icons, and oh- clutter.

Look, I get it- things are made easier for people who need the ease. Not everyone has a designer. Not everything is ‘creative expression’. Not everything is art. Sometimes you just need to shout out your point, is all.
I get that.

But this sort of death by AI-flyer-aesthetic can be tiresome for your audience and tire out your brand.

If you have a stall at a fair, you wouldn’t fill it with off-the-shelf cans from the supermarket. If you’re headed for a performance, you wouldn’t press shuffle on an anonymous Spotify playlist and leave it. If you have a lunch promo, you wouldn’t stick a frozen pizza on the table.
But that’s kinda the vibe these flyers convey. As more and more people see more and more of these, what are they taking away when they see your version, just like all the other versions? One more in an assembly line of ‘convenient’ communication.

You/your brand look and feel interchangeable.

“Your graphic tells a story and is the first thing that people see. That gives them the idea of what they’re in store for. If your graphic is fake, what does that say about what you’re trying to broadcast out there?” DJ Ca$h Era from

And I say this also very much as a layperson, not someone working in ‘creative’ or ‘brand or ‘design’. I have seen too many of these in my own social world, my neighbourhood, my family’s life, not just in my ‘work’ explorations.

Of course, it’s not just my little corner of the internet/globe. I only had to prod a search and sure enough, there are many bemoaning, “the scourge of low effort, stylistically indistinguishable AI-generated signs” ^ spreading across both our digital and real lives.

“these look like garbage and make me feel like ur event will be garbage too” ^

“Please just get a marker pen out instead.”
In the European summer, many in UK felt overrun by summer fair flyers that looked all too alike, feeling like the look had “the nation’s bulletin boards in a chokehold of anonymous cutesiness.” In that time of summer sameness, artist and teacher Barry Whitehouse compiled a dozen of these (in the process confusing himself, because they were so similar) making the plea then to just get our markers instead.

It’s gone far enough for some to even look at Comic Sans with some…. affection? The horror! Katie Rosseinsky defeated tone is common, “This plague of drab ads is enough to leave you asking: whatever happened to the noble pursuit of throwing some clip art onto a blank Word document, jazzing up the fonts with a sunset gradient and hoping for the best? At least those efforts had a whiff of human endeavour about them – even if they did tend to rely heavily on Comic Sans.”^

And that typeface! There are some (not entirely satisfying but logical) explorations about how and why these are the same and why is the same ‘font’ picked. It’s pretty much what you would think– AI aggregates, predicts, plays it safe. (More explanations here and here.)

(Feel free to gag on a large crowd sourced collection here)

Alternative music venue Thomas House Bar in Dublin is one of the many establishments to make a stand against AI flyers, banning them from any of the bands playing at the venue. Sample this too from the Stork Club in Oakland, which shouted out NO AI FLYERS on their socials.

A.I. has its place in the world. Like creating meme slop that makes you stupid and rendering your career irrelevant or robocalling your mom once a week and chatting with her in your voice. All important tools brought to us by the scrappy altruistic billionaire overlords that merely want us to live in a future of abundance.

Such pushback, both passive and active, is all over- a sticker company selling rolls of labels reading “CERTIFIED AI BULLSHIT,” as tags for AI-made flyers ; no-AI badges and made by human labels; venues saying No to those who use AI in their work; fans saying they aren’t going to go; student pushback; Singaporean indignance.
Having said that, I still do find most of these coming from far shores. There is less fundamental pushback I have seen in Southeast Asia and South Asia- at least in my circle/feed/algo and the research I did in writing this. Happy to be shown more.

There’s so many reasons to reconsider doing these- aesthetic assault, visual dreariness, brand slush… and this is not even getting into the debate about using AI in the first place. Digital and physical lives blur, our audiences are exposed to so much, lets try to make sure what they see from us is not just more digital dross .

Talking of people pushing back—

2. A Bus Stop Scrawl in SG

A small bus stop. A smaller sign. A tiny rant.

This made me smile- because a random scrawl in the real world doesn’t feel like an echo chamber.

What sentiment we see around AI is shaped by our social media feeds, the contours of our work/workplace, our algorithms, our curiosity and– let’s face it- our worldviews.

You would have– more likely than not– seen murmurs or raging rants pushing back on the indiscriminate use of Gen-AI and LLMs in our every little thing we do (see the flyer story above).

‘Why do we need this?’ ; ‘A solution for a problem that didn’t need solving’ ; ‘Being shoved down our throats’.

Much of it comes from the proliferation of AI slop and the increasing weariness many of us feel, in having to cope with it every day.

There is also a case to be made that this pushback has a meaningful existence in the real world, it’s not just some little intellectual corner of the internet that’s bouncing off each other’s grumpiness.

Seeing this scrawl at a small bus stop at one end of Singapore made me think of that again. Abundance depletes value, even if a thing’s value was questionable to begin with. When it comes to communication, we might find we’re all less accepting of thoughtless, indifferent expression than we can be accused of.

Lets keep the human in human interaction.

3. Speak Up

No AI please, we’re singing & speaking.

The voice end of things in AI doesn’t get the same attention and rah-rah (or bah-bah!) that video or writing does. This is not surprising– voice is generally often underestimated in the creative process.

We have all heard AI narrations and voice overs by now, in fact for quite some time- that ad on Spotify, the explainer video on your refresher course, the scam caller, the customer rep, that spot on Youtube, the interruption in your podcast. Some are sophisticated enough to be nearly indistinguishable from a human voice, others still sound pointedly robotic.

In that, these two nuggets from India I found interesting.

Rashmeet Kaur is a singer-songwriter with a pretty eclectic career thus far, and pretty wide-ranging success. She recently spoke about an incident that, shall we say, gave her pause. Or as she says, inimitably, “bro– how’d you do that?”

One day she rocks up to the studio, and hears a song playing. It’s a new song, sung by her– except she had never sung it. It’s AI-generated, of course, and she’s pretty taken by how close it sounds to her. But it turns out the song was generated by the agency/prod team– used as a ’pitch’ for the client to approve working with the artist.
Rashmeet is head-shakingly in disagreement with this, the very basic assumption that it’s cool to simply replicate a voice, just because they can. She also narrates a funny (not funny) bit with the recording engineer, which you can listen to here.

Elsewhere, voice actor Tanya Nambiar shared a story of how her clients now frequently ask for a video showing her recording the script, just so they could be sure it was a real human doing it, and not some AI service.
Weird? Yeah. Mildly dystopian? Sure. Also vaguely positive? I say yes, because it shows there are clients who still give s**t and don’t want a computer-generated voice to narrate their story.

I agree, Tanya- this is a strange time to be alive.

Come on people, keep at it- prove your humanity!

“It’s actually not cool to use somebody’s voice which they have worked on for years. They have spent all their lives to create that, to reach that particular vocal or that tone or texture.” Rashmeet Kaur

4. Chat TJB

And if all this AI interaction, content and debate really tires you, you might like to hear about Chat TJB. A billboard popped up in San Francisco promoting a chat interface “powered by AI*” where the * informed us it was an ‘Average Individual’. That’s right, just one bloke.

An artist who once worked at Google, Tucker Bryant just started this as an art project. Not so much anti-AI, as commentary on how people are believing AI chatbots freely and indiscriminately (what’s been called ‘cognitive surrender’). A slow start gave way to a flurry of requests, and Tucker found himself fielding over a thousand prompts a day!

Some interesting nuggets about this effort here and here.

➕Quick Hits

1. HBO’s testing Shorts, an in-app feed. Clips are from shows already in the catalog. An “in-house AI tool scans thousands of hours of content, flags moments it predicts will grab attention and passes that shortlist to human editors who decide what runs.” If you like something, click through and watch the episode right away, or save it for later.

2. Disney announced a deal with iHeart to bring podcasts to their streaming platform. This will include the Jonas brothers’ show.

3. A stray comment has led to a series of little headlines about the potential return of MySpace, the social media platform from the Y2K era, something a few fans might be keen on.

If you enjoy The Colour Bar, maybe get me a coffee ☕ and help fuel the next one?
And please support by sharing pieces you like, or forwarding to others who might enjoy it.

Till next week, go make a flyer… or something.

David Bowie looked into the future back in 1972 in the iconic ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’. Jamiroquai predicted a technological messy world in 1996 on his track ‘Virtual Insanity’. Charlie XCX predicts… well, not much actually, in her 2026 song ‘Camera’.

But they all land up in this week’s dispatch.
Doubt they could have predicted that.

As always, grateful to have The Colour Bar in your feed, or your inbox, or both. If you have not already, please subscribe for these weekly dispatches, or over on Linkedin, if that’s your thing.

Cheers,
Shakey

1. Off Camera: The future is for everyone. Especially Meta.

2. On Camera: Charlie XCX feels the feelings in a one-shot video.

3. In Camera: Beefeater brings Jamirioquai’s Insanity back.

4. ➕ · One Disney · No AI on Charts · Title Nominees ·

1. Off Camera: The Future Is for Everyone.

Even David Bowie?

It’s the ‘summer’ of 2026. Why has David Bowie entered the conversation?
A simple answer would be- he never left. Creative, visionary, saw things others couldn’t, did things others dared not, all-round icon variety.

His kind are always here, sometimes hovering, sometimes smacking their feet on the table and demanding to be heard. This week though, he enters our consciousness courtesy the Zuck and his team.

Say, what?

Meta, like all the other philanthropic tech behemoths of our time, are all-in on AI. Unlike some others though, they now want to shape a different narrative, maybe occupy a different place in the AI discourse, in the new inevitable world being shaped by our soon-to-be-sentient overlords.
That place is one of optimism, warmth and humanity.

No, really- Mark said so. And they made a little video too.

So here we have it, this is a company that has been part of most/all of our lives for many a year- joyously, cutely, weirdly, insidiously, entertainingly, devastatingly. It now wants to restate its take on the future, and make sure we come along for the ride. Smiling.

“Some people will have you believe AI will have us less connected, will leave you behind. We couldn’t disagree more.” With that, the spot careens off a ledge of positivity, with a montage of happy people, sunshine, children, smiles and tech. And creators, of course.

This stance on AI comes amidst swirling AI scepticism, sure- but much of that is not about being less connected. It is about surveillance, privacy, copyrights, bias, ethics, the environment and unchecked power.

So this also feels like them taking an opportunity to improve Meta’s brand perception, in laypeople (customers!) who are increasingly conscious of the harms that social media and big tech have dealt to society at large. Yet, between the creeping (and creepy) unease with the Meta glasses, the mess with Muse video generation, the internal shenanigans, this dose of optimism and belief in the good of humanity can be a hard pill to swallow.

“Call us optimists. Call us dreamers. Just as we’ve always done, we’re betting on people.” This has really struggled to ring through with many, given all the ups, downs, oddities and missteps Meta has been through both internally and externally- and given that their bet on people is, essentially, on advertising.

It’s talking to Silicon Valley and its investors, trying to reassure them that the vast amount of money being thrown at this isn’t all for naught. What it’s really saying is this: We’re betting that the public will eventually come around. _Fault Tolerant

Erm, but David?

Despite all that, maybe the most interestingly dissonant bit about the spot?

Its song choice. David Bowie’s ‘5 Years’ plays behind this dryly optimistic voice over, urging us to be positive about the future… except this is a song about the end of the world.

It literally is reacting to the news of an apocalyptic end to earth and humanity in five years. Sure, you could choose to not bother about the intricacies of a song from more than fifty years ago, but hey- a message about warmth, optimism and real human connection loses any fizz it might have had, when you realise all that warm human effort seems to have picked a song for just one line that repeats the word ‘people’ a lot.

BUT- there is always a but. Meta’s take (yes, they chose to wade in and defend this) was that Bowie himself meant the song to leave us “having optimism for the future.”. Just to get the entire context, I had to go look up his interview (Bowie’s, not the Meta spokesperson’s). Here’s what he said,

“I would strive to use that position to promote some feeling of optimism in the future, which might seem very hypocritical related to ‘Five Years’. There the whole thing was to try and get a mocking angle at the future. If I can mock something and deride it, one isn’t so scared of it. People are so incredibly serious and scared of the future that I would wish to turn the feeling the other way, into a wave of optimism.”

Make of that what you will.

Jeremy D. Larson of Pitchfork wasn’t ambiguous. “Hearing Bowie’s work used for AI just feels especially and specifically nonconsensual,” he said.

Internet punters don’t care much for it all- the song mismatch, or the general theme.
Prof G called Meta “the last people to be talking about the upside of AI.”
Ad Age called it ‘defiant’.
Techbrew finds it hard to believe the company is “betting on people”, saying Meta’s AI optimism comes “with a huge asterisk.”
questions who it’s really for (spoiler: investors).
Other kind terms I have seen include gaffe, ironic, awkward and facepalm.

To be sure, this is not the first spot (or movie or TV show or random IG reel) that has used a song out of its original context, so there is that too.

If this optimism is too much, you could always go back and watch Claude’s weirdly bleak spot from a few months ago,’ There’s Hope In Hard Questions’, where they might have taken the idea of ‘embracing your sector’s challenges’ a little too… literally?

You might find this Meta effort meh, or woeful, or wonderful- but if nothing else, take it as a sign to go listen to (discover? rediscover?) Ziggy Stardust? That would make me optimistic.

2. On Camera: Charlie XCX

I love oners- single uninterrupted camera shots that come with some mix of clever scripting, nifty movement, live set movements and usually some serendipitous goodness.

This one is fun.

‘Camera’ is a track from Charlie XCX’s latest album, and they’ve set this on what feels like a movie’s climax scene. The inimitable Vincent Cassel brings his expectedly compelling presence- a clearly grumpy, possibly preoccupied and devastatingly pissed-off star… about to be shot dead.

An uncut scene, portraying the fragility of all those moving parts coupled with the intensity a performer brings and how reliant it can be on everything and everyone else.
“When the camera is on, it makes me feel….
Makes me feel… feel the things I don’t normally feel.”

For what it’s worth, I think he was better in the first take where the blood doesn’t burst!

Only thing- it was too short! That’s me being a greedy viewer, I suppose- just felt unfulfilled at not even getting to see the ‘final take’.

But I guess that’s what pop songs are these days - 150seconds long short.

Director: Aidan Zamiri · DOP: Stuart Winecoff · Steadicam: Derek Walker ·
Production: Object & Animal · EP: Morgan Clement · Producer: Jacob Swan Hyam ·

3. In Camera: Jamiroquai

Remember Jamiroquai?
That depends on your vintage, where and when you grew up, what you watched and listened to… wait, that’s way too many parameters. But you’re likely familiar, if for nothing else than a pretty memorable music video back in the 90s where this odd-hatted man with oddly cool movements seems to glide about on a moving floor.

That MV for ‘Virtual Insanity’ won a bucket of awards, and spawned imitations and inspirations and spoofs. And oh, the floor wasn’t moving at all, that entire room was on wheels, so the ‘walls moved’.

“We thought the 30th anniversary of Virtual Insanity was the perfect moment to finally set Jay Kay free from that little white room,”

Now, 30 years later, we kinda know what Jamiroquai was reaching for, off cam- a glass of zero-alcohol gin!

Beefeater orchestrated his ‘freedom’ to promote their 0.0 drink. This time- the floor does move! In fact, the production team built nine practical sets (and found more hats) so ‘Jay Kay’ really does go beyond. They also want to point out that the production eschewed AI & CGI, instead “relying on in-camera choreography, set design and performance.”
It’s a fun (and well executed) riff on something three decades old, and I suppose it works for the TG that’s very much from Jamiroquai-land.

*Confession- I never really took to the video or the song back then, something about it just…. irritated me. So I would flip channels, and there was no Youtube to go check it out more ‘academically’, if one were so inclined. But years later I did acknowledge it was a cool little video with some very smart moves.

Directed by Julien & Quentin · Production Magna Studios · Producer John Bannister ·
· Agency Lucky Generals · CCO Tad Greenough ·

➕Quick Hits

1. The new-ish Disney CEO has been pushing the concept of ‘One Disney’- it is for not just kids and superheroes but adults and sports too. This is less alien to those of us in Asia (no sports though!), but it will take some doing to have it seen as a universal destination, especially in the US.

2. Major record labels have called for AI songs to be disqualified from Global Charts. They’d like only ‘primarily human made’ songs, and any AI-generated tracks included only if the AI use is authorized, lawful, with no issues around fraud or chart manipulation.

3. Here’s a tasty look at all the Emmy nominated Titles. I love titles.

   ---

If you enjoy reading The Colour Bar, maybe get me a coffee & help fuel the next one?
And do support by sharing pieces you like, or forwarding to others who might enjoy it. You can also follow me on Linkedin and Instagram here and here.

I flit around a few brand promises this week- a crafted history of Suede from Puma, Under Armour’s chaotic hotel, The Economists’s take on AI, and Bose properly entering the content scene.

But first there is an epic-looking production from a Dutch animator that harks to skeletons, Stalin and resurrection. It seems like a staggering effort, and as with so much in our time, there are little voices questioning it too.

Hi again- thanks for letting The Colour Bar into your feed, or you inbox, or both. If you have not already, please subscribe for these weekly dispatches here , or get The Colour Bar in your inbox.

Cheers,
Shakey

1. A Macabre Dance: A short film 11 years in the making.

2. Bose: Another brand with content ambitions. Legit?

3. Curated/Cuts: Puma x A$AP Rocky, Under Armour, The Economist.

4. ➕ · Peacock x Youtube · The Hundred · Music Influencers · Iceland Air ·

1. Danse Macabre

A recent animated short film saw the coming together of 75 oil paintings, over 30 artists, and 4 countries.

Knowing that and watching the trailer might well make you pause, to consider and admire the craft behind Danse Macabre. For some, it also coughed up questions around AI.

“Every day I was listening to the music, coming up with images that were inspired by the music, and then developing my ideas for the film.”

Hisko Hulsing has been working on this for around 11 years, and it all started with music and was utterly born from it- specifically, Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony.

His vision- at least in the trailer- is quite something to behold. A sense of the epic combines with dramatic scale and action. It is a film about chaos, death and fascism, as the symbolism immediately shouts; a march toward light that descends into chaos, the maker says.

“I didn’t have a script. The storyboard was the script.”

Long before the main production- years before, in fact- Hulsing was creating these large oil paintings that would form the striking world of Danse Macabre, eventually serving as backgrounds in the film. It was clearly a “tremendous undertaking required before other artists and animators ever got their hands on it.”

There has been some curiosity/chatter/displeasure that there is some level of AI used. Hulsing himself refers to it in the BTS, using the term Machine Learning, describing how they trained Stable Diffusion with hundreds of his own paintings. He even dove into that reddit forum to share his production flow.

About a year ago, he spoke with Asifa’s Stefan Stratil about his journey from animator to director for the likes of Netflix & Disney. They too touched upon his (then ongoing) production of ‘Resurrection’, which would later be renamed Danse Macabre.

Six years ago, we used projection mapping to make the 3D skeletons look like they were painted. But now we’re using Stable Diffusion, an AI program to stylize the skeletons. We fed Stable Diffusion with all my paintings to train it. The animation is completely done by animators using Blender, the 3D animation software. Then we use all the information from the 3D animation, the crypto map, the depth map, the line-renders to control Stable Diffusion to make it look like it’s painted by me.

Stefan : Well, you could let the AI do the last 20 paintings.

No way. No. And that’s the thing, you can generate paintings, but what I have seen looks horrible. We only use it to make the 3D animation look like I painted it. But the background is a different, a really different story.

Essentially, AI tool Stable Diffusion was used, but trained entirely on his own paintings. (There is something to dig into, that the tool’s underlying abilities are still trained via questionable methods.)

The doubt (and subsequent reactions) about potential use of AI in this short are representative of how the creative community (and fans) are developing sceptical eyes - for everything. Yes, it could be said that laypeople and ‘consumers’ won’t care (as much)... but methinks that’s a right proper argument, not a given.

The thing is- such ‘workflow’ use starts to fall in a grey area, and in an age of black and whites, polarising views, choosing sides, the greys tend to suffer. Because they need the most effort to understand and grapple with.

Either way, that’s still a short I’d like to watch.

2. Bose: another brand does content

Bose announced the launch of Bose Studios, a content initiative. An early big ticket announcement is an original documentary series being developed with filmmaker Steven Soderbergh.

Brands entering content has, of course, become more common, it almost feels like there is some FOMO attached to it. But there being a genuine fit is much less common- and their success is wildly variable. This one though, feels about right on the face of it- its easy to argue that Bose has more of a ‘right’ to create entertainment and become part of “the rituals” we all have around music.

Bose has been giving content a go- I recall Turn The Dial, based on the sound premise of increasing the number of producers of all genders—not just men; which for some reason seems to have been very short-lived. But here we have a more coherent and ambitious proposition.

They have made the right noises- “”This isn’t product placement; this isn’t a long, 30-minute commercial,” the CMO has said.

They also announced a record label, to enable lesser known or ‘underappreciated’ artists to be discovered. A music label from a brand brings some narrowed eyes, questioning both intent and likelihood of success. Bose doesn’t want to own the music though, and they do transparently say that this will give them license-free music for marketing.

As with much in branded content, announcements like these come with some scepticism. But hey - we live in a time when a shoe company rebooted (pun intended) to become an AI company, so there’s that.

Talking of- Marriot Bonvoy recently sponsored content out of Coachella; ‘Arrival’ incudes a short follow-doc on girl group Katseye and their first performance at the festival. Fairly subtle brand integration, in their effort to “infuse its ethos of creating lasting memories.”

3. Curated/Cuts

· Suede Forever ·

Firstly, I only just learned that A$AP Rocky has been Puma’s ‘Creative Director’ for about three years now. I stumbled on this after watching this time-scrubbing homage.

It’s a nice little journey of the Puma ‘94 Suede in history, from 1948 through to the 90s. It feels authentic , lived, brought to life without too much unnecessary drama, with multiple visual and craft aesthetics thrown in for the eras.

The line “some people wear brands, some people become ‘em” stuck with me. It works for A$AP Rocky, but for us commoners it might feel like ‘I become the brand I wear’, which is… less appealing?

Cute ending, too!

· Chaos at Hotel Armoure ·

Under Armour figured ‘Rest Less’ should be the theme of the summer, conjuring an imaginary hotel where football stars (and others) show up and usher in chaos for everyone else. With incredible timing, Ferran Torres stars- he of World Cup final goal scorer fame- chilling in a pool of ice.

If anything, it feels a tad rushed, though their socials do give a slightly better glimpse into these VIPs : Ferran Torres , Ollie Watkins, Riles

White Lotus in 30sec, much?

Agency Mox

· An Economist 2-for-1 ·

Came for a counter-AI campaign by The Economist, stayed for their curious rebrand.

Their recent campaign builds their take on ‘cognitive surrender’, questioning how AI might affect the way we think, and “the growing tendency for people to accept AI-generated answers without applying their own critical thinking.”

The Drum mentions an interesting backstory. “It began as a series of speculative ads created by one Ant”; the Economist then commissioned Ant and his agency Cocogun.

In case you’re wondering what the black square is (someone said ‘dead pixel’!), Yafet Bisrat was kind enough to point us in the right direction- it lies at the heart of a 2025 rebrand done by Nomad. “The ufinish ends every article. Now it punctuates marketing headlines, frames key ideas and guides audiences across every marketing touchpoint.”

How does that work for you?

3. take: Peacock on YouTube

Peacock and Youtube announced a partnership in the US, whereby the streaming service will be available as a bundle with Youtube Premium in 2027. Such bundles are not uncommon in recent years as streamers in particular look for any avenue to boost subs. This one is a bit more interesting, and you can count on to tell us why (highlight mine).

…it seems unlikely YouTube is paying Peacock anywhere near its retail economics—probably no more than $2-3 wholesale. Peacock currently generates about $8 in subscription fees and $5 in ad revenue monthly. Why would it incur the cannibalization risk to sub fees? It’s a bet on advertising (and lower marketing costs and churn) making up the difference.

With the AI-powered content deluge upon us, with the likelihood that “content goes from profit center to cost center,” he feels the burden will fall on advertising to make the economics work.

It’s an idea he wrote more on here on The Mediator.

➕Quick Hits

1. Tom Novak talks of​​ a “shift from algorithmic curation to commercially engineered culture”, as he shares an NPR piece about music influencers who are paid to talk about songs, often without disclosing the deal.

2. Bursts of colour, and a happy fresh feel for this year’s titles for The Hundred.

3. Remember when Iceland Air was looking for a really bad photographer?
   Well, they finally found their hallowed choice last month, and young Blanche has just completed her road trip around Iceland. Her masterpieces will be revealed soon.

I have some juicy visual goodness too, from the BBC and Spotify.

Hello again, and thanks for having The Colour Bar in your inbox, or feed, or both.

Cheers,
Shakey

1. Netflix Things: How much is it prepared to change?

2. Curated/Cut: What use is the Beeb anyway?!

3. Curated/Cuts: Spotify Reserved for fans, and a fine closing montage.

4. ➕ · Youtube viewing in Japan · AI biographies · Jiostar’s ecomm ideas · Suno’s hack ·

1. Netflix Things

Many a Netflix thing has flitted in & out of my mind the last couple of months. Here’s a little hop-skip around them.

* Netflix once wanted to be HBO. Then it kinda became HBO (some will debate this). Today, it is decidedly not HBO^{^}.

Take away the HBO literality ; I think Netflix does not occupy the premium space the way it did a few years ago. This is not a slip in standard, it is intentional. There is a distinct move to more ‘massy’ titles, more ‘female-focussed’ content, and fewer high brow, award-chasing series. While complaints abound about it becoming more like ‘broadcastTV’, It can be argued this approach has been, all told, a good thing for them. In gathering engagement, they want members to think (and most users do feel) that “I’ll find something on Netflix.”

But ‘something’ could also slowly become ‘anything’?
Which brings us to some new content on the platform, because:

* At another end of the spectrum, Netflix has just acquired short form content, ranging from 2-3min to 20+min . This is easy viewing from the likes of Conde Nast, People and Buzz Feed- lifestyle, celebrities, some how-tos.

This comes in the wake of significantly ramped-up efforts at working with creators like Ms Rachel and Mark Grober (creators =Youtube creators). Which in turn brings us to:

* The narrative everyone loves right now- Netflix and Youtube are the real competitors and one keeps the other up at night. This is both (a) true at some fundamental level, and (b) not as meaningful at a practical level- unless Netflix makes it.

It is true in the same way Reed Hastings once said Netflix competes with sleep, or Fortnite. All media companies want to command our free / entertainment/ information time, slip into every crack in our attention. It is also true because Youtube is the clear leader in the wider ‘content’ space, and across devices; Netflix is pretty much the clear leader in subscription streaming, or just ‘TV’. They are at the very least adjacent, and sometimes overlapping.

It is not as relevant when trying to lure eyeballs from Youtube to Netflix- especially those whose viewing is passive (music! background pods!) or educational (DIY!!). Which prompts the idea that Netflix wants to become more ‘on in the background’, much like traditional daytime TV used to be. See above short content to support this view.

“These partnerships help us deepen fandom and create more ways for members to carry those stories with them throughout their day.” _John Derderian, Netflix VP on the recent ‘digital’ shorts.

The comparison is also less apt when comparing the feed-based/ serendipitous nature of Youtube consumption versus the curated, controlled Netflix offering. Which brings us neatly to what is being done:

• The renewed chatter around Netflix looking to set up linear TV channel style feeds on the platform.

• The take that doubling down on the ad tier will be the way to regain growth/investor faith, which has faded despite some decent Q2 results. Ads + this content experiment are the closest it is to trying to ‘do a Youtube’.

• The continuing questions around what exactly they are trying to achieve with podcasts.

• The data that some of the creator content is doing well- Ms Rachel was #9 on Netflix’s 2026 charts and top of their kid content.

A lot of this sounds less like Netflix wanting to be Youtube, more like them wanting to be Netflix with an added Youtube flavour. A bit like having their cake and eating it too, though I am yet to meet someone who procures a cake without some intention of it being eaten. The new short form stuff is framed as a way to “watch some of your favorite videos from around the Internet without having to leave Netflix to find them.“ Sounds exactly like luring eyeballs from Youtube.

Yet, that appears the most well-rounded game, if indeed that game is being played. I think Netflix trying to transform into something it has never been, is to potentially slip into a sea of sameness. And if there is one one thing Netflix has been, it is assured of who/what it is. It must continue to compete on its own terms.

There’s a difference between killing time and spending time. So we’re in the… how you spend time business.” _Ted Sarandos in 2025 throwing shade to Youtube.

But this approach does come with the classic ‘quantity vs quality’ tussle. You can’t really gun for both, yet separating them and having each bucket work in different ways is quite the tough- and tasty- nut to crack. Which brings me to:

* Integration: What I think will be very interesting is how they actually start to integrate these offerings onto the platform. The podcasts have just…been there. I would love to see how they leverage a thus-far industry leading UI, to now shape my viewing habits in a different way. They have been so good (some feel less so now) at leading me down a carousel- but with short form, disposable content and podcasts they must not just curate my taste, but manage my time, let me sink into a couch of always-on comfort.

* Binge It! A tangential but related point is my long-held belief that Netflix has clung on to its binge model too strictly, for too long. They have had some exceptions, but those have not only proven the rule, but also given a glimpse of how staggered episode releases offer the chance for prolonged engagement, buzz and chatter. With tighter content spends and our odd world of less premium content and way too much content, I do think that the idea of extending shelf-life shouldn’t be ignored. The unequivocal value of the ‘yay, we can binge-watch!” excitement is a thing of the past, IMHO.

^{^} Apple is closer to HBO now, though its low volume, lack of penetration and unfathomable promotion does not help.

Some other takes:
- Lucas Shaw feels this whole Youtube thing can be called a “battle over creators’.
- Over at the Vulture they even want to question if there is panic at the disco Netflix, given it has been some time since they have had a real breakout hit.
- Podcasts on Netflix- some earlier takes.
- Samir of ‘Colin & Samir’ is happy to even call it a ‘Youtubification of Netflix’, wondering with Colin Rosenblum (also of ‘Colin & Samir’), if Netflix will head to UGC next. Now that would surprise me. A lot. A LOT.

2. Curated/Cuts

What Has the BBC Ever Done For Me?

This spot dropped in the World Cup Final half time in the UK (does it get bigger in terms of placement?). With a sceptical Romesh Ranganathan in tow, the BBC embarks on an ambitious, grand, nostalgic, slightly cheeky, supremely confident ode to its very existence. Romesh’s persistent prodding takes us on a whirlwind of BBC content, achievements, and yes- contributions.

I don’t live in the UK, but the prickly debate around the TV license and BBC’s ‘worth’ has been swirlingly familiar for years now. “Why should we have to pay a licence! Let them figure their own business model! If its so good, let people choose to pay for it!”

Of course, the institution’s place in (their) culture is more than these reductive questions. So I reckon it’s pretty fine how the BBC chose to take it all head-on, and have some fun with it.

“This Is Our BBC” is directed by Dougal Wilson- you have most likely seen his wonderful works, say the ‘Superhumans’ spot for Ch 4 / Paralympics, or the Jon Lewis spots, and last year’s superb oner ‘School’s Back’.

BBC: Director of Creative Justin Bairamian · ECD Dave Monk · Writers Paul Bailey · Russell Hendrie ·
DOP Joost Van Gelder · Production: Blink · EP Paul Weston · Editor Joe Guest · VFX Untold ·

Full credits here.

* I was also reminded that it is a callout itself to the John Cleese spot from the 80s- this is a grander, more musical version but the idea is much the same- What Has The BBC Ever Given Us?

Reserved for Fans

Some time back, Spotify announced a program for super fans to access Live concerts. They have now dropped a wonderfully animated spot for Spotify Reserved, imagining the extremes that real fans would go to, just to get concert tickets.

“Every single frame is drawn by hand”

The visualisation and animation is great to watch, though is it me or is the voice work pretty ordinary?

If you’re curious (or sceptical) of how the Reserved programme actually works, head over here for Spotify’s own guide. There is some inevitable spiel, and it’s not all transparent (how could it be), and no I don’t see Spotify really getting me’ even after all these years…. but this is a cool idea nonetheless.

Spotify: Marie Ronn Group CD · Jeremy Wirth
Remembers Studio · Animator Jocelyn Charles ·
Music by Citizen Music

End Montage FTW

Sports series/tournament closing montages can be so so good if given the love, and it’s disappointing when they aren’t. But here’s a pretty fine one from the BBC and Alex Ewing + Dominic Robson Smith

3. Youtube in Japan

AMPD Analytics published the first behavioural read on YouTube in Japan. Some key insights:
- Japan watched 2.8 billion hours of YouTube in a single month. Significantly, this means one single platform accounts for more than 65% of all digital VOD viewing in the country.
- Wide viewership: 72 million monthly viewers, watching on average 38.5 hours each, split almost evenly by gender. spanning every age band- 18M viewers aged 10–29, 13M aged 60+.
- Long-form remains the leader, accounting for 70% of all hours watched.

ampd analytics promise to roll out similar data on Southeast Asia shortly, which I will be most keen to see. I expect some similar shapes, but also different specifics, and likely a different story for the premium tier.

➕Quick Hits

1. A journalist found her biography on Amazon and stumbled onto the world of AI generated biographies churned out for ‘easy money’. Yay, AI is democratising… something?

2. Indian steamer JioStar wants to tap conversational AI for shopping on the app, or “content commerce.”

3. AI music generator Suno was hacked. 404 Media saw the source code; the company has scraped YouTube Music, Deezer, and Genius- decades worth of music from the internet. Just gen AI doing gen AI stuff- nothing of note to see here, then.

Till next week, go watch some Netflix. Or Youtube. Or Youtube on Netflix. Or something.

I spent time letting two spots swirl in my head the last couple of days. And much of this dispatch stems from that.

There are questions aplenty circling around Rick Rubin and non-gambling gambling platforms. Come, wonder with me.
And there is the furious and fiery short from India with women behind, in front and all around the camera, the story, the narrative.

Also, some takes on A24 and Enhanced games- with some nuns thrown in for fun!

You can get every missive here on Substack, or over on Linkedin, if that’s your jam.

Cheers,
Shakey

1. Eloquence of Prediction: Questions are everything, what is this?

2. Curated/Cut: Stare: powerful intensity from two Indian brands.

3. Takes: Enhanced games? A24 and Google? What say you.

4. ➕ with · nuns on pods · Tidal on AI · Singapore’s animation pride ·

And oh- TCB will be away next week, don’t go calling the cops.

1. The eloquence of prediction

Here is a good-looking, profound-sounding, important-feeling spot.

Directed by Gabriel Moses, we have eight-time Grammy winner, genius musical producer and now very visible creative guru to the world bookending the spot, as he narrates what sound like significant questions of our time.

Indeed, “Questions Are Everything”, we are told.

Questions like, “What borders will matter in 100 years? Do aliens exist? Will tradition evolve? Can the youth lead a nation? Can you predict the future? Do elections matter? Will we be divided? Do you believe in anything?”

But the existential queries start with football hooks, because it’s FIFA World Cup time, and all messaging must be passed through that filter. “Can the US win it all? Will France return to glory?”

Getting into the spirit, I had some questions of my own. I will also answer some (Rick didn’t), but as per the vibe, most shall remain rhetorical.

What is this ad for? Polymarket.
Great. Erm, what is Polymarket? It is an online ‘prediction market’, a thing that’s become a thing in recent months or a year or two. You have a take, a guess, a hunch? Stake money behind your opinion and stand to win. Or lose.
So, betting? It is essentially a stock market for predictions. Instead of buying shares in companies, you buy shares in the outcome of future events. So no, clearly not gambling at all.
What? Yeah, if you don’t live in the US, large parts of the world won’t know what this is, and wouldn’t have heard of this great new not-gambling trend.
Who are these people? Besides Rubin, the spot features rapper Future and Mexican singer Peso Plumas, and many other anonymously important global people.
What is this ad? This is a borderline rhetorical question, because clearly this ad does not need to be questioned, even though, of course, questions are everything.

Polymarket wants to inhabit a space that makes the brand seem intellectually stimulating, a lofty space about truth, uncertainty, knowledge and the future. Almost like they wish to be a ‘cultural brand’, if that’s a thing.

termed this spot ‘Nikeslop’, saying “unlike the glory days of Nike or Apple manifestos, it says almost nothing.”

But now, back to some more questions- sans answers.

Why is Rick Rubin doing this ad?
How is gambling a way of life?
What about the high heels?
Do you know a Spaniard who cares about the ‘football vs soccer’ debate?
Is it a skill to elevate words without elevating their meaning?
Did you feel swept up by the poetryness poeticism of it all?
Did you know poetryness is not a word?
Do you like to gamble? Did you know it’s not gambling to have an opinion?
What percentage of world cup watchers will pause to see and hear Rick Rubin?
What is Rick Rubin doing?
Why?

· Directed by Gabriel Moses · Better Half · Four Four Ent ·

• Look, I might come across as disparaging the spot, but I am not sure that’s it. It is finely made, its vibe could well be the kind I myself would have made in times gone by (and kinda have- on opinions too- way, way back). Heck, I would like to do a spot like that now too. So, well done to the production teams (and against a crazy deadline too, I hear). It’s the wider frame that leaves me sceptical, the use of a faux-philosophical feel that (in my humble view) doesn’t hold up to deeper scrutiny. The fact that it is for a slightly questionable product, sigh, doesn’t help.

• Many commenters have felt a kind of sadness seeing Rick Rubin sell a gambling platform, and find it all head-shakingly incongruous. The other leading prediction market is Kalshi; they did a spot with a certain Chalamet a while back. It similarly said nothing about the product, was a bit surreal or lateral, and had a similar “no Timotheee, not you too!” reception.

• Predictive markets are engulfed in debate around gambling and targeting young people with the promise of easy money. Both platforms have been accused of deceptive (even outright false) marketing efforts. And more here ($).

• Vaguely relatedly, Rick Rubin is speaking with Jay Z in an 8 part docu on HBO coming later this year.

• Also relatedly, it is said Meta explored acquiring Kalshi. Because, Meta.

2. Curated/Cut - Staring

Stop. Stare. Watch this.

Very bold, very wild, a bit weird, a lot of power, some mystique, plenty of fearless expression.

But what is it?

Is it another spot, like Polymarket’s, where the vibe is primary and the product incidental? Maybe, but unlike that spot, once you know what this is for, it falls into place much better.

This is made for a jewellery line. And its not intended to feel like an ‘ad’.

Nor Black Nor White (NBNW) is a young Indian fashion brand started by two friends raised in Toronto, returning to Bombay to dig deeper into their roots- “to respect the past is to respect the process and the people who carry it forward”. You might have seen their striking partnership with Nike last year featuring Indian women cricketers.
Bhavya Ramesh is a jewellery maker, “a silverware brand, fostering love & oneness “.

They have come together to a self-described exploration of feminine extremes and the power of the mystical, ”Reflecting on the softness in rage, strength in vulnerability and the beauty in acceptance.”

The result is STARE. A line born from the collaboration of three creative minds, three women and their shared perspectives.

“Diving into the ideas of how we deal with an unwanted gaze, what measures we take to protect ourselves and honour the feminine experience of it all.”

The film comes from the fiery mind of director Bijoy Shetty (you might know him from the killer Hanumankind music videos). Inspiration seems to come from myriad places, like the nazar battu, Kerala, chudails (?), even this viral staring lady.

The short feels like a spectacle, its intensity burning through every frame, leaving you wondering what exactly that was, why it made you feel that way, and why you aren’t watching it a second time.

And yes, the ‘product’ is very much alive through most of the film. There is craft, flair, style- but there is also intent, substance, power. In a very intense piece, the jewellery shines. It is as much about the mood and the suggestions of elemental power, as the specific artefacts.

· Brown Crew Productions · DoP Abhinay Kumar · Editor Meran ·

An aside. I did pause to think- did the fact that I knew beforehand this was made for jewellery change how I viewed it? I think, yes. I was likely drawn to the specifics in each visual a bit more than I expect I would have on a ‘regular’ viewing.

This is, of course, true of so much of our digital viewing, where the most exquisitely crafted or cleverly hidden or twist-ridden pieces lose some of that ‘a-ha!’ element, because we already know what we are being served up.

You can read more about the line here.

3. Takes

Enhancing what?

“Boring as f**k with washed up athletes and Nickelodeon announcers.”

One of many takes on the Enhanced Games, which concluded a few weeks ago.

For some reason I decided to look up some reactions. I was careful not to spend too much time on it though, because… well, because though it is a fascinating sign of our times, I don’t really consider it worth more than a little attention.

What are these games, you may well ask.
The Enhanced Games aka the Steroid Olympics is a multi-sport event that permits athletes to use performance-enhancing substances under medical supervision. Founded by Australian businessman Aron D’Souza (who once said, ““This is the route towards eternal life.”), its aim is to “push the boundaries of human performance.”

Or, as preferred, ”more like the top of a sales-funnel for steroids masquerading as sport… [the] long game is to sell peptides and other drugs to the person watching at home.”

Another Redditor said it “felt like the AI version of an athletic event.” And though someone offered some concessions, “Imagine if they had 100 top athletes. Gotta start somewhere,” I am happy to continue my apathy for it. Steve’s post on “Schmexcellence” (something that has the veneer of excellence, with no substance underneath) is worth reading, where he described it as

a tech-bro fever dream where arrogance was prioritized over any actual knowledge of performance.

Indie darling to the dark side?

A24 has entered into an AI deal with Google. You likely saw the headline or tweet. Google is investing $75m into A24 for a combined research project, “to learn, iterate, and build, having an active hand in shaping new tools and workflows.” Many have had much to say about this. Is it the inevitable stamp of a new era, or the fall of a great indie brand? Many felt that a studio built on the culture of taste and craft was selling out to big tech.

The Ankler called it an “odd-couple pairing,” reckoning this was “Google borrowing A24’s credibility to make its own AI ambitions seem cooler”.
Indiewire’s piece lays out the rationale, “The most credible argument in independent film, that taste and creative authority are a distribution strategy, is now a research asset.” The piece has an undercurrent of betrayal, saying “it’s a little stunning to see A24 spend years fiercely protecting its ‘how’ and then selling it to the highest bidder.”

For their part, A24 will want to maintain their artist-friendly profile, framing this with “We’d rather have a seat at the table than on the sidelines.”

➕Quick Hits

1. Singaporean Ervin Han (of Robot Media Playground) has lived with his film for over ten years. ‘The Violinist’ just won the Annecy Cristal, a brilliant achievement; Variety spoke to Ervin and co-director Raúl Garcia about it.

2. Music streamer Tidal released a new policy around AI music on the platform, aiming to protect artists. Among the steps, 100% AI-generated tracks will have AI ‘badges’ and no royalties, and listeners will be able to filter all 100% AI-generated content out- well done.

3. A podcast with nuns is doing quite well! ‘Dominican Sisters Open Mic’, is apparently endearing and wholesome, with insights into the daily life of a nun. A Tiktoker called it ‘Like a sorority for Jesus.’

AI is enabling a certain kind of cinematic storytelling- I am not talking today about Fruit Island or Tiktok AI quickies. I found myself writing many words about how it’s doing this, and wondering what effect it could have on a generation of creative expression. Of course, this came off the back of watching some mildly captivating short films.

But there’s some hand-crafted animated goodness as well this week, so kick back and let some cool visuals and interesting takes wash over you (or is that interesting visuals and cool takes?). Because this is where creativity, entertainment, and tech collide.

You can get every missive here on Substack, or over on Linkedin, if that’s your jam.

Thanks,
Shakey

1. Goblins & Humans: Where is AI taking cinematic storytelling?

2. Curated/Cuts: Animated goodness with Loewe and FIFA.

3. A Poisoned Chalice: Refusing AI for journalism?

4. ➕ · Shapely Levi’s · Crayonish Camelbaks · Resolute govts ·

1. Goblins & Humans

Where AI is taking cinematic storytelling.

Stories can be told in so many ways, that is part of the beauty of creative expression. Each individual will have their own way or bringing a story to life. Their expression will be shaped by a thousand different elements and experiences. The narrative will be shaped in ways that can be inspired, referenced, wholly original to their consciousness or- mostly- some amalgamation of all of these.

The medium is instructive, in how storytelling can come together. One of the most fascinating, rewarding, humbling aspects of much of the creative work with video- short, long, very short- that I have done over the years? The collaboration, without a shadow of doubt. Seeing a seed grow into a sapling with different water and soil and light. Seeing an idea blossom as it is touched by writer, director, actor, editor, designer, musician.

I sometimes wonder what is to happen to that village of creativity, as so many around me drift toward the powerful allure of generative AI. One powerfully creative mind, with a fine grasp on the tools and services at our disposal, can create (generate) a version of their story, their idea, their seed. Their ability with these tools is enhanced by the happenstance of the technology. With an actor, a musician, an art director, a DoP that kind of additive layer can be classified as a ‘Je ne sais quoi’- something inexplicable, indescribable, intentful that they specifically bring to the process. What the tool and its technology brings is also unclassifiable, mercurial even, yet dissimilar- it is absent intent. It adds to the creator’s vision through a chance collision of bits and bites.

I have found myself at the inception of a new thing where there are no rules. _Zak London

As the actual output from some of the more crafted, hard working, ambitious gen AI projects gets better every month, the gaps narrow. (I am setting these aside from demos and social media hype clips that promise apocalypse or new dawns). These are the kind of projects where there is a strong, distinct germ of vision, almost always from one individual. (The space is also dominated by sci-fi and fantasy, allowing for the ‘unreal’ to work better). As more such projects start to appear, the gap both narrows and becomes more particular. Tell-tale hallucinations, errors, poor renders- these will be brushed aside in time.
What remains? One vision and its generative friends.

Pinning down the gaps, or ‘what’s missing’ will becomes less obvious, more intangible. Much like real creative work review and editorial judgement has always been. I find myself looking at promising, alluring ideas, depicted in increasingly assured, solid ways… and at the same time I find myself missing the eyes of a human actor. Quite literally.

This was most evident to me recently in The Patchwright, a successful short from Gossip Goblin. I am reluctant to sweep this into a bucket of easily generated AI shorts, and it clearly has resonated with many viewers - besides the 12m views, have a browse through the comments. The cyberpunk imagery is striking, of that there is little doubt; the plot and flow less so. Director/Founder Zak London says they “adapt to the limits of AI acting.”
Then, there is The Chronicles of Bone, where a solo creative- Kavan the Kid- has been supported by AI platform Magnific (formerly Freepik) to launch a fantasy series that draws upon available IP characters like King Arthur and Peter Pan and Robin Hood (and vampires, because why not). The world building is promising, the writing stilted, the character acting amateurish, even in comparison to Patchmaker. Note, I take these two as examples, and don’t mean a direct comparison is necessarily meaningful here. Both though, look to build ‘IP’ with shorts, character intros, ‘prologues’, and then longer pieces of about ~20min.

Cinema is a young medium, only around 125 years old, so we have to be open to how it can evolve. _Martin Scorsese

I am prepared- in the interest of a creative discussion and with a nod to a rising inevitability of it all- to set aside for a time the more fundamental debates around provenance, copyright and ownership.

Even with those conveniently ignored, I can’t help but feel that what the human aspect brings can be so easily, glibly, carelessly sidelined by such technology. As a new generation of creative minds is shaped, grows up, learns, I wonder if we stand to lose what their imagination and expression could bring. I say lose, because it is that formative creative growth could be funneled into something more derivative, less collaborative, missing the same level of emotional intent. Again- and crucially- not from the sole individual, but from the missing collaborators.
Of course, Gossip Goblin describes that “every story is imagined, written, and directed by humans”, AI is only their ‘force multiplier’. This too, is a recurring theme.

“If I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would.” _Kane Parsons

This piece on Zack London and Gossip Goblin is worth reading for a window into that world, even if you don’t play in it just yet, or consume it. Their output is meta-relevant insofar as “the quandary of what it means to be human in a world of ever more powerful technology” is a recurring theme.
Relatedly, veteran French director Mathieu Kassovit was ‘stunned’ to see one of these cybernetic actors with “an emotion in his eyes that made me shiver”.
He also feels, “Fuck copyright,” so there’s that.

Besides making the effort to watch some of the more successful / striking generative AI pieces out there, the other little nudge to this piece came from Kane Parsons, the young director of Backrooms. Clearly in a different corner of the creative internet, the 20 year old self-made Youtube filmmaker’s recent take on AI can essentially be summed up as- thanks but no thanks.

“I think I’m in the same boat as most well-adjusted people,” he said, “If I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would. Creatively, I get no enjoyment from using those tools. It defeats the purpose entirely for me.”

2. Curated/Cuts

Animated goodness.

· Loewe ·

“Craft as an art, imagination as a tool.”

Founded in 1846 in Madrid as a small leather workshop, Loewe is the second-oldest luxury fashion house in the world. For their 180th anniversary, they crafted a hand-painted labour of love.

From Blinkink, and directed by Isabel Garrett, every frame was crafted by hand, with a team of 10 painters across 2000+ sheets of watercolour paper. BTS stuff here.

· FIFA World Cup branding ·

How can we not visit some aspect of the FIFA World Cup? These animations for different venues, done by Buck Studios, are smooth, vibrant, clever and generally fun.

3. A Poisoned Chalice

Last week I wrote about Objections, the AI-powered platform claiming to being truth and accountability to journalism, which many feel is just a way of actually cowering down investigative reporting.
Present day challenges to journalism arent of course limited to platforms challenging their authenticity, but generative AI actively enabling ‘easier reporting’.

Easy can mean better, sure but equally, and often, quite the opposite. Particularly when it comes to speed trumping depth.

I recently read a piece by titled “Refusing to accept an AI-poisoned future of journalism”. It is a powerful piece which relates both to that story on Objection, as well as some thoughts similar to Kane Parsons’ shared above in the AI filmmaking essay - more is not always more; having fewer resources is not carté blanche to take short cuts.

Marisa feels that journalism comes with purpose, and the pride accompanying the desire to fulfil it. “The process is the purpose. You don’t have to always like or enjoy the process, but if you don’t respect it enough to do it yourself, there is no purpose.”

One Katarina Brau’s comment brought back some fascinating Isaac Asimov words. In an early story, in 1957, the master wrote about a robot that proofreads ‘galleys’ (the final version of a book to be proofread). In it he wrote:

“‘Your robot takes over the galleys. Soon it, or other robots, would take over the original writing, the searching of the sources, the checking and cross-checking of passages, perhaps even the deduction of conclusions. What would that leave the scholar? One thing only – the barren decisions concerning what orders to give the robot next!”

➕Quick Hits

1. Levi’s covered its logo in the Levi’s stadium because FIFA said it must. But it still had ‘a win’. But they hid it creatively- the bat-shaped polygon was wrapped in white, making it as or more recognisable, just by the shape. People enjoyed how it drew even more attention to the Levi’s logo.

2. The UK government is the latest to announce that social media will be banned- for those under 16, starting early 2027- saying it would “go further” than other countries. Low down here and reactions here.

3. Crayola (crayons people!) and Camelbak (water bottle people!) joined forces to drop some very cool looking happy bottles. “Inspired by creativity and the spirit of the outdoors,” they might have thrilled more adults than children!

Because this is where creativity, entertainment, media and tech collide, and you can get every missive here on Substack, or over on Linkedin, if that’s your jam.

Thanks,
Shakey

1. If Serif: On serifs & AI.

2. Giant Missteps: Oh Manchester, what have you done.

3. Curated/Cut: Apple comes for the Clingers.

4. Objectively Objecting: AI, our custodian of truth!

5. ➕ · Scorsese’s AI · Murdoch’s Vox · Lacoste’s serif ·

☝🏽Busy? Lazy? Multitasky? Click play above and let me read this to you.

1. If Serif

I have always enjoyed playing with fonts. Maybe it goes back to my dabbles with calligraphy in younger days, occasional stabs at it in older days, even a type-design course once. I tsk tsk at default font choices, frown at careless multiple fonting in documents, and pause to look at fonts that I like or dislike… or, erm, make me pause.

A general, non-nuanced distinction between serifs and non-serifs goes along the lines of- Serifs stand for the formal, the more literary, even authoritative, they ‘have character’; sans serifs are modern, clean, better at communicating.

But maybe the distinction has been made most in the last two-three decades, going back even to the 90s. As screens took over our reading lives, serifs suffered. Originally this might have been driven by serif fonts’ lower clarity on monitors with lower pixel counts. As websites, then apps and social media became primary funnels, sans serif fonts became the accepted norm for digital, particularly UI/UX but liberally across logos, brand identities and advertising too. Wrapped in other themes like minimalist, bold type, flat design, the majority of digital design became dominated by sans serif fonts.

I have presented title design or brand identity proposals that spouted this very need to belong to a ‘modern, digital’ look and feel. (I mostly stand by those!). But at some point in the last six-eight years, I started to tire of sans serif being ‘a given’, a default. Serifs started populating our feeds more, sometimes driven by hipster/indie/small business vibes, at other times riding on the back of retro/nostalgic themes.

This is not an academic analysis, but paints a little trajectory I have noticed and my own personal likes. I write The Colour Bar largely in sans serif, but soon after launching it moved to serif font headers; I publish Coffee & Conversations largely in serif, probably falling on the literary/eclectic trope for those writings.

All this to say that I wholeheartedly see the influence, importance and irrationality around fonts. Now, with the ever-present spectre of generative AI and vibe coding, fonts are played with in a different way, allowing for AI models to draw on known clichés or perspectives, and use them in ways that can seem clever to some… or sneaky to others.

As said last year on her substack post which I enjoyed but lost to to the ether, “It’s not that difficult to discern why AI-native companies in particular are being drawn to serif fonts: AI is inherently cold and without opinion. Serifs add visual interest and warmth. It signals “we’re AI! but real humans use (and made) our product! we swear!”

Then Wired’s gone and done a piece called ‘AI Has Come for Serif Fonts’, in which they say, “AI companies are using serifs to project humanity. Critics are calling it ‘tasteslop’.” There is an interesting case John Semley makes for this, citing a general trend for AI startups to minimise their tech-overlord connotations and bolster their human, friendly, assistant vibes.

Most apparently, you might think of Claude (serifs) vs ChatGPT (sans serif). Do you find one more personable, trustworthy than the other? Or are you firmly in the “fonts don’t matter” camp?

2. Giant Missteps

Teams in the Hundred, England’s franchise cricket jamboree, are releasing their new kits. The team from Manchester has new ownership, and is now the Manchester Super Giants. Their kit drop came in a video spot with the lofty message of uniting Manchester, bringing together the blue and red divide.

Say what you may about the message, or indeed the kit itself. LIke it or hate it. But most of the reaction I have seen is about something else.

The fact that the spot is, so obviously AI generated…. wait for it… slop.

It is an easy target for those who have more fundamental issues with visuals created by generative AI. But even if you’re happy to put aside such macro issues- the ethics, the impact etc etc; looking at it merely as another spot from an exciting sports team in a thrilling tournament… it is bafflingly poor. In fact, most gen AI evangelists should especially rail on this spot, because this is exactly the kind of apathetic creative output that confirms the effect so many of us fear - gen AI is democratising mediocrity, not creativity.

The list of missteps here is a long one, and right now I won’t look past floodlights in day time, opponents in whites, a bowler bowling without a ball, batting gloves for a wicketkeeper and just the kind of stilted, chopped up flow we have grown accustomed to seeing in such videos.

It boggles the mind how multiple people involved in something like this all felt it was good to go. Unfortunately, it reeks of the blind belief in the efficiency and benefits of AI that pervades all walks of work in 2026. Do it because it’s quick. Do it because it’s ok. Do it because it’s cheap. Do it because everyone else is, and gosh, we’re all so smart for using it.

So yeah, I may not have set out to skewer this spot, much as it deserves to be; it is the growing ecosystem it represents that leaves me shaking my head every week.

3. Curated/Cuts- Clingers

Apple is back with another privacy campaign, with its reliable route of personifying data tracking. Striking visual device- silver-suited people atop shoulders-tick ‘; suitably helpless internet users, tick; cool apple user making them all go ‘poof’, tick.

It might seem ‘a bit on the nose’ to some, but it’s pretty consistent with how they have tried to position Safari and their privacy chops. Not so long ago, Flock brought us creepy camera-birds, and a few years ago the Trackers were literally people following. Admittedly, the vocalised “Chrome!” reference is a bit jarring.

It’s being called sinister, creepy, funny, massy and un-subtle.
Please, choose your judgement.

Credits: TBWA\Media Arts Lab · SMUGGLER · Director Ivan Zachairas · House of Parliament · TRAFIK · WORK USA ·

4. Objectively Objecting

You can have the truth, please pay here.

Facts and truth seem to be at a premium in our information age. Reams are written about the incongruence of a time when so much is at our fingertips and so little is reliable. The trust deficit with traditional media; the battling embrace/ backlash around AI; the instinctive, sometimes disproportionate faith in individuals; the accompanying disappointment with institutions.
Questions abound around truth and how to ensure it is not obfuscated.

At such a time, please meet an AI-powered platform that claims to usher in accountability. How? By being a pay to play platform where journalism can be challenged- in theory by anyone- its credentials investigated and adjudicated by a jury of LLMs. Yes, that’s right- a panel of your friendly neighbourhood chatbots will find a report and its writer ‘innocent’ or ‘guilty’ of peddling untruths.

Hear it from them:

If I had no context, I would have thought this satire. A spoof piece from SNL, or a Youtube skit- the cheesy VO, the hyped up script, the (un?)shockingly poor visuals that serve as a launch video for a new product. But in fact, all those tell a story of their own.

“it’s the same as [X’s] Community Notes. The wisdom of the crowd plus the power of technology to create new methods of truth-telling.” _Aron D’Souza, founder.

There are many concerns around this- another tool for the privileged to protect their reputations, will paint all anonymous sources as unreliable, its dangers for whistleblowers, the irony of error-prone LLMs judging facts. Peter Thiel’s involvement has only fuelled these. The founder, Aron D’Souza, is known amongst many things as a key figure in bringing down celebrity news site The Gawker, and founder of the Enhanced Games (quite simply, Olympics + drugs).

at Techcrunch says, “his solution presents a lose-lose for journalists: either divulge sensitive source information to Objection’s “cryptographic hash” that determines “if it’s high quality reporting,” or face demerits for protecting sources who share important information at great personal risk.” She also quotes defamation lawyer Chris Mattei much less polite take- “seems like a high-tech protection racket for the rich and powerful.” ^{^}

John Mac Ghlionn writes that “Objection poses as a truth-seeker. But at bottom, it is a reputation protector for wealthy companies and individuals — a weapon to add to their arsenal of defamation attorneys, communications firms, and friendly political contacts.” ^{^}

But. Objection is pausing. If you head over to their website, you see this incredibly clear and reassuring message.

That’s pretty clear, right? But I thought I’d ask for it to be decoded by some of their friends.

ChatGPT had a lot to say, including, “Reading between the lines- the wording is quite unusual and somewhat intellectualized…. It’s essentially a shutdown/reboot notice dressed in the language of information science and AI culture.”
While Claude felt, “The notable thing is that it’s the sole message- no logo, no product description, no timeline. That’s either confident minimalism, or they’re in early enough trouble that they don’t have much else to say yet.”

Harriet Williamson says the platform has told Novara Media that “it’s being rebuilt and relaunched with “significant retooling” after customer feedback” ; she also has a good video story, including the wider context for journalism.

➕Quick Hits

1. A survey carried out by Lacoste in 2023 revealed that while the majority of respondents instantly recognised the brand, many were unaware that the brand is French. Cue the return of the Serif!

2. Martin Scorsese has become an advisor on an AI software for pre-vis & storyboarding. Some say this means “Martin Scorsese is betting on AI”, while others are a bit surprised/disappointed that the generally traditionalist legend has crossed over.

3. James Murdoch has bought New York Magazine and maybe more crucially the Vox Media Network, i.e. podcasts.

Don’t be a lurker.

Thanks,
Shakey

1. Sacred cows: Australian sport, cricket, and crossroads.

2. The Horror: May movie musings.

3. Eat Your Words: A take on the AI’s messaging issues

4. Fake It, Don’t Break It: Virtual assistants shaping Linkedin

5. ➕ · Wicked wickets · Spotify’s AI tool · Top50 Asian brands ·

1. Sacred cows, mate.

“For the first time in its modern history, Australian sport is fully exposed to outside forces it doesn’t control.”

I have always viewed Australian sport from afar and yet, felt it oddly familiar. The primary reason for this is predictable- cricket. It has fostered a faux-understanding and connect with Aussie sporting culture that is further boosted by the Australian Open, the presence of Aussie athletes in most sports, their outsized success, and their widely accepted image amongst many non-Aussies (especially Asians?) as a nation that “just has sports in their blood.”

As a cricket tragic, I also share the uncomfortable space of having plenty of cricket at my fingertips, yet not enough of the kind I enjoy the most. (Nation vs Nation Test matches, if you must know). It is easy to find many who both like the T20 format yet adore the Test format more, we lament the very apparent threats to the oldest shape of the game, while enjoying the buzz of the newest. Individual fans might find some personal stability in grappling with these two, but the sport itself is far from finding such balance. In fact, it has been viewing the impending inevitability of a reckoning with some trepidation, and a generous dose of plain. Even naive hope.

So, I read this piece in SVG by Callum McCarthy with some interest. He makes the case that cricket in Australia- not uniquely- faces a bit of a reckoning. For a great sport that enjoys a passionate following yet has lost money every season since 2018-19, (A$11m in 2024-25 despite revenue growth), difficult decisions knock on the door, harder by the week. More specifically, the recent vote to not privatise the BBL teams (to most likely Indian investors), does not seem like one that can stand for very long.

These kinds of existential threats are entirely new to an Australian ecosystem that has never had to worry about the outside world. Domestic TV and sponsorship revenues have been growing consistently ever since the 1970s and its sports media has always been Aussie-owned in one way or another.

2. Oh, the Horror!

You might not know about the two biggest movies in the US in the last couple of weeks… or you more likely absolutely have heard about Obsession and Backrooms. Both come from the generally reliable cheap-horror format, but that’s not the story here. Both also come from young directors who have made their name and learnt their craft as Youtubers. I mean, Kyle Parsons who helmed Backrooms is 19, the youngest director ever to top the box office. When the producers first spoke to him on a Zoom call a couple of years ago, they had to go through his parents- he was just 16 then.

While creators have built businesses and followings online on their own, that doesn’t mean they don’t need any help. If you want to make a hit movie or release a No. 1 record, it helps to get support from people who’ve done it before.

The two themes most popular for commenters are predictable- ‘cinema is not dead’, and ‘Youtube eats Hollywood’. Both have truths and both can be overblown. The promising aspect definitely is that this is the best May for the industry since 2019, and spread across more titles than one Marvel blockbuster.

The other interesting aspect in my mind is how the success of such ‘Youtubers’ comes when there is proper collaboration with movie people who have done it before. Success is, after all, more than only creative vision or knowing your Youtube audience. Backroom was produced by Atomic Monster, the production company from James Wan, the creator of The Conjuring franchise, and co-creator of Saw and Insidious franchises. A legitimate horror maven. Financing came from the likes of Peter Chernin- no Youtube kid. Obsession saw producer Jason Blum and Blumhouse (horror masters) enter the story late in the game to help market and land the film.

So while for much of the last decade or more, establishment Hollywood and Youtube creators have struggled to figure out what to do with each other, the successes will come with the other, not despite.

More here & here.

3. Eat your words

Say what the thing does. Describe what it changes. Let people draw their own conclusions about the stakes. Sadly, that is too normal a stance, too practical.

I don’t analyse the markets, and this is not a business newsletter by a long stretch. But I have views. They could probably be encapsulated in something along the lines of, ‘Why (and how) is everything purely fuelled by shareholder value that need not translate to any greater impact, nor be concerned with externalities?’ Probably no place is this more apparent to me than in AI, where the hype cycle that we thought we had gotten used to from SIlicon Valley, has outdone itself.

I read after a long time, actually. In ‘Eat Your Words’, he speaks of ”AI’s self-inflicted messaging crisis”. That opening quote above seems all too common sense, and all too unlikely to ever be the way things actually move.

Oh also- George from Seinfeld makes the most unexpected and amusing appearance.

Normal does not get funded. Measured does not get an $850 billion valuation. Sober does not land on the cover of every magazine in the world simultaneously.

The whole industry is caught in this loop now. You need the fear to justify the funding. You need the funding to build the thing. The thing then justifies more fear. Try telling the story in plain, simple language. $850 billion is going to shrink faster than George Costanza’s prospects when coming out of an icy cold pool.

4. Fake it, don’t break it

“It’s all AI comments by fake people answered with fake replies by other fake people.”

For all of us who feel like some of the posts and interaction on Linkedin seems hollow, have a read on Rest of World about the “self-sustaining industry of humans and bots generating an illusion of engagement.”

You know it, or you should. There are some ‘leadership lessons’ or ‘life experience’ posts that you just know are engagement first, personal meaning second. If you get that sinking feeling that the person you follow didn’t write that, its pretty possible they actually didn’t. Because “for $7 an hour, virtual assistants use AI tools to write LinkedIn posts and comments on behalf of Western executives.”

Sure, the piece by Michael Beltran suggests both the platform as well as the individual might be looking to move away from enabling these ‘virtual assistants’ who generate both posts and content for their thought-leadering clients. Whether that happens remains to be seen.
But even that is not likely to stop the already everyday occurrence of real people using AI-generated comments to express their ‘engaged’ selves.
It’s the deluge some of us trawl through every day.

I am not holding my breath on real thoughts dominating here.

➕Quick Hits

1. The ICC has (along with SKY) collaborated with Wicked for the opening of the Women’s T20 World Cup. “Wicked to wicket action”, they said.

2. Spotify and Universal Music Group have an agreement; Spotify will launch an AI-powered tool, for paying fans to create licensed covers and remixes. It is “grounded in consent, credit, and compensation”, a clarification it is unfortunate has to be explicitly stated in these times.

3. There was a Top 50 brands of Asia list, as voted by 2million customers. Shoppee topped it, but ‘digital’ brands like IG and Spotify made it on for the first time. Yay?

But I thought I would do a version of ‘Shots from The Colour Bar’ which I started doing on Linkedin last week as a post.
’Shots’, ‘Bar’, quickly shared tidbits. Geddit?
I know, genius.

Cheers,
Shakey

But first a couple of goodies to watch

Curated/Cuts

· Four Letters ·

Four letter words have a bad image. All thanks to one errant member. But, cool is also a four letter word.

YETI dropped ‘Four Letters’ - this great piece with the kind of of punchy, rhythmic, powerful copy + text vibes that made that old promo producer in me quite joyful.

Alex Maleski shared it on LInkedin with a post entirely mae up of four letter words. Nice.
· Wieden + Kennedy · Cartel · TRAFIK · Pariah VFX · Field Day Sound ·

· Change Drivers ·

The team at Studio Birthplace made this striking little piece as part of the Change Drivers series. Simple content, elevated visuals.

This was with restaurateur and food waste pioneer Douglas McMaster., founder of the world’s first zero-waste restaurant, Silo London.
“Douglas reminds us that waste is not natural; it’s a human thing. And if we designed our systems more like nature, where nothing is thrown away, we could transform one of the most harmful systems on our planet.”

Shots

1. Students in the US booed Eric Schimdit when his commencement speech spoke of AI. Elsewhere, students booed another speaker who dared touch on AI. I guess young people being anti-AI really is a thing!
   But also, another student cohort walked out of Jaonathan Haidt’s commencement address. Maybe anti-speeches is also a thing?

2. YouTube declared this the YouTube Era’. Ok then, I thought we have been inhabiting the YouTube era for a some time now? No?
   Jim Louderback warned us why such proclamations are dodgy.

3. Spotify changed its logo to shiny disco ball thingy. This was in celebration of our lifetime listening journey (oh, and their 20th anniversary). People moaned and gagged at the retro maximalism of it all. So Spotify said, oh yeah, “glitter isn’t for everyone. We’ll change it back.” But then some people clamoured that it was great, and they wanted it for themselves please! Classic online love/hate.

   

4. France announced its World Cup squad with a video that is meant to feel like an outdated saccharine sweet American sitcom. I guess it works?

5. I was amused by a video debating the value of the phrase ‘I Love You’. The dialogue had vaguely Tarantino feels- meandering, curious, compelling, a bit self-indulgent.
   It was from singer Noga Erez and was meant to tease the drop of their new single called, erm, I Love You. The fact that I didn’t know Noga helped.
   

That’s all folks, too many shots can’t be good for you at this age.

And apparently, who drinks anymore?

Welcome to another collision of creativity, brands and tech. Today I look (again) at clipping, the practice of extracting clips from shows and podcasts to build momentum around them. It has become more and more a sophisticated tool to market and engineer ‘virality’. It has led some to wonder if the clips themselves are the point of it all, and their impact is increasingly also conflated with all shorts in general.

Besides clipping, this week’s scroll sees graphic novel-esque journalism, football nobodies & legends, Tiktok branding and stormy boyhoods.

I write The Colour Bar every week and you can get it over on Linkedin or subscribe on Substack, whichevr is your thing. And it would mean a lot to share what you like, please!

Thanks,
Shakey

1. Clipping: The things that promote the thing are now the thing?

2. trAPPed: web comic x journalism

3. Curated/Cuts: Backyard Legends & Tiktok branding

4. ➕ · Warner Music wants movies · IG wants originality · AI wants music ·

☝🏽 Busy? Lazy? Multitasky? Click play above and let me read this to you.

1. Clipping: new vistas or sunsets?

‘Clipping’ has received plenty of attention in recent months. I wrote about it last year when the clipping farms agencies were starting to get some attention. The term is generally used these days to refer to the posting of video clips from premium shows, comedies, stand-ups and podcasts. They appear seemingly organically, but are increasingly part of a deliberate approach at flooding social feeds with the show’s content. Much of what we see and engage with in our feeds is a byproduct, actually ‘from somewhere else’. Clipping is pretty much its own ecosystem, though impact on actual listenership and audience growth is questionable, and remains debated.

My questions around the approach remain centred around short term numbers versus meaningful consumption of the ‘actual’ content. They definitely can create buzz or virality, and the value of this is not to be discounted. Yet, how much do they drive long form listening or viewing, i.e of the actual product. What do they do to build a brand/persona/IP that actually sustains itself?

Some, like podcaster Ed Elson are starting to make the case that the clips are the content. I am sceptical as to how that is sustainable, nor have I heard any rationale how that helps build an IP.
OpenAI recently (unexpectedly) acquired the podcast TBPN- many feel that the deal value came as much from their viral clips as the show itself (TBPN is a rare one that actually monetises the clips themselves). A reference point was thrown out- a set of TBPN’s ten episodes had 7K live views vs 257k clip views. I would argue that the value of views in each of those groups is really not like for like.

In “The Video Clipping Machine Behind Clavicular’s Viral Fame”, ($) Bloomberg’s Cecilia D’Anastasio looks to paint us a picture of how virality is engineered in today’s content landscape, using ‘looksmaxxing’ poster-child Clavicular’s case as a reference.

I also think much of this gets a bit murky in terminology. Clips, clipping, short clips, short videos, original short form, premium clips. And different commentators coming from different ecosystems and addressing different elements use these loosely.

On that- clips aka clipping can’t and shouldn’t be confused with original short form content. I am unsure why the two are being conflated. (“Hollywood’s clip-feed strategy is dead wrong and these short-form mobile feeds simply recycle long-form content into promotional snippets. Instead of quick clips, streamers need to explore how to tell new stories via vertical microdramas or other emerging narrative formats.” ^ via Jim Louderback).
Or say, in the light of Netflix recently announcing their own ‘Clips’, seemingly an extension of the moments feature they introduced last year. This is very much a funnel for them, not an end in itself.

Each of these short video buckets have their own purpose/place. Original shorts have always been something that creators, brands, publishers can (should, mostly) lean in to build a following around. Storytelling in the service of their IP or product or persona.

As a wise man once told me- do you want to make the thing or the thing that promotes the thing? I disagreed with that line of questioning then, but it is appropriate in this context.
The things that promote the things- i.e. clips, shorts, extracts, ads, are not the point of the endeavour. Surely? If they are, then the ambition should not be a show or podcast at all- you should just be aiming to get clip virality and whatever you make from that.

Related to all of this and wider yet, is this excellent piece from Ryan Broderick. He boldly but gently stakes the claim that “short-form video collapse is clearly just over the horizon.” Read it to trace a take from GIFs and Vine through to all our platforms now and, yes, clipping.

“There was an assumption that carried across Vine, Facebook Watch, TikTok, and Instagram Reels that the economics of scale and attention would eventually make sense. That short-form video would eventually mean something. That either creators would get the chance to “graduate” from short-form video to TV and movies or, at the very least, make something that felt more important. Instead, things have only become stupider and more wasteful, as platforms demand more video content than ever.”

2. trAPPed

A web comic meets investigative journalism?
Creative is not just in advertising, branded content or design. This week I want to share a wonderful example of how journalism and creative storytelling can come together. Bloomberg’s reporting on a digital scam in India was crafted into a graphic novel style narration, and I think it is done so well. It did not feel like a cosmetic layer of art, nor a version of a report. trAPPed felt like its own story, crafted ground up to be what it eventually was, a seamless scroll into the ordeal of a scammed single mum. And that, I think, makes the difference in how it touches the reader.

“an illustrator in Mumbai, an investigative reporter in Delhi, and an investigative reporter in Tokyo—worked together to document and illustrate the psychological ordeal of a scam victim in Lucknow, India.”

It was recently awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary.

Art Anand RK · Reporting Suparna Sharma · Natalie Obiko Pearson ·
Lettering Aditya Bidikar · Color by Nisha Singh ·
· Producers Nadja Popovich, Amanda Cox, Ken Armstrong, Flynn McRoberts ·Jui Chakravorty ·

3. Curated/Cuts

· Backyard Legends ·

“Some of us are destined for athletic greatness, some of us are destined to cheer on athletic greatness from a respectful distance ... like yours truly”
That’s one thing Timothee Chalamet and I have in common, then!

It’s entirely possible you have not seen the Adidas football spot that smacked into our consciousness last week. Possible but not probable.

This is World Cup year, and the expectation we all have is to have plenty of entertaining, enjoyable, powerful, fun, surprising advertising. Adidas’s latest is one we will likely be seeing in plenty of year end lists and awards. I first saw the trailer and it was a great little tease. But then the real thing dropped, and smashed it out of the park. Or hit the target. Or landed in the top corner. Kindly insert football metaphor of choice.

Jude Bellingham. Lamine Yamal. Trinity Rodman. Messi. Bad Bunny (because, why not?).

And Chalamet.
[Opera misstep, bye bye. The Timothee is back. Schwep! ]

And oh yes, some other minor characters you might find familiar- David, Zinedine, Alessandro, anyone?

All in the story of trying to beat a legendary undefeated street trio.
I love the storytelling, the pace, the delight. Its the kind that can even touch non-fans. I was already asked by one, “I was captivated… but what happens next?”

We are going to see all kinds of amazing World Cup related ideas. But adidas ain’t messing about with this. Everyone else, the ball is in your court.
I mean your half.
I mean half line.
Or something.

Watch this if you haven’t. Watch it again if you have.
Go on.

PS- have had some animated conversation that the young 90s/2000s version of Zidane, Beckham et al are “AI-generated”. While AI workflows are slowly making their way, my instinct was these are not, simply, ‘genAI’ but de-aging and VFX workflows. My searching has only found it some speculation around AI being used, and described as “cutting-edge CGI and visual effects”. It was done largely by the team at Untold Studios (and their long list of credits doesn’t include any ‘AI artist’ title).

At any rate, the fact that people feel there was no Beckham or Zidane on the shoot and they are entirely AI-generated, is very telling of our times.

· adidas · Lola USA · Smuggler ·
· Director Mark Molloy · DoP: Harry Wheeler ·
VFX: Untold Studios Tomek Zietkiewicz Nicole Duncan, Ange Toner ·
Music & Sound Design: 750mph

· Tiktok Branding ·

Tiktok has a new brand system, though its not the kind of thing that will hit consumer lives too much. Its from the fine folk at Dixon Baxi, who share more on it.

Storms

The last of my Curated/Cuts has to be the explosive new creation from Gener8ion & director Romain Garvas. It is an 8 minute short that serves as a music video for two tracks, and it did far more than make me think, ‘cool music’. You might have seen it appear in your feeds, but it likely was the second half, a brilliant one shot choreography. But I would recommend watching the whole thing, because the arc is so powerful.

Watch it, then read - I put down my thoughts on it as well as more about the people behind it in my substack .

➕Quick Hits

1. Warner Music Group x Paramount Pictures announced a multi-year deal to “develop movies drawing on the lives and music of WMG‘s roster of artists and songwriters.”

2. Instagram is expanding its crackdown on unoriginal content and content aggregators, meaning accounts that regularly repost content they didn’t create. Good explanation here from Lindsey Gamble.

3. I wrote last week (again) about AI music models and the proliferation of gen AI music. Despite the so-called deals Suno and Udio had to make with music labels around copyright and licensing, the enthusiasm around building these is still high- 13 have been released in 2026! Jake Handy is handily tracking all the services here.

This week’s swirl includes a meme from Devil Wears Prada, Rolex meeting puke, AI & music’s ongoing tussle, very odd phone love, and more on everyone in media’s second-favourite ride, the micro-drama train. Hop on!

Thanks,
Shakey

1. Artists, Memes, AI: crafted cheapness, sensing Aesop, vomiting Rolex.

2. Verify The Humans: Spotify, Deezer, AI music & fraud.

3. Curated/Cuts: Phones Love, Transport Love

4. The Micro Train: Some micro breakdowns

5. ➕ · disappearing trends · AI chat groups · ElevenMusic ·

☝🏽 Busy? Lazy? Multitasky? Click play above to hear me read this to you.

1. Artists, cheap memes & AI.

· Want Some Lies With That? ·

The Devil Wears Prada 2, aka DWP2 brought the 2006 hit back to cinemas and is doing plenty well. The marketing and social around it too, has been hard to miss- it felt like it was everywhere.
Yet, after the movie’s release, one of the little things that made waves (or some ripples) was in fact a 2-minute snip from the film. It comes from a bit where memes are being made disparaging Miranda, the character played by Meryl Streep. This one meme, appearing amongst a few, felt to many as a hat-tip to AI slop.

In fact, as artist Alexis Franklin shared on her socials, this was made by her and her alone. Additionally, she said that mimicking AI was not really the intent.

“I was not attempting to mimic AI when I painted this. AI studied what we do, of course there are similarities. I was just trying to make a cheap meme, guys. The theories are wrong. 🥲
Absolutely no disrespect to Queen Meryl, but this is something I would’ve painted in my free time, so when they asked me to do this it was nothing but fun. 😈”

Elsewhere, she said she was going for a “cheap, plastic look that reminded me of the photoshopped 2010’s meme aesthetic.”

This is a fine example of how our times will see us all both readily believe AI-fakes, and jump on accusing human creation of being AI generated.

Both sides, at once, confusingly and inevitably.

· Sensing Aesop ·

Synaesthesia is a neurological phenomenon where the stimulation of one sense involuntarily triggers experiences in a second, unrelated sense. Some refer to it as ‘sensory crossovers’- think tasting colors or feeling sounds. People describe it as having “wires crossed” in their brain because it activates two or more senses, when there’s only a reason for one sense to activate. It is not a disease- more a consistent, lifelong sensory blending.

This rare phenomenon has given Irish artist Jack Coulter the ability to perceive sounds and smells as colour. In a sense, he can translate music or scent into pigment.

“If I hear sounds they’re all connected together, that’s when I see very prominent colours. Depicting scent is a very different process.”

Aesop, the Australian cosmetics brand teamed up with Coulter some time ago. Instantly, you might think- that is such an obvious collaboration/ commission! And so it does, in hindsight.

Aesop presented the work as hues of their perfume Above Us, Steorra Eau de Parfum. “For synaesthete artist Jack Coulter, the aromatic is experienced as colour. His latest piece draws inspiration from Above Us, Steorra Eau de Parfum, offering an abstract take on the fragrance’s compelling constellation of notes.”

A fascinating collaboration.

· Vomiting Rolex ·

Spanish art collective milfshakes (yes, thats…. milfshakes, let’s run with it) recently did a one piece giveaway for a Rolex.

Oh, but this was no ordinary Rolex. The dial was uniquely art-ified. It was detached from the watch, put in a ‘controlled chamber’ where- wait for it- housefiles were sent on a vacation. They were fed plant-based coloured dyes. Now- flies digest by releasing digestive fluids (or something like that).

You guessed it, they puked all over the dial. Make no mistake, this was unique.

The project was titled “Time Flies,” and used a Rolex Oyster Perpetual. The collective called it a ‘biological art project’, artistically customised by flies, clarifying that Rolex was by no means involved.

BTS here, if you are curious.

2. Verify The Humans!

I am repeatedly drawn to movements in the AI-generated music space and all its ramifications. This week, Spotify has announced ‘artist verification’, largely in an effort to improve authenticity and credibility on the platform.
This is welcome.
It is not everything, but nothing can be, in the very messy space of AI-generated / assisted music. So this is welcome.

Spotify is more often than not in the crosshairs for much, but definitely including AI generated tracks, which I have spoken much about. Deezer has been far more proactive and decisive in their ambition of filtering out AI generated music and artists. It has filtered millions of AI-generated tracks being uploaded, ensured AI tracks are out of their playlists and algorithm, all with developing their own detection tool.

My 2025 year lookback on the space- Music & The Machines- was full of aha moments and things that make you go hmmmm.

Spotify has taken a slower, wait & watch approach, citing the complexities around it all, and largely letting the onus be on the artist /uploader to opt-in their AI use.

With ‘Verified by Spotify’, we are promised “a clearer signal on artist profiles”, with the badge meant to be a symbol of “an artist profile (that) has been reviewed and meets Spotify’s criteria for authenticity and trust.”

Note, this is not by any means a stand against AI-generated music, nor a clear statement of intent to weed it out. Its another small step, though a potentially better one than any before, to make progress. Indeed, a verified artist uploading a 100% AI-generated track seems perfectly clear for now.

Fake streams, already a source of siphoning away streaming revenues, have been powered by AI. The volume that gen-AI services help provide, are a way around fake streaming that has been identified by high numbers of streams. In a recent piece entitled “How AI-Generated Music Became A $4 Billion Fraud Machine”, Virginie Berger runs through the landscape really well.

Fraudsters now use AI generators to flood platforms with millions of tracks and stream each one just a few thousand times, enough to generate royalties from each but not enough to trigger detection systems tuned for high-volume replay.

She also talks about the services allowing users to strip away AI artifacts, saying “The detection and evasion layers are scaling in parallel.”

Her take on Spotify’s verification move is less than enthusiastic. “The badge authenticates the artist, not the music. A verified human artist can still upload fully AI-generated tracks under their verified name. Spotify is drawing a line around identity while taking no position on content.”

An aside- badges, badges everywhere- with varying parameters for varying uses, on varying services, paid and unpaid. How soon before we are all confused across platforms and those pesky ticks are rendered wallpaper?

This is from my recent piece on Coffee & Conversations, where I found myself captivated by a darkly compelling music video. Have a read?

coffee & conversations

Music, Mayhem, Moments

Wa’am star, how nah…

Read more

3 months ago · 1 like · Abhishek Rao (Shakey)

3. Curated/Cuts

· Phone Love ·

Here’s an off-kilter one this week. It comes from Blink’s Youtube series ‘im glad i know that now thank you’, created by artist and writer Chris with director Mike Greaney. This one is on phones, and how much we love them.
You might chuckle, guffaw, gag or shrug your shoulders- but I don’t need to introduce it more. And you needn’t think too much more. Just watch.

The full episode is here.

· UK Transport Love ·

“Sometimes it’s about how you say it”. With this little copy, UK’s Department of Transport shared a bunch of clever, amusing images on social.

“Transport is a universal language, that’s why we’re working hard to make sure your journeys are simple and reliable, wherever you are and wherever you’re going.“

It amused many, but riled up enough disgruntled London commuters too. Ah well, the nature of the social beast.

Also, likely a riff off the PETA stuff from many years ago.

4. The Micro Train

The micro-dramas juggernaut, we are told every week, continues its march. The format has become an undeniable force with its sheer eyeball numbers. The structural aspects seem less clear or water-tight. Too many of us view the micro-drama space with a hint of scepticism based around the high cost of acquiring viewers. Marketing spends are the real key to making this work. Production costs are increasingly becoming secondary, not really a meaningful differentiator.

I always felt that the big players will inevitably own or control or dominate the funnels. This does run counter to some of the hype around the micro-drama space in general I feel, without taking away from the momentum the format itself clearly has.

These aspects and much are explored by Patrik Wilkens in this excellent breakdown that links micro-drama, AVOD, Platforms (Tiktok & Meta particularly), with production perspectives.

For producers, it is starting to be that production costs are not the central issue- the revenue model with the platform/ ad-sharing/ subscriptions is where the choice lies between being a supplier or participant.

I am reminded of this quote from last year’s APOS which I shared in one of my previous micro-drama explorations. Zhou Yuan, Founder & CEO of Content Republic, had put it plainly, “I don’t believe there will be a Netflix of micro dramas. It will be the three big guys—Meta, YouTube, and TikTok. We will be vertical production studios.”
Indeed.

The real cost is not in production or storytelling, it is in discoverability. Patrik tells us that for series with ~$200K production costs, the marketing campaign typically comes in around $2M.
This- amongst other plays- makes Bytedance and Meta the genre’s ‘tax collectors’.

“Standalone micro-drama platforms spend up to 90% of their total operating budget on user acquisition…. The dominant UA channel for English-speaking markets is Meta. The secondary channel is TikTok itself.

His piece is well worth a read if you are curious about this space and Tiktok’s own microdrama app PineDrama.

➕Quick Hits

1. After all that about AI in the music industry, there is no slow down. ElevenLabs, which is a leader in the voice space, has launched a music generation platform as well. ElevenMusic also has a monetisation component akin to the voice arm, which could set it apart.

2. Staying real? Bah! Overrated. Say hello to Shapes, an app where humans and AI characters chat together in shared group conversations. Think Discord, but with AI characters alongside humans.

3. Modern day trends are notoriously ephemeral. Now we are told, nearly half of all trends on TikTok disappear within five days and only a small minority remain relevant beyond two weeks! (Yet, to salvage it all, a new study by Publicis Groupe says those that do endure, shape culture.)

Till next week, stay real.
Or not!

AI can boost creativity, but I may not mean it in quite the way you might think. On the one hand, that proposition is propped up this week when I look at Netflix’s acquisition of Ben Affleck’s AI company. On the other, the thought is flipped on its head by the fan reaction to a masked rock duo from Canada.

Enter this week’s collision of creativity, brands and tech on The Colour Bar. There’s enough to enjoy, or contemplate, or both.

Cheers,
Shakey

1. The Last Picture Shop: An old-timer’s search for Tarantino

2. AI vs Microtonal: Music shows the way?

3. Brands at Play: Bad photos, please + Nike’s misstep

4. Affleck + AI + Netflix: What’s the deal?

5. ▶️ Curated/Cut: Dinner date from hell

6. ➕ · APAC joy for Netflix · Norwegian good · YT’s deepfake protection ·

☝🏽Busy? Lazy? Multitasky? Click play above and let me read this to you.

1. The Last Picture Shop

Now here’s something that will feel good.

This here idea, campaign, project- call it what you will- ‘The Last Picture Shop’ strings together the battling vestige of cinema, the charm of times almost gone by, with that quintessentially modern-day idea of crowdsourcing and social media buzz.

“If you have ever fallen in love with a film, a record shop, a bookshop, or a place that made you feel less alone, you already understand why this matters.”

Umit & Son is a quaint shop in East London. ‘Film Archives’, it says under the main shop sign. 65 year old Umit Mesut has run it for over forty years. A projectionist and unabashed lover of celluloid, he and his beloved shop now face trying times.

Back in 2011, documentary maker Liam Saint Pierre made a film that introduced him to Umit. One filmmaker, one film preserver, film lovers both. They became friends, and set up a rare film club projecting old movies off 16mm. Years later, Umit & Son finds itself in darker times… and an idea is suddenly sparked.

‘Lets go to LA, and find the ‘high priest’ of celluloid- Quentin Tarantino, no less- and see what he thinks of saving this bastion of film. And oh, let’s make a film while we are at it.’

Ok, then!

Umit did leave London for the first time and hopped across to LA once. Since, The Last Picture Shop has blazed past its target amount on Kickstarter this year, and the team are back filming and editing. I don’t know if they met Tarantino, nor what is to happen to the shop.
Yet.

But I do know that this is the kind of coming together of creativity meets passion meets wild idea meets clever commerce that makes it all make sense.

· Liam Saint Pierre · Nan Davies @ One Wave ·
photos courtesy Last Picture Shop Kickstarters & IG

2. Microtonal vs AI

AI can boost creativity, but I don’t mean it in the way you might think.

We all talk about AI now- online, offline, professionally, personally, casually, contemplatively.
Last week I- very unexpectedly- bumped into a music recommendation on, of all places, Linkedin. And I guess I have AI to thank for it. More accurately, a less-than-enthusiastic gen AI lens.

You might well have seen Angine de Poitrine in your feeds. Or not?
This is a Canadian rock duo that’s been around for about two years, but exploded a little bit in the last few weeks courtesy of a live performance uploaded to YouTube.

With their costumes and masks, they look gimmicky, sure. But their sound is distinct. Bold. Odd. Compelling.

I did a piece on them a few days ago- watch and get a glimpse into what they’re like.

And while there are a few reasons why they’ve been embraced by so many, one of the filters they are being viewed through is… AI.
Not because they have used AI in their music. Because they have not.

And listeners (viewers) think their distinctive sound makes them a good symbol of the anti-AI , the real, the unique, the humanly expressed.

But the point I’m making here, is this.
We seem to be entering a time, a window for a different sort of real creative freedom right now.
For those who want scale and optimisation and volume, I am sure you are leaning right into the AI, or considering how you can. Those who want to stand out, ‘break the clutter ‘(ugh), shake up their audience? Maybe get the heck away from AI and be weird.

It has always been thus, you say? Yes, fair, that’s often been the mandate for creativity- to ‘stand out’. It has- but not by everyone- been seen primarily as a vehicle to become distinctive.

But as more and more people will be surrounded by a sameness, even if they don’t recognise it, this time we are in feels like a free pass to be weird with our expression…reckless, even.

And the pass comes with an expiry date, I think.

So go on, let’s find our inner weirdos.

3. Brands at play

· Crappy photos FTW! ·

Iceland Air is looking for a ‘really bad photographer’.

In this latest stunt, they want to prove to the world that “even the worst photographer can take great photos of Iceland.” Because hey, the country is just so damn photogenic.

Fair call, actually!

Requirements include “You’re frequently disappointed with your own photos”.
And then they had to go follow it up with another post just to clarify that it is all very real. A fully paid trip, $50k cash and a few hundred more crappy photos on your phone.
Sounds like a deal!

Well played, IcelandAir.

* Last year they played off the whole real/fake conversation with this spot, following a bloke who claims Iceland is AI-generated. Yes, the country itself.

· Nike’s misstep ·

At the Boston Marathon, Nike might have thought it was re-channeling its edgy attitude with a billboard that said, “Runners Welcome. Walkers Tolerated.”
While some thought it cool / amusing, most reactions weren’t great, including from runners who felt it was not in sync with the community’s ethos.

Nike pulled down the ad, and, erm apologised. “We want more people to feel welcome in running, no matter their pace, experience or the distance. One of them missed the mark.” Yeah, no that copy doesn’t exactly scream ‘welcoming no matter’.
Quite literally.

Some reactive advertising followed, too. I’m not a fan of the ad, sure, but this is also a reminder of how brands are not as in control of their own narrative as they used to be, and how quickly they can lose some of that control.

This came around the time of some similar ‘non-inclusive’ messaging in London. FWIW, the Boston board was replaced with one that said, “Movement is what matters.”

4. Ben Affleck, Netflix, AI

A brief stroll today around the Netflix acquisition of Ben Affleck’s AI company, ‘InterPositive’. Many were surprised when it was announced back in March, but then the dots connected well, explaining Affleck’s fairly clued-in takes on AI and movie making in recent times.

First off, be clear this is not another consumer-facing text-to-video play. It is an internal filmmaking toolset, not one intended to magically generate movies ‘from prompts’.

Netflix and Affleck both have leaned hard into the “creator-first” narrative; this is framed as a tool that supports filmmakers, not undermines them. The AI trains on a production’s own footage to help solve expensive, time-consuming post-production problems- think continuity fixes, relighting, reframing, wire removal, background cleanup and color matching. In theory, this means it is less about reimagining the creative process, or nudging out directors & actors, and more about removing friction from filmmaking.

Needless to say, there is both positive interest as well as scepticism. Because many or all of the tasks it will take on, are human tasks right now. The economic incentive for Netflix here clearly and unsurprisingly seems to be speed, scale, lower costs. And while some might wish such tools can enable new and independent creative voices, gotta point out that this one is very much locked within Netflix’s walls- not something openly available to the filmmaking community.

The patent was made available, and inevitably eyes were drawn to examples in the filing of projections which shaved double digit percentage points off costs in various departments using this tech in a sample production- from VFX to Art, set and background actors.
Adrian Lopez broke down the shaky ground for the VFX community, while Rest of World looks at the impact on the global workforce.

“If AI tools begin handling tasks like cleanup, relighting, or even base compositing, the biggest impact will be at that entry level,” DNEG’s Kazi told Rest of World. “Those early-stage opportunities are where artists traditionally learn by doing.”

Relatedly, I also learned that Netflix opened a new facility called Eyeline Studios in Hyderabad, India last month. It is designed for what Netflix calls “generative virtual effects.”

I am far more interested in these developments than the “look I can prompt Hollywood level stuff” that is flashed around our feeds.

5. Curated/Cut · Dinner Date ·

This is the kind of thing you may or may not give a moment or three to when it shows up in your feed. But today, you could give it a shot.

This is an example of what modern brand storytelling can be. I say ‘can be’ not ‘is’, because far too many brands are nowhere near this confidence, displayed here in ‘Dinner Date’ by apparel brand Mahila in the UK.

Yes, Mahila appears to be small brand, social-native, with a niche audience and shorn of some of the trappings ‘bigger’ brands have to deal with. Beyond that, honestly- this is not about some stunning craft or pathbreaking narrative. Even if the ‘genre’ or content or attitude (and man, there’s attitude!) may not be your cup of chai, I like how a pretty simple idea and execution is made memorable (great writing!), *and that the brand believes this will leave a mark on its audience.

➕Quick Hits

1. For Netflix, APAC is emerging as its fastest-growing market in Q1 2026. The region posted a 20% YoY rise in revenue.

2. Deepfake protection coming to Youtube. Their proprietary detection tool, “is now open to anyone at high risk of having their likeness abused: Actors, athletes, creators and musicians, whether they have a YouTube channel or not, can sign up to identify and request removal of deepfakes on its platform.”
   Any public figure will need to opt-in for this. Here’s the full (disproportionately long?) THR piece.

3. Norway is the latest country looking to pass a bill later this year on banning social media for U16s. One of many European policy conversations, after Australia led with a world-first ban in ⁠December ‘25.

I find it all absurd. So when I see a brand like Kotex embracing period blood, I am so here for it!
I’m also down for some digital nostalgia courtesy Pinterest, plus I weigh in on the AI voice artist landscape and another micro drama player.

Come join me in this bloody, non-violent edition.

1. There Will Be Blood: Art’s Missing Period.

2. ▶️ Curated/Cut: How did they live before social media?

3. VO Wars: My voice, your voice, no voice.

4. Tadka: India’s new (big) micro drama offering.

5. ➕ · Nipple sponsorship · Clipping economy? · Kill YT Shorts· ·

☝🏽Busy? Lazy? Multitasky? Click play above and let me read this to you.

1. There Will Be Blood

Brand x Art x Relevance.
A rare fit.

Most of us have heard something about art making us uncomfortable, and how that is a specific role it can/should/must play. Many are happy for art of any kind to be pleasing, satisfying, and yes- comforting. But that is that beauty of art- it is infinite and there is room for every kind. Whatever you might consider the role of creative endeavour, what is distinctly clear, is that art is an expression. Be it from an individual, a team, a collective. Be it a statement, a question, a wish, a memory, a speculation.

Most of us have been born into worlds which value that expression. I won’t be naive- freedom of expression is demonstrably hard to agree on, across cultures. It collides with norms and clashes with beliefs. And, it is constrained by systems, crushed by power. Yet its core value remains largely embraced.

This little trot into art philosophy is spurred by a short documentary. Art’s Missing Period is an 8 minute piece exploring the systematic deletion of women’s menstrual cycles from art across the ages. Here’s the trailer:

It begins with the striking observation that blood has flourished across art forms, across time. The violence or tragedy it depicts is not found inappropriate, nor too sensitive. The blood flows freely, so to speak- except period blood.

This film (Youtube link to full video) is part of an effort to ‘uncensor’ the art around menstruation. It is brilliantly coupled with a virtual exhibition that can help find some answers, and raise more questions. Art featured goes back as far as a few thousand years BCE, with pieces from our times that have been rejected or censored by galleries and other custodians of morality.

“Why is some blood revered in art, while menstrual blood is silenced? The exhibition confronts the stigma, showcasing menstrual-themed art from around the world.”

And so to the who.

This is part of a campaign devised by Kotex, with agencies David in London and Ogilvy in Singapore. Given how relevant this is, it almost seems immaterial who is behind it- which is part of the brilliance of Kotex choosing this path. The fit is obvious, the choice anything but.

It is very, very hard to combine layers of meaning and product and brand, yet create something of substance, without feeling opportunistic or shallow. I think Kotex nails it meaningfully here. Kudos.

The question I have- to connect and challenge the thought in my opening line- why do we even feel uncomfortable about this? I am all for art ‘disturbing the comfortable’, but menstruation is the most natural of biological occurrences. To analogously hand it a popular modern phrasing- it is a feature, not a bug. A pity then that we have over the ages been conditioned to recoil at its mere mention, to make it taboo.

My only gripe? The short film left me feeling like we skimmed the surface- even at over 8min, it feels like a trailer for a full thing. I suppose in some ways, that’s a good sign.

Kotex CCO Luiz Sanches · CD Denis Kakazu · Head of Creative Gustavo Sarkis · Marketing Katie Nikolaus ·
DAVID ECDs Selma Ahmed & Genevieve Gransden ·
Production Object & Animal · Director Kathryn Everett · EP Dom Thomas ·
Noor Tagouri, Journalist

2. VO Wars

It will come as no surprise to most reading this that AI is being used heavily in localisation & versioning of film & TV around the world- captioning, translations, dubbing, ‘vubbing’. Some of the output from the SaaS voice services can be truly impressive, though not all of them have their provenance sorted.

At one end you have Matthew McConaughey & Michael Caine who have licensed their voice likenesses, available in the Eleven Labs marketplace; at the other you have Scarlett Johansson and Tom Hanks who have explicitly refused to do so. But there is a vast majority who lie between these high profile extremes. And they are struggling to come to terms with how rapidly this is moving- especially in markets outside of Hollywood.

Unsurprisingly and inevitably this impact is often left by the wayside in much commentary. But many territories do not have robust systems in place (unions, rights, etc), if at all. Rina Chandran in Rest Of World has a piece with some real perspectives from countries like Brazil & India. “AI is increasingly used to deliver content cheaply and quickly, and voice actors are beginning to push back, even though they don’t have strong unions.” With touch points around the world, we get a glimpse of the fights voice actors are waging to salvage their livelihoods.

My take- voice often seems the easy one, the early fall guy. The tech has moved fast, and there is a general perception of “it’s just a voice”. But there is more to this than hand-wringing over lost jobs. Central though that must remain to such conversations, we mustn’t lose sight of the impact on local cultures. There is an intangible value to the nuance, storytelling and flavour imparted by the person behind a voice. To any story or narration, they bring their own perspectives, ability, creativity and- maybe most importantly- their lived experience.

If we shrug at those in the name of efficiency, we do so at our own peril.

3. Curated/Cut

· How Did They Do It? ·

Life before social media- what’s that?

Pinterest continues its efforts to be apart from other social media. Last year, their campaign encouraged ‘unfollowing’, assuring us we could find our own unique take. With a little help from Pinterest, of course.

Their latest is a warmly crafted theme film that suggests the best thing we can do online is find a reason to go offline. The brand leans into the palpably growing sense of overly-plugged in lives, coupled with an affection for the before times. What we have is a rose-tinted look at how life before social media was less influenced, less validated, more our own.

I say rose-tinted, but I do mostly mean accurate. The struggle to touch grass is real.

Almost as enjoyably, their ECD Becca Morton has a bit of a back story here, which will show you how it is just so bloody easy to come up with excellent creative stuff.
Not.

Pinterest Global Creative Xanthe Wells · ECD Becca Morton · Writer Gage Clegg · Global Mktg Sara Pollack · CMO Claudine Cheever ·

4. Micros come to JioHotstar

The micro drama (nay, micro shorts; nay micro shows, series, micro something) electric train whizzes on. The latest significant player, this time in India, comes in the form of Reliance behemoth Jiostar. Named ‘Tadka’ for the little concoction of flavour or spices splashed on in most Indian cooking, the service launches within the ‘main’ streaming JioHostar app.

Its campaign boils down to “my shorts are better than yours.” An active diss to other social feeds- don’t waste your time on reels, it says, get on to Tadka.
We could debate the virtue of addictive micro dramas vs addictive random reels into the wee hours (ok, I could but I probably wouldn’t… but you get what I mean). But that ship has sunk sailed.

The nuts & bolts are familiar now. ~2min episodes, 20-50 episode runs, 100 shows at launch.

The Tadka rollout, conversational discovery tools and the scale of content investment suggest JioHotstar is not treating micro-content as a side experiment. It is positioning it as part of a larger play to widen engagement, hold on to users longer and build new monetisation layers inside its streaming ecosystem. ^

If there’s been a gold rush into the micro drama space (even if many still question where the gold is), there is also an inescapable feeling something will eventually give. The entry of established streamers/legacy players is the most obvious harbinger. As I noted in a roundup last year, the big boys are widely seen as the ones to dominate. We have known for some time now- and as we have seen in other markets in US and Asia (ex China)- once you get past the logistical ease and low production demands, it is the discoverability + marketing spend in acquiring viewers that proves to be a challenge.

Tadka is bundled into the overall JioHotstar offering; Fatafat (Amazon’s shot at the space on their MX Player) is entirely ad-supported. Such players most likely see this as a funnel for wider discoverability of content, customer acquisition and ad/brand plays.

While we wait to figure this out, you could always go check out what’s happening with the Security Guard & his CEO Girlfriend.

➕ Quick Hits

1. The Nipple sponsorship- Vaseline has been named the ‘Official Nipple Protector’ of the 2026 TCS London Marathon, to keep runners ‘safe from the chafe’. Clever.

2. I‘ve written about the deluge of clips of shows or podcasts that flood our social feeds. I had looked at how the business of ‘clipping’ is fast becoming a lucrative one, i.e. those who do the actual job of making clips (yeah, ‘editors’). Ed Elson over at ProfG M has a rather more gung-ho view on clipping as a revenue source for creators, suggesting everyone (especially legacy media) needs to get on the train. “Clips are no longer the byproduct of the main product — they’re the main product.”

3. If you’re not a fan of how Youtube keeps propping up its shorts while you use it for ‘proper’ videos- well, you can now turn off Shorts on YT entirely. Its more a hack really- limiting the time for shorts- but I guess we’ll take it? Now- someone tell me how I can switch off videos on Spotify!

Yes, the Amazon (the real one, not the Bezos playground) finds its way into our delighted field of vision courtesy the ‘first ever’ branding of the region it flows through. It comes with a fascinating design approach. So does a video game TV show that recently wrapped a second season and I felt compelled to appreciate. And a clever team pull off a copyright heist with meaning.
Oh, if you have not seen Zendaya whimsically attempt fashion, this is your chance. Take it!

1. Mumumelon: Yes, it sounds like what you think. A ripoff.

2. ▶️ Curated/Cuts: The shape of Zendaya’s dreams, and a river’s brand.

3. Concept or cop out?: A note on Bieber @ Coachella

4. Fallout: Apocalyptic design.

5. ➕ · Mass comments on YT · India’s FIFA WC · prompt a playlists ·

☝🏽Busy? Lazy? Multitasky? Click play above and let me read this to you.

1. Mumumelon

Say hello to mumumelon.
Oli Frost has done it again. He & the folks at the climate campaign group Serious People (he’s a co-founder) bring a brilliant ability to take satire and make it believable in a consistently clever way.

This time, they pick on active wear brand lululemon and its fossil fuel practices. But if that sounds boring, they are not. Here we have a ‘dupe-brand’, openly ripping off lululemon, to showcase how they can build a similar product and line with much greener practices.

This is no theory, Serious People always uses serious ways. So we have mumumelon products and a real, brick & mortar store.

“We are violating copyright, but we aren’t violating the planet.”

And somehow, its all not merely amusing. It’s making a point, making it well and making us smile. And yes, they are “ready to be sue-sued”
This is many kinds of good.

Also, I don’t own any lulus, but would pick mumus over them.
Though I do like lemons. And (water) melons.

Here is their story, and call to (gentle) arms.

You might have seen Oli’s previous effort- Oilwell, a faux-wellness app that could help you quiet all the noise of climate science while you march on to profits and prosperity, to “help you find inner peace while the world burns”. If you haven’t- I wrote about it here last May.

There’s many other sharp ideas they have brought to life. Like the big French Bank campaign, for the bank that said it would stop funding coal, but instead underwrote a $409 million a bond to the world’s largest private coal company through one of their subsidiaries. Or like an illustrated children’s book titled “Why Daddy’s Law Firm Works With Nice Oil Men”, delivered to law firms around London.

The mumumelon campaign is run by Action Speaks Louder, a non-profit organisation that holds “companies accountable for their climate change promises.”

2. Curated/Cuts

· A Shape of Dreams ·

Surreal storytelling? Abstract visuals? Choreographed oddity? Plus Zendaya & Spike Jonze?

I’m in! Surely you should be too.

‘Shape of Dreams’ is a Spike Jonze-directed short, introducing Zendaya’s collab line with sportswear brand On. It’s a wonderful exercise in whimsy, inviting us to her “Dream Lab”- and it sure feels like one.

Zendaya’s “hmm, what should I do here?/ what could I do here?” vibe is a charming mood for the narrative. I love how it moves from curiosity to delight to a growing confidence in what she is playing with in this near seamless, abstract white space.

And the craft just carries us along on this little jaunt of joy.
Stop-motion(or the feel of it), scale distortions, practical effects, the choreography, physical transitions- all strung with a perky rhythm, occasionally reminiscent of silent films.

This line is a collaboration with her long-time stylist Law Roach, who makes an appearance late in the film, almost like a guide/older partner who tweaks her little flights of fancy. Nice touch.

The clothes look cool too.

On Alex Griffin · Thiago Cruz ·
MJZ · David Zander · Kristina Thoegersen · DOP: Jasper Wolf · Editor: Jeff Buchanan · Production Design Francesca di Mottola · Sound Squeak E. Clean ·

· Amazonia ·

Here is a new, first time brand for something that has existed for eons- the Amazon region in Brazil.
Nine states in the ‘Brazilian Legal Amazon’ have come together to create an “ecosystem brand” for the region, promoting it to Brazilians and the world. This is Amazonia, and its brand identity is wonderfully woven into the real world space it represents.

How?

The entire brand design system- typography, motion and more- is derived from the great river itself. Satellite imagery of the Amazon and the curves in its 25,000km of waterways give shape to the logo and the letters.

There is no geometry, no serif or san serif debate, no graphs of motion design. This feels organic, natural and human. More so because of the collaboration with artists from across the nine states in the territory.

As the video grandly but warmly declares, “generating a design system by the greatest creator of all- Nature”

Visit the website or go play with the type system here, and generate stuff (hat tip to Adriano Reis for sharing!)

· By Future Brands ·

3. Concept or cop out?

You are highly likely to have heard of Justin Bieber’s Coachella act, yes?
Let’s just say it was minimal, meta, and not a little strange.

Bieber performed some of his recent hits, but a sort of low-fi- there was no big set, no choreography, no pyro. Stripped down, but not in an MTV Unplugged way. More like a casual, low key way.

And then he kinda settled in at a table with this laptop, and fired up Youtube.

Yup.

For around 30mins, he went on to play some of his old hits via YouTube videos. Sometimes he sang along karaoke-style, other times he just watched them with the crowd. He also played viral videos of himself, chuckling with the fans. All very nostalgic, indulgent, a bit random, a bit cute… could have felt intimate.

But, being a headliner at one of the biggest festivals, with a reported $10 million payday for the two-weekend gig, this was never going to go down as merely “cute”.

Some have loved it, calling it a masterclass in engagement, creativity, authenticity and the internet generation at large. Others railed against it- saying it was lazy, cringe, underwhelming, undercooked, even disrespectful.

I will say this. Having one of the earliest made-by-Youtube pop stars trawl through his YT history sounds like a certain kind of intimate and cool. It’s also the kind of thing that we might not see much of or relate to less with other celebs, because ‘making it on Youtube’ is not what it was for his generation of stars.

Just not sure if it’s what all those peeps in the audience paid for.

Samir Chaudhry has an interesting take, calling Bieber “The Last Honest Internet Sensation.”

4. Fallout

I would like to take a moment or three to doff my dusty, dystopian hat to Fallout- the series- and its wonderful choice to have a custom opening title and end credits for every single episode.

Season 2 of this video game adaptation wrapped some time back on Prime Video. I was very pleased to see it continued the show’s S1 tradition of highly stylised opening title cards and end-credit sequences. They evoke that post-apocalyptic, retro-futuristic aesthetic of the video games, which also permeates the show but is still topped by these animations.

The custom title cards are variations of the Fallout logo, usually connecting to the narrative or episode theme. There’s rusty cola caps, glowing green monitors, Vegas neon signs, rivets, fire, ice, dust, blood. Short, subtle and with just that perfect nudge into the episode.

The end credits are long ‘single shots’ within a very game environment feel, with the setting and details full of nods to the storyline, lore, easter eggs, locations, and potential clues to the plot. All end credits here:

Opening title cards by Eddy Herringson & Laura Heath and Antibody

If you’re really feeling this, go revisit all the S1 end credits here.

➕ Quick Hits

1. So creators on Youtube can now like comments on their videos in bulk. Yes, that means they can engage meaningfully with their viewers and followers by using an automated function that will like all comments it deems positive. Authentic and real indeed. Or, “draining the humanity out of online interactions for the sake of engagement.”

2. The FIFA World Cup is not far away. Besides the ticket pricing chaos for those attending, closer to Asia one of the biggest (numerical) markets still doesn’t have a broadcast deal. Venkat Ananth takes a look at how India will end up watching the greatest show in the world.

3. Spotify’s ‘Prompted Playlist’ feature rolled out in beta earlier this year; it lets you describe what you want (prompt), then generates a playlist “informed by your listening history and what’s happening in music right now.” This has now expanded to include podcasts. Arguably, it could be even more useful.

I was pushed to think about this courtesy of a charmingly crafted campaign film this week. No, the fact that it connected to some of my own childhood memories had nothing to do with it.

That very real creative is accompanied by another that makes us question reality, in our increasingly AI-fuelled digital world. That fuel is also the reason I write about a new term that you might see popping up in the comments section more, one that damns AI-generated writing and the shortcuts it symbolises.

A collision of craft, memories, unreality and effort, because this is The Colour Bar.

1. Attaching The Cord: From the 90s, with love.

2. ▶️ Curated/Cut: The Last Real Man

3. ai;dr: four letters likely to spread.

4. ➕ · ESPN in APAC· Eurovision Asia ·Wikipedia bans AI · Young 40s · Books to toons ·

☝🏽Busy? Lazy? Multitasky? Click play above and let me read this to you.

1. Attaching The Cord

From the 90s, with love

Watch this recent campaign film from India.

A quick reaction could be, “Wes Andersen inspired!”, and it might well be. But this is no social trend bandwagon rider. This is no cute piece fuelled by reel templates & viral music.

No, this feels entirely owned and experienced.

Nostalgia is powerful. We have seen many brands leaning in to rose-tinted goodness in recent years. Done well, this taps into our fondest memories, creates emotional warmth, invites trust. Older demos can feel ‘seen’, younger audiences seem happy to tap into inherited memories. Throw in the instability most of us often feel in an uncertain world, and the remembered- real or secondhand- can become a source of reassurance.

But nostalgia must find its tribe, and this one knows its homies well.

Indian slow fashion crafters Cord Studio embraces all this with Album ‘91, their 2026 Spring Summer collection. This is very much in line with what the young brand says they set out to do back in 2015- approach “vintage design with fresh energy”, with contemporary clothes “rooted in nostalgia.”

Yet, Album ‘91 does not feel like some convenient comfort, provided by the familiar or the once-lived. There is enough here- in style and substance- to gently jolt you out of any soft stupor that nostalgia could induce.

Here’s where the individual eye comes in. The unique take of an art director- embracing the feel of a studio set, heightening it to connect to another very Indian past, of photo studios. The palette is bright, but not going full desi maximalism. The distinct choices made by the directors- minimal movement, droll expressions, static frames, block shots that enhance the ‘posing in a photo studio’ feel… the primacy of sound.

The use of audio is delectable, a main character. Announcements, train tracks, clinking cutlery, vendors, a stray radio. With one of the train announcements, I almost thought I could smell that train smell. That not always pleasant smell mixed with so much else, specifically when the train has stopped at a station.

This is all led, or backed up, or framed… by the styling (you choose which one). The clothes are the product of course, and we can’t really forget that. Because the clothes are not cookie-cutter, not just mildly pushing some boundaries. They heighten that sense of being somehow both vaguely familiar, and purposefully distinct.

There are many little videos. That main film (if I can even call it that- social assets tend to dismantle or blur such hierarchies) is accompanied by shorter pieces, relying entirely on ambient sound- station, carriage, train, announcer, even strains of the Doordarshan opening music! I suppose these must be classified as teasers, but really- they all feel like different corners of the same painting.

While the nostalgia is very Indian, the aesthetic and creative execution are striking in a much border way. Bold enough to stand on their own and resonate beyond borders, if social media takes from around the world are anything to go by.

The clothes themselves? I leave it to you to see if they feel warmly familiar, reinvented, dated or distinct, hanging outside of time.

There was a time when summer meant one thing — a family holiday.
It was the excitement of waking up before sunrise for a train journey. Sharing the window. Watching the landscape change slowly outside — fields, rivers, small towns rushing past. There were no screens. No rush. No constant stimulation.
Spring Summer 26 is an ode to those core memories — the simple, sweet joy of being somewhere new with the people you love most.

For co-founder Neha Singh moving cities every few years was normal as a child, while for her partner Pranav Guglani, train journeys meant summer holidays to the hills. To marry these memories to their new line and bring them to life, they collaborated with:

· photographer Pranoy Sarkar · stylist James Lalthanzuala · videography Rishabh Kumar · makeup Vishu Sinha · Production design: Abhishek Kanade · Production & Art Elements Production ·

For nostalgia to be done well, and not be seen as shallow, it must borrow from the past while reinterpreting for the present.

Does it feel like Cord does that for you?

2. Curated/Cut · The Last Real Man ·

Struggling with authenticity in a world of performance and AI? No worries, take a moment here and you will feel just at home- struggle away!

This is from an online luxury reseller called The RealReal. Its pretty entertaining in its tongue-in cheek real human narrative, till the point when (yes you guessed right) some AI VFX kick in. Wait, that’s not real, you say.

The Last Real Man. · Team One · CDs: Sabina Hesse · Carlo Barreto ·

Production Lipstick · directors Sebastian Strasser · Niklas Weise ·

3. ai;dr

Let’s talk about a term you may or may not have come across, representing an idea you might have toyed with, and a behaviour you can be pretty sure is going to become more common.

Say hello to ai;dr

“artificial Intelligence, didn’t read.”

This is, of course, a riff off the very useful internet acronym TL;DR (too long, didn’t read) which often precedes a short summary of something that is… erm, too long. But be sure- ai;dr does not refer to an AI recap.

Instead, people are using it to quickly and disdainfully dismiss something they couldn’t be bothered reading… because it was AI-generated.

Four letters.

Four letters that stand for a thought that, slowly but surely, seems to be spreading :
“if someone didn’t think it was worth their time to write this, it is not worth my time to read it”, or

“why should I bother reading something someone else didn’t bother writing?”, or
“If they didn’t respect me enough to actually write it, why should I be expected to read it?”

Let’s face it- most of us are now inundated with AI-powered communication- emails, articles, social posts, carousels, threads, comments, forums, even Whatsapp messages.

This ‘communication’- writing, for the most part- is a window. We communicate to share & receive thoughts, opinions, requests, feedback, feelings. Someone endeavours to transfer a thought or piece of information- from their mind to ours, from their awareness, their perspective… to ours.

If we can broadly agree on this, consider the central element here- one individual’s effort at communicating, another’s effort in receiving.

Once this very act or process is outsourced, the pact is broken. Or at least chipped. Like an old coffee mug. Now do we drink the coffee anyway, or fix the beloved mug?

Shoutout: Last week I featured the Gorillaz’ short film which accompanied their new album, The Mountain. While I loved the short, how it became a gateway to the album was equally resonant.

I wrote about the animation as well as the album over in my other substack, Coffee & Conversations. If you like new music, check it out.
Or watch my little videos : the film & the album.

➕Quick Hits

1. HarperCollins & Toonstar announced a multi-year partnership to adapt a slate of book titles into original YouTube series. They will co-produce animation series with 2-10min long episodes. Authors “will be consulted and receive royalties.”

2. Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026- that’s a mouthful; but this Asian extension to the Eurovision ‘IP’ was announced last week. Broadcasters from 10 countries across Asia are confirmed with more expected in coming months.

3. Disney announced the launch of ESPN on Disney+ in Europe and select Asia-Pacific markets. This is great (my positive predisposition to ESPN is built on years working with the brand), but as always with sports- we must wait to gauge the regional relevance of the content mix.

4. Wikipedia has banned the use of LLMs. This comes after a period of intense debate between the editors. While it is neither definitive nor irrevocable, it “does show the Wikipedia community is less optimistic about the benefit of AI-generated content, and taking a stand against it.“

5. “Young 40s.” This is amusing. And random, as ‘trends’ often seem to be in this decade. In South Korea, Gen Z has apparently decided to mock millennials for their style. The term has been around as a marketing description for youthful older consumers, but now it is used to deride those in their forties for “shoehorning their way into styles associated with Gen Z and younger millennials.”

Luckily, there is always genuine craft to offset. This week, I orchestrate cartoon gorgeousness and cartoon slop in the same dispatch, courtesy an anonymous Tiktoker and the band Gorillaz. At the other end, we have Sora’s (un)timely demise.

If it sounds all morose, it is far from! Some delightful visual feasts await, not featuring fruit. So put on your bibs, and let’s tuck in.

The Colour Bar- the friend in the industry who reads way too widely- so you don’t have to.

1. Fruity Romance: Love fruit? Think again.

2. ▶️ Curated/Cuts: Gorillaz in India, IPL, Young Sherlock

3. Social Media: a real reckoning?

4. Stop Play: Sora’s demise.

5. ➕ · X Files reboot · Supermodel Me · SNL UK · Nike x Beats ·Tiktok Radio ·

☝🏽Busy? Lazy? Multitasky? Click play above and let me read this to you.

1. A Fruity Romance Goes Sour

Love Island is a reality show. You might have seen it. You are very likely to have heard of it.

‘Fruit Love Island’ is a ripoff Tiktok reality show that follows the same idea and tropes. Except the entire cast is… animated fruit.
Yup. Anthropomorphic fruits flirting, gossiping, scheming, kissing, punching. It became a ‘viral sensation’ as we like to call these things, on Tiktok.

Oh, and it’s all AI generated.
Or did you just assume that already?

So an anonymous Tikokter (of course) started posting these some weeks back, and they exploded. Millions of views for each ‘episode’, skyrocketing follower count, fans who enjoyed it, others who found it weird, Love Island cast members weighing in. Perfect storm.

This is the first episode, and honestly, I had to stop myself from screaming out loud. (No, not out of excitement.)

So far, so par for course in 2020s viral entertainment?

But then, the ‘AI backlash’ started to gain momentum. In the time from when I spotted this a week or so ago, to when I am writing it, much happened. There has been a raucous categorisation of this as ‘AI slop’, calling the content an “ethical blackhole,” and enough complaints to result in episode takedowns and a sudden plummeting of view counts.

Cue hurt and cuss words from the ‘creator’ who didn’t understand why the internet that loved them so, had suddenly turned on their datacenter-powered entertainment. Their meltdown and ‘crashout’ saw celebration and mocking, with gleeful claims that “bullying works!”, while other fans- presumably left with a gaping void in their feast of content- clamoured the ‘show’ should continue.

A nutshell- if ever you wanted one- of our ragey, fickle, virality-obsessed, AI-fuelled entertainment landscape right now.

So long, fruits!
Now, where are my veggies?

Addendum: These were not the first talking fruit, and other ‘inspired’ content has already popped up- Too Fruity To Handle, I’m a Fruit…Get Me Out of Here! and Candy Love Island). The trend seems to have started with a single customised version of ChatGPT- Object Talk. Read about it and these bright, weird, fruit cartoons and absurd videos around pregnant broccoli, homophobic clementines and baby carrots pleading for their lives…. here.

2. Curated/Cuts

· Mowgli x Gorillaz ·

Virtual band Gorillaz are known for their animated shorts released with albums. This 8min short film accompanying their new album The Mountain is a wonderful, whimsical jaunt.

The lush 2D animation is awash with hand-drawn, painted elements. It takes us gently, weirdly, captivatingly from forest to river to village to cave to mountain; with animals, flowers, trees, holy men, snake oil salesmen and rapping heads.

Crafted by The Line, it took around 18 months to make, and is an unabashed homage to the styles of the 60s & 70s, “a love letter to the golden era of 2D animation”.

Very charmingly doffing their hats to The Jungle Book, yes- but here is a concerted effort to be human- like the decision to not execute any visuals that weren’t possible in that era.

“In a time of AI overload, this is our love letter to craftsmanship. We’re chasing the feel of pencil on paper. Paint on board. And all the imperfections that come with it.”- Co-director Max Taylor

Besides the craft, I come away with how captivating the film is, without a single spoken word. Eric Calderon has aptly said “in a world of spoon-fed narratives with second-screen repetition requiring obviousness to the point of utter boredom, thank goodness we get something thought-provoking, strange, open-ended.”

· Young Sherlock ·

Amazon Prime Video recently launched the new show, ‘Young Sherlock’. I am not particularly drawn to- yet another- take on the Sherlock world, sorry I mean ‘Sherlock Holmes IP’ (I am a fan of the good ol’ show with Jeremy Brent).

But the show titles are a sublime watch, with great ideas around clues and signs, and some brilliant transitions. They are crafted by the consistently wonderful Imaginary Forces.

· creative director ronnie koff · designer elizabeth steinberg · EP renée robson ·

· United We Watch ·

The IPL has kicked off in India- that two month long circus festival of cricket. It invariably brings with it some ambitious, enjoyable campaigns. This time JioStar/ Star Sports has tried to create a rallying call for the country to come together- ‘Ab Ek Hoke Dekh’. The two spots below introduce the idea a bit differently.

The first takes a more cinematic, big-picture filter on societal differences. There’s Raghubir Yadav stringing things together, which is always a +1 in my books! The overall craft, the texture and especially the music and lyrics are quite lovely.

The jarring note? The first 30sec or so set up differences/division. If you don’t already know this is a cricket spot (I didn’t, when I watched it the first time), a storyline that feels serious, important, even visceral… is then revealed as ‘just’ IPL. That leaves me a bit uncomfortable, before I let myself be carried away by the music. I understand the ‘clever’ narrative and the juxtaposition, but am not sure I enjoyed that casual belittling of real tensions.

Nonetheless, an enjoyable watch, and nicely crafted.

The second spot is more straight up- taking the unifying message, but using cricketers rapping to make it…. erm, ‘fun for the young audience’?

Director: Nikhil Rao · Music: Dipanjan Guha · Jamic films · ZeroFifty Mediaworks ·

3. Social Reckoning

“The Era Of Invincibility Is Over.”
“The Week Big Tech Was Brought To Heel.”
“Big Tech’s Tobacco Moment.”

Meta & Youtube have just lost a significant case in the US, being found guilty of deliberately designing addictive products and held liable for harmful mental health effects (Snapchat and TikTok quickly settled before trial). The jury also found them guilty of acting with malice, oppression & fraud.

The $ fines are barely pocket change, but the implications are larger. The products themselves (not only the content) are judged to be harmful. This opens the door for a potentially stormy couple of years ahead, and not just in the US.

It is being called Big Tech’s ‘tobacco moment’, and “the week big tech was brought to heel”. A potential turning point, forcing structural product changes which could change the businesses quite significantly.

A report here, a legal overview here, a quick look at India-relevance here, and ‘The era of invincibility is over’.

You could also look at this very good Insta carousel from a lawyer/mom Daphne Delvaux for a quick, sharp overview, or just to enjoy lines like “The jury said, get out of here you billionaire asparagus.”!

4. Stop Play

We have heard about how Sora had become a flop after a buzzy launch last year. It was burning $1m a day, and had no real revenue model to speak of.

Now, OpenAI has decided to shutter the service entirely. This also means Disney’s $1b investment and licensing deal is gone before it effectively took off (apparently the House of Mouse found out an hour before the public heard of it, in a WSJ report). Surprising (not!) how this news has not got the same gushing attention given to the deal announcement last year, which was variously seen as landmark, a game-changer,, and incredibly forward-thinking.

There is this on 404, which (a tad gleefully) talks about the “complete and utter failure of both Sora and Disney’s dalliance with AI garbage.” The piece also checks in on some of the other touted AI film projects that were signalling the demise of Hollywood, only to find many have quietly faded away. Acknowledging that AI Is sure to become part of the production process, Jason Koebler asserts that “the wild hype of AI slop as a direct threat to human storytelling and AI tools as a replacement for talented humans in Hollywood has not come to pass and it’s not clear if it ever will.”

Taking Sora’s end as the end of what it represented would be naive. The use- both meaningless and devious- of such AI Slop will continue to be something we have to grapple with (see the Fruit Island story above.) Jim Louderback points out, “Sora 2’s death won’t kill the creepy vision. Deepfakes, democratized creation and our obsession with starring in our own stories won’t die with Sora 2. Dozens of tools already fan those flames and many more are coming.”
Word.
(Also, seeing ‘democratised’ used in a not-sweepingly positive way is… good.)

Still on OpenAI, they have also shuttered (paused) the much-maligned ‘adult mode’, i.e. erotic ChatGPT. I suppose that doesn’t detract from Sam Altman’s stated declaration that OpenAI is “not the elected moral police of the world.”
In case we had any misconceptions there.

➕ Quick Hits

1. The Truth is Out There. X Files fans! Hulu is officially rebooting the cult series, with Ryan Coogler (Sinners, Black Panther) writing & directing the pilot. No reprise of Scully or Mulder (not yet!); but Himesh Patel & Danielle Deadwyler will star as new characters, “two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents form an unlikely bond when they are assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena.”

2. The long-running Asian reality series Supermodel Me is making a comeback, this time as a vertical show, by Refinery Media in collaboration with China’s COL Group, the show will run as a microdrama microseries on COL’s platform FlareFlow.

3. SNL UK has finally kicked off in ol’ Blighty. Reactions are inevitably mixed, but largely positive. “Making British TV exciting again”, “pleasantly surprised”, bravery to be commended”, or the very British-sounding “didn’t fail and it could have been a lot worse.”
   You can check out some of the skits on Youtube.

4. TikTok Radio has launched in the US in partnership with iHeartMedia. “This station is built to feel like a living, breathing For You Feed­, a place where creators, music fans and our on-air talent collide in real time to shape what’s next in culture.”

5. Beats x Nike have released earbuds. This sort of co-branded product is a first for Beats, but hey, it is “a collision of two brands that define performance, culture, and sports.”

   

Waddle on!

The Colour Bar today is a collage of brands, creativity, expression, and…me.

1. A colony of Penguins: The venerable book logo gets a family.

2. ▶️ Curated/Cuts: Lots of eye candy this week! Coinbase’s brilliant escape from a video game ; Canal+ blends F1 & Mario Kart ; GAP continues its affair with dance ; M&S hires a different kind of ‘CCO’.

3. About writing: Is writing with AI just a question of utility vs expression?

4. This Week That Year: The Colour TV.

5. ➕ FIFA x Youtube · The polarising Twitter algo · A Book You Shouldn’t Steal ·

☝🏽Busy? Lazy? Multitasky? Click play above and let me read this to you.

1. A colony of Penguins

You know this penguin. Whether you read a lot, or not a lot, you are likely to recognise the long-standing Penguin Books logo (we are told he might be called ‘Alan’ in those hallowed halls.)

In 1935, founder Allen Lane had apparently decided for some reason that his new publishing house would be named after an animal. Company legend has it that his secretary suggested ‘Penguin’ as a “dignified, but flippant” name for the new company.

Now that the company is a nonagenarian, it has decided this is the decade where old Alan can be given some life (and company).

Happily for us, they teamed up with illustrator Matt Blease- and we are treated to some delightful new avian friends.

Now please, good people! It is important to note- these are not versions of Alan. Indeed, the brand required that they be distinct from the venerable ‘master’ penguin. Blease likens these to an extended family of sorts, that might well be “guests at Alan’s wedding.”

All images from Penguin Random House. Illustration: Matt Blease
Creative Direction & Design: Derek Man, Jodie Wightman
Head of Brand: Zainab Juma

Grace Snelling fleshes out the penguin’s journey a bit more here on Fast Company.

Fun fact: The collective noun for penguins depends on their activity: a ‘waddle’ is used for them walking on land, while a ‘raft’ refers to them swimming in water. You may then use a ‘colony’ or ‘rookery’ for large breeding groups, and a ‘huddle’ for keeping warm. A group of penguin chicks is called a crèche.

You’re welcome.

2. Curated/Cuts

· Your Way Out ·

Get out! Get out of there, Truman! Or I could say ‘Run Forrest Run’ - not sure which film metaphor suits this better.

Ladies & gents, please- step into this game world. You might feel like you’re in the 2000s, but in a good way.
This here protagonist is bumbling his way through yet another day in anonymous-game-land. Then, something snaps him out of this jail-like life, and prompts him to go… the other way. His way.

Coinbase (now hold on, whatever your cryptocurrency leanings might be)... Coinbase launched this spot during the Oscars.

Titled ‘Your Way Out’, it is a fine take on the product *and* the message.

We are all trapped in a financial system! It is old! It controls us! It renders us bland, anonymised, nobodys! NPCs (non playing characters, yo).
Here’s the liberating financial solution- Coinbase!

(That’s the pitch anyway)

But the best part? This whole video game feel is done in-camera. Not CGI.

Real people, real sets, real costumes and real weird walking steps

There is a longer version with more pixelated goodness, and one where the narrative flows quite wonderfully. Watch here!

And here is the BTS this really needs, though I am hungry for more- especially for the set and props!

Director Oscar Hudson · Agency Isle of Any ·

· F1 x Mario ·

Canal+ goes all in with the Mario Kart feels in this spot for the Japanese GP coming up this weekend. I enjoy the take, appreciate the commitment to really go all-in, and wonder how much the creative had to convince the suit to actually go for it. (Also, I wonder if ‘true’ F1 fans are amused or put off or couldn’t care less.

· Wassup ·

Wassup? Beats and Breaks, is what.

All American apparel brand Gap returns with some music & dance love, this time featuring Puerto Rican rapper Young Miko.

They’ve been consistent with this strategy of bringing together popular music and choreography to sync with a line. This round is all about sweats- hey, they can be not just cool, but ”a bold expression of confidence and authenticity” too. All set to Young Miko’s track ‘Wassup’.

The shapeshifting dancers are pretty arresting, and I’ve seen reactions like ”hypnotic’, “mesmerising’. Have a look and decide if the buzz is worth it.

Director Bethany Vargas · Choreographer Zoi Tatopoulos ·

Here are the previous iterations with Troy Sivan and Katseye.

· Love That! ·

It might be a bit on the nose, but there’s something appealing about Marks & Spencer’s outing with their new CCO aka ‘Chief Compliments Officer’ Gillian Andersen. It could be the honest, charming reactions, or maybe it’s just Scully’s polish.

It comes with the Spring collection and a little page where you can replicate her look, if you so wish, or anyone else’s from the spot.

3. Writing about writing

Writing for marketing, vs writing for narrative. Or literary prose. Or just, for expression.

I have been in and around many discussions on the use of generative AI for writing recently. Clearly, I have skin in the game. Yet, I can still state, somewhat dispassionately, what notice in these conversations. Often (mostly), they don’t seem to differentiate between the two kinds of writing efforts I describe above.

Those engaged in functional, utilitarian writing- say, for sales or corporate or legal copy- are likely to find genAI useful more easily, and embrace it more readily.

Most of the resistance, on the other hand, comes from those who write for expression, storytelling and- dare I say it- pleasure.

By no means do I mean to belittle the first set, much of that is central to many industries, and many fine creative folk are involved in them (yours truly not excluded). I do feel that this first category (and the people who are in that line of work) are already showing a certain comfort in slipping to the median in favour of speed or ‘efficiency’.

What couldn’t be done, what had to be outsourced, or was tedious to do, can now be banged out with an LLM. It’ll be ‘good enough’.

On the other hand, there are those who write to flesh out their thoughts, craft a narrative, tell a tale, make a unique point, say something fresh (or say something freshly). Many of them might even overlap with the first bunch, believing (as do I) that text that’s written, not generated, has a fundamentally better chance of being effective / achieving the objectives it is intended for.

Now this group? It is less likely to see the value in handing over the pen to a predictive machine, and clutch their own pen more passionately.

But these are merely my musings. What about your world? In marketing, B2B, advertising, promo work, content management, branded entertainment; is what you are seeing different, or does this sound all too familiar?

4. This Week That Year

This is The Colour Bar, so I feel compelled to briefly note something about the Colour Television this week. Here you go.

➕ Quick Hits

1. In a pretty significant deal, YouTube and FIFA have teamed up for the upcoming World Cup, making content available to creators, unlocking the FIFA archives, and opening up Youtube for broadcasters as well.

2. X fla Twitter ‘revealed’ their algorithm some time back. Nelson Fraser, columnist for The Times UK, analyses it and argues X is an engagement-driven engine that polarises users by heavily favouring outrage and argument.

3. Don’t Steal This Book is the title of a symbolic book released by authors in the UK, as a protest. The list of nearly 10,000 authors include Kazuo Ishiguro, Philippa Gregory, Mark Herron and Richard Osman. This was another call for the UK government to not choose the so-called ‘preferred path’ of letting AI firms use copyright-protected work without the owner’s permission– unless they have actively opted out. Composer Ed Newton Rex brought it together.
   Subsequently, there was a “u-turn” of sorts from the government, agreeing to open up to all other options. Not a win by any stretch, yet.

If you enjoy reading The Colour Bar, maybe get me a coffee ☕ and help fuel the next one?
And do support by sharing pieces you like, or forwarding to others who might enjoy it.

Then, there’s a new docu on the end of the world (maybe), a handy AI roundup, Meta India rapping in Tamil and more.
This is The Colour Bar- a collision of brands, creativity and media.

1. Open Up!: Chupa Chups, and liking blunders

2. AI Watch: · a new docu · Sora’s flop · Bollywood FaceSwap ·

3. ▶️ Curated/Cuts: Aston Martin powered by AI · Meta Raps in Tamil ·

4. AI watch: Sora’s flop, Sony’s AI spy, Eros swaps faces, Linkedin’s promise.

5. ➕ another Netflix music thing · studios for creators · Indonesia’s Tiktok blow ·

☝🏽Busy? Lazy? Multitasky? Click play above and let me read this to you!

1. Open Up!

aka Chupa Chups are annoying.

If you are young enough, or have young kids, or have had young kids, you will know well the weird, inexplicable, head-shaking infuriation of…

… opening lollipop wrappers.

In particular, Chupa Chups. Seriously popular, seriously annoying. The kind that make you go “humans have reached the moon but can’t make a lollipop wrapper that peels off easy?”

But wait. A step back.

There is a psychological phenomenon where highly competent people become more likeable after committing a minor blunder. This ‘Pratfall effect’ was coined by American psychologist Elliot Aronson in the 1960s. The idea is that perfection can be intimidating, suppress warmth. But minor imperfections can humanise excellence, restore warmth without destroying status.

“Competence makes people appear worthy of respect, and making a mistake makes them relatable.” ^

Brands have leveraged this as an approach- to humanise, be more relatable or just add some self-deprecating humour and endear themselves to consumers.

So. I don’t know if it’s a stretch, but you could say Chupa Chups heard all the whining about their wrappers, and asked someone to hold their beer. Then… it made wrappers that are not difficult, but IMPOSSIBLE to open.

This most unopenable lollipop ever is a ‘limited-edition product’, available to influencers (of course), who will validate this over-engineered piece of candy clothing.

But surely that’s not all?

Yes- Chupa Chups has, actually, made wrappers that are easier to open. Finally! Hallelujah! Except they have, in this stunt, wrapped those in ridiculous weapons-grade covering. But that’s all this is, a stunt. Which means we can all hope to find slightly less annoying lollipops in the market soon.

“This is one of those stupidly brilliant ideas, where doing the complete opposite to what you should do is the obvious answer,” _Felipe Serradourada Guimaraães, ECD at BBH.

The Pratfall effect has a good history of brand usage, so I couldn’t resist giving a quick look at some others.

Domino’s famously showed radical transparency when it publicly acknowledged customer complaints that their pizza tasted “like cardboard”, and promptly relaunched the recipe.
Guinness cleverly made the slow pour into a virtue. It might take a while to pour a pint, but hey, “good things come to those who wait.”
Duolingo of course, embraces it’s own annoying owl, believing they can convert well-known irritation into shared humour.
Ikea has leaned into the jokes about its self-assembled pieces.

Way back, Listerine’s original mouthwash (medicinally unpleasant, to put it mildly) accepted its fault and simply sold on the idea that “anything that tastes that bad has got to work.”

Anyway, let’s all patiently wait for our neighbourhood mini mart to get that great invention of humankind: a lollipop that can be unwrapped easily.

2. AI Watch

First off, a documentary that seems all too timely.
Here we have the utility-meets-cheeky title ‘The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist’.

From what I can tell, it looks to address the difficult balance many are trying to find between robots ending our world, or at least LLMs crushing our cognition, with the hype around AI and how our lives are going to be enriched in ways we can’t comprehend.

“Collapse of humanity,” “abrupt experimentation,” “is now a good time to have a kid?” “there’s so much potential… for things to go wrong”, “the most extraordinary time ever.”
With bites like these and interviews with leaders from OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepMind and more, there’s likely something for everyone here. Though hopefully, the result is not a vanilla soup of ‘everyone has a valid POV’.
Somehow, I don’t think so.

It does come from some serious pedigree- the Oscar-winning filmmakers behind Navalny and Everything Everywhere All At Once produce-direct a film with the log line:
“A father-to-be tries to figure out what is happening with all this AI insanity. The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist is a hand-made, eye-opening documentary about the most powerful technology humanity has ever created... and what’s at stake if we get it wrong.”

They thoughtfully have the definition of apocaloptimist readily available too. This is helpful, considering its a made up term.

a·poc·a·lop·ti·mist(noun) : a person who believes that even though we are currently racing towards the worst possible outcome, there’s still a chance we can get our sh*t together.

It also comes with two entirely different looking posters, if that sort of thing pleases you.
In theatres soon, which means most of the world that does watch, will watch it on Netflix.

More AI nuggets.

1. Recently, I touched briefly on how Sora2’s user-focussed app was becoming a bit of a damp squib. Patrick Wilkens breaks down how it has been an utter flop- $15 million a day in costs, $367K a month in revenue. His post also has this nugget, which is absolutely spot-on, “AI video generation is not a consumer social product. It’s a B2B production tool.“ (service, I say)

2. Google has acquired Producer AI, a generative AI music platform that will join Google Labs. Using-amongst others- Google’s Lyria3 model to generate music, it will continue Google Labs’ focus on “enhancing human artistry, enabling exploration and expression.” Or as James Pero over at Gizmodo says, to enable us all to “lob prompts at the chatbot like, “make a lofi beat,” and watch as it snatches the joy of creation straight from your misguided hands.”

3. Still on music: Sony has made an AI music detection tool. It can identify the underlying tunes used in tracks generated by AI, paving a potential path for writers, composers to claim compensation. It’s unclear how (or why) AI services would integrate this, seeing as they are (largely) built on legally questioned modes of training and data.

4. Linkedin is promising to keep our comments sections authentic. With the deluge of bots and LLM generated comments, this is a very welcome promise.
   Lets hope its effective.

5. The Eros Universe has been launched, as the Indian production, distribution, technology company looks to provide a “rights-led creator economy platform”. Eros has a huge film library (~12000 titles) and with ‘clearance’ for gen-AI use, this could provide a lot of scope for creators. What exactly they can/will do with it, remains to be seen. The company itself shared this, erm, Face Swap feature, as a teaser of what a game changing ‘AI powered cultural ecosystem” could look like.

3. Curated/Cuts

· No Roads

Amidst all the generative AI grandstanding from fly by night users, its always refreshing to look at how elements of the technology are actually being integrated into production workflows. I have written before about Marey by Moonvalley / Asteria, the model being built by/for filmmakers and VFX artists, founded on cleanly sourced data.

Paul Trillo and the Asteria team worked with the Aston Martin FI team for this spot at the end of the last season, where the brief apparently was, “to go places where there are no roads.” It’s a cool spot, but arguably the workings are more fascinating - bringing together miniatures, 3D modeling, VFX and generative rendering.

The breakdown is here ; they could control every single frame on the timeline married to the AI workflow. No ‘prompt and hope’ stuff here.

You might recall- I had shared ‘Cuco’ sometime last year. Also by Trillo, that piece used generative AI to give life to hand drawn artwork, bringing together artist and musician.

As Trillo says, “where is the fun in prompting your way through this?”

· Believers Succeed: Meta India

Meta for Business has this short to targeted at small businesses. Hyper local, made in Tamil, and tapping into many nuggets that will appeal directly to the target audience. No translations, dubbing or ‘vubbing’. Nice storytelling, and hey- star power helps!

They say it was “built to celebrate every SMB owner who chose belief over doubt’, because Nambuvar Vellvaar (Believers Succeed) 🤞.

➕Quick Hits

1. Youtube is TV. But this has also meant that creators are now studios- at least the successful ones who have made sustainable businesses of it. Here is another step in bringing the TV world and Youtube world together, in the US the Whalar Group has launched Lighthouse Studios to “build a TV-like schedule of creator content.”

2. Indonesia’s social media ban for Under-16s begins on March 28th, making it the “first non-Western country” to do so. Jim Louderback is calling it ‘the ban that breaks Tiktok’, because it is TikTok’s No.1 global market (also Facebook’s second biggest after India, and is in the the Top 5 for YouTube & Instagram). Crucially he says, TikTok Shop generated $13.1 billion in Indonesia in 2025. I knew Indo was a big market, but that’s one whopper of a number.

3. More music to Netflix: the streamer will air Harry Styles: One Night in Manchester, the day after he performs his new album to a sold-out crowd.

The Colour Bar has plenty else lined up too, because it’s like a friend in the industry who reads widely- so you don’t have to.

1. Samuel’s Story: a 10 year old, sketches, and virality.

2. Not Premflix!: Thoughts on EPL’s foray into streaming

3. ▶️ Curated/Cuts: Volcanic vodka & an excessive car

4. Oh Sh*t: Enshittification, personified.

5. ➕ The Joker as your CD · Netflix’s boxing affair · Sarandos on walking away from WarnerBros.

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1. Samuel’s Story

Samuel is an animated series about a 10 year old boy and his monologues about growing up. It spans 21 episodes, about 4min each.

It looks charming, as I watch the Netflix trailer. But the interesting bit is how it got here. This is not a Netflix original.

Back in 2020, not long after graduating from animation school in France, and while working at a studio, Émilie Tronche started uploading sketches and shorts to Instagram and Facebook. These were personal experiments in storytelling, on the side.

The first came with the simple note, “I present to you a short film I made over a week and a few days, it’s called ‘Samuel’.”
Three more followed. Made in the matter of days, they bore a creative approach looking for something “as real as possible, as true as possible.”

A studio producer spotted these, reached out. Shall we develop a series?

“I thought it was always going to be something that I was doing on the side. I thought producers couldn’t be interested in it because it was too simple.”

‘Samuel’ was officially presented and picked up at the Cartoon Forum in September 2021. French, Spanish and Catalan streamers came on board for the co-production soon after.

A deliberate two-platform strategy was devised. The 21 ‘main’ episodes, in 16:9, were for streaming/TV. Accompanying them were 20 one-minute clips- specifically created for Tiktok.

These were companions, not cutdowns. And social media loved them.

Millions of views later, Tronche had a bona fide mainstream hit in 2024, both on streaming platforms and social. By all accounts, Samuel’s coming of age had touched young and not so young, alike.

But that wasn’t all. A book followed in 2025, Le Journal de Samuel. A second season was commissioned.
Then, Netflix picked it up for the US + select territories. It launched a few weeks ago.

What’s not to like- this here is a strong story about a young, expressive creative, and a sharp content strategy. Inspiring for indie animators.
Originality, a genuine story, effort, luck and smarts.

“Samuel was born from my own memories of childhood and adolescence in France, from something very intimate and personal.”

One thing.
Some of the commentary around it reframes the story primarily through a social media prism. Making this a ‘creator economy first’ narrative. From what I have read, this series did not happen through a purely social-first funnel. Tiktok virality did not trigger the production deal. The production strategy intentionally created Samuel for the TV screen and for Tikotk, from the outset.

Netflix? It had the easier decision- there was both social and streaming success to encourage its acquisition.

I’m all here for a great indie creative story, which this surely is. Less keen to have the narrative usurped.

Kudos to the first producer who spotted it- Damien Megherbi of Les Valseurs; the streamers/broadcasters- Arte, RTVE and TV3 CAT3- many broadcasters/legacy media want to do multi-platform approaches, but not all succeed, it is a hard one to crack.
But most of all kudos to Samuel’s creator- Émilie Tronche.

The only problem? It’s not available in my region. Bah! Come on Netflix- few cents top-up for worldwide rights?

“The first thing that I wanted to do was something for me and also for my family.
I wanted my parents and my sisters to like it.”

Did you come across the little brouhaha around the Wuthering Heights movie and Margot Robbie wearing Liz Taylor’s Mughal diamond to the premiere?

I write an eclectic and curious newsletter called Coffee & Conversations- over there I dove into a story of four women, four centuries, one trinket. Have a read.

coffee & conversations

Diamonds & Dust

Hearing a stray comment, being oblivious to Hollywood history, clued out from recent outrage. These came together to push me into a swirl of eras, cultures and aesthetics. I found myself with stories within stories, on paths in history, some important, some stray; straddling stature and frivolity, glamour and grace, meaning and imagination…

Read more

6 months ago · 4 likes · 1 comment · Abhishek Rao (Shakey)

2. Not Premflix!

Premier League Plus. First off, can we all agree that the Premier League have done everyone a huge favour by not naming their new upcoming streaming service Premflix, a term used liberally over the months to refer to its bubbling streaming efforts.

Yes?
Ok, great. Lets move on.

“At a basic level, it just makes sense.”
For years now, many of us have had the conversation about how sports bodies can go direct to fans. These chats start animatedly, drifting into rights cycles, ARPU, bundles, churn… and end with someone saying, “this makes so much sense for them,” and others sagely nodding over their mugs of various liquids.

Then someone else says, “BUT-!”

Now, it’s actually happening. The Premier League is launching a DTC service in Singapore. ‘Premier League Plus’ has its first market. A test market, we are told.

The logic has always seemed intuitive, straightforward. For the sport. For fans. Especially in markets where bundles have felt progressively heavier. Owning the relationship “just makes sense”.

But the counterpoint has always been ready too.

Broadcasters have written big, guaranteed cheques. Rights growth might be plateauing in some markets, (in fact, overall broadcast revenue was reportedly up 27% in the latest cycle)- but the revenue is predictable.

DTC brings volatility. Lower revenue at the start. Puts plenty of onus back to the league.

Fan expectation will likely be disproportionately high relative to the commercials. They’ll expect it to cost less- otherwise, what’s the point? And they’ll want flexibility- sachet pricing, team passes, game-by-game options. Not another full-season, upfront commitment.
Plus, any disappointment will be targeted to the league, not some evil telco or old TV channel.

As the EPL CEO rightly notes, they are “going to have to deal with promotion, pricing, churn, distribution, all of those things, we’re looking to build a business.”

So it’s easy to say “ah, inevitable.” Much harder to execute without some significant ripples in the ecosystem. Even with this ‘test’ mode, many firmly believe this will “cause shockwaves throughout the game as the world’s biggest domestic football league moves to directly control its revenues without the need for a broadcast partner.”

This is also being done in partnership with the current rights holder in Singapore, local telco/broadcaster StarHub. The intricacies around that deal are, erm, an interesting parallel track to consider.

Either way, this is another reason for many of us on the sidelines to grab some popcorn later this year.

3. Curated/Cuts

· Absolut x Tabasco ·

An unlikely collab. Or maybe not?
I have seen some “ewww” reactions at Tabasco-flavoured vodka. But hello- Bloody Marys, anyone?

The spot itself is suitably off-kilter.
Filmed on the volcanic fields south of Reykjavík, Iceland:
- Lava
- Volcano
- Hazmat suits
- Lou Reed’s ‘Walk On The Wild Side’
- The inevitable yet welcome Absolut bottle made of lava flow.

So what do you reckon- Happy Hour or stay sober?

· Brand Filip Kiisk · Agency Freddy Taylor · Hermeti Balarin ·
· Directed by Leigh Powis · ProdCo ·

· Everything is Essential ·

Here are “3 excessive films for one excessive car.” From Uncommon Creative Studio, these are for the UK launch of Chinese hybrid car-maker Omoda’s latest.

To cover the Omoda 7’s 745-mile hybrid range in one tank + charge, serious interior noise reduction and in-car fragrance (erm, yeah), they chose to go all sensory. Everything has been done in camera. Everything real. I mean, there's water, snow, wind, flowers, and cats. Lots of cats.

252 claws.14 cat handlers. 279 takes. 3 flower varieties. 82,000 petals. 20,786 leaves. 12 fans, 6 canons.

Ok then! 3x clips here back to back.

Director Bleu Desert ·
Editor Antonin Brones · Soundtree Music / Neil Athale · Uncommon: Laura Hutchison · Duncan Clark · Omoda: Matthew Upton · Eric Knight · Yuwei Xue ·

Fun BTS here!

4. Oh, sh*t.

It is pretty incredible how Cory Doctorow’s made up term ‘enshittification’ has become such an integral part of discourse on tech products and services, and digital life in general.

This amusing short video goes ahead and gives it a persona.
Most of us will connect with some part of it; many will find much of it hitting home.

It comes from the Norwegian Consumer Council- accompanying a report they just launched. Breaking Free: Pathways to a fair technological future attempts to show how this phenomenon affects both consumers and society at large, delving into enshittification and how to resist it.

A better digital world, the report says, “requires rebalancing the power between consumers, big tech companies and alternative service providers.”

Doctorow’s original essay that brought the word into the ether was about Amazon, back in 2022- you can read it here. He then wrote a book with the same title, and the world has embraced the word.

Back in 2024 he said, “The most gratifying part of the public attention for my dirty, silly little word is that it is attached to a deadly serious, complex, nuanced critique of platform capitalism, monopoly, the tech labor market, and regulatory capture.”

➕ Quick Hits

1. So the Warner-Paramount-Netflix saga seems to have come to a conclusion. For now. Lucas Shaw has an excellent rapid fire Q&A with Ted Sarandos, worth a quick read. He also wrote up the whole saga.

2. Netflix likes boxing. They just announced a ‘rematch’ of legends, but its a big one- Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao coming up in September. Ta-dum!

3. The Joker as your Creative Director, Batman is the client. This is The Dark Knight for Marketers. Amusing.

If you enjoy reading The Colour Bar, maybe get me a coffee ☕ and help fuel the next one?

Its boring.

Every couple of months, a new 30sec video is meant to wow us. Then, more clips from AI Filmmakers are used to signal a creative apocalypse or creative utopia (choose your lane). I am not belittling the progress being made, (and definitely not including here the very valid ethical and copyright concerns which we *should* harp on as much as needed)…

…but really, I am now having to consciously tell platforms to stop serving me so much of the same breathless, hyperbolic, shallow commentary.

Ok, rant over.

But yes- this week has plenty of AI-related stuff bouncing around, like a ball chipping bricks in Arkanoid.

1. Same same: what happens when prompts give the same output?

2. ▶️ Curated/Cuts: Claude gets cheeky, OpenAi wants to be meaningful.

3. What to watch?: Jiostar & OpenAI’s promise to make discoverability natural.

4. Buying Belief: AI services, influencer marketing & writing

5. First Person Goodness: the drone legacy of Milano Cortina

6. ➕ OpenAI sued in Korea, Indian originals dip, the importance of news.

☝🏽Busy? Lazy? Multitasky? Click play above and let me read this to you, or here on Youtube.

1. Same same but how different?

With all the talk about how generative AI can dramatically open up creative vistas, comes the very real counterpoint- they can just as easily narrow creative possibilities. Across the creative and brand ecosystem, there are growing conversations whether creative standards, ambition and quality are moving in step with the pace of generative technology, or merely settling for it.

Somewhere Down Under, Springboards.ai is building “generative AI tools around a creative workflow to keep humans in the creative equation.”

In a recent project, they ran a creative experiment of sorts. It involved taking ‘inspiration’ from an existing ad to create a new one, asking “what happens when everyone feeds the same prompts into an LLM and ends up with the same ideas?”.

You might recall the ChatGPT spot from OpenAI late last year, one of a few that looked to plonked the LLM right into our normal lives. Here it is:

And now here’s the Springboards ‘rip-off’:

Ah, now you see what they were doing, yes?

With a view to “showing how quickly these models can generate work that appears finished, but frequently crosses copyright lines and collapses into familiar patterns,” the group were led to three conclusions:

• In the process of ‘creating’, it becomes tempting to stop exercising creative judgement altogether.

• Research suggests LLM are starting to sound the same.

• “Judgement gets blindsided”- easily replicated high production values can lead to originality and nuance being lost.

They’ve unpacked their thinking here.

While keeping in mind this comes from a company itself building generative tools, it’s a useful reminder- adoption without judgement is just acceleration. We really don’t want the creative cost (and creative loss) showing up later.

2. Curated/Cuts

Claude Picks a Fight

Another AI campaign that resists grandiosity, opting instead for mischief.

Anthropic’s Claude aired three spots around the Super Bowl circus. They chose to not talk about inspiration, intelligence or the future of humanity; instead, they homed in on a looming pain point from rival ChatGPT, making it their own virtue:

Ads.

The premise is simple enough. The spots are setI in therapy, while working out, at a casual founder pitch. These are focused, critical, even vulnerable moments.

And then an ad barges in?
Interrupt the wrong moment and you do not just annoy- you intrude, you betray.

"Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude." This is bold. And clear.

Comparative advertising is a gamble. It can look insecure, or amplify the rival. But this calculated swing was enjoyable. It’s shorn of gloss, it’s funny, and it’s a pointed observation- do you want something so close to your life becoming ad-supported?

(It does assume the audience is paying attention to the industry. Many mainstream viewers will not know about ChatGPT’s product roadmaps, and ads are so intrinsic to our daily digital lives anyway. But the tech-leaning crowd will know, and they can be the tastemakers.)

As we saw in the recent AI Summit in India- where Altman and Dario couldn’t bring themselves to grasp hands on stage- the gloves are not fully on.

Claude is saying it’s the AI tool for our most personal, meaningful, even intimate moments. Let’s chuckle at the creative, but also pause to ponder that claim.

This continues, too, the wider theme in AI brand building- be human, warm, relatable, companionable.
All while selling industrial-scale infrastructure.

for Claude: Susan Payne · Director: Jeff Lowe ·
Production: Biscuit Filmworks · Ruper Reynolds Mclean · Music Sup: Sean Hogan ·

Starting With…

Talking of trying to be warm.
In the very 21st century tradition of representing both sides, let’s have a look at ChatGPT’s recent spots. They continue the tone and feel of that campaign from last year- real, everyday, relatable. In showing us where it can take us, they hope to be seen again as an invaluable, even fundamental, part of life.

Overall, the creative choices work- stay simple, eschew hype, be rooted, and with fluid execution.

There are two spots from India too, timed for the T20 World Cup (where Google Gemini is a partner). The connections are more tenuous, the believability not quite there, so these work less well for me- even though the music choices are very cool.

3. All couched-up and nothing to watch.

Shows, shows everywhere and not a title to pick.

The universal problem of plenty that unites couch potatoes* across the world- how to find what you don’t yet know you want to watch (and not find what you will know you don’t want to watch)? Friends? Word of mouth? How 2000s of you.
Ideally we all should just implicitly and wholeheartedly trust our streamer’s recommendation engines (not). But a boy can hope for other solutions.

For streamers and viewers alike, discovery is the real battleground.

Enter India’s JioHotstar (formerly hotstar/ Disney+/ Jiocinema). A recent announcement comes accompanied by euphoric choir music because it talks of a magical solution- their partnership with OpenAI to allow viewers to use “conversational language” to find what they can watch.

Voice/text interface. Multiple languages. Express intent or mood conversationally. Context-aware recommendations.

Sounds compelling. I would love to give it a go.

It will interpret cultural nuance, situational context and layered prompts. Sample this very quirkily niche example- “We are twins and only watch movies about identical twins,” (not quite sure how that made it into the release). But basically- ask and you shall receive. The same approach will in time extend to sports- think highlights, scores, player moments, turning points. That’s very promising indeed.

Beyond in-app experience, the collaboration will also see integrations within ChatGPT. Users looking for entertainment recommendations will receive “contextual suggestions and relevant streaming links from JioHotstar’s catalogue.”
That sounds more placement, less discovery. Will ChatGPT always give me a JioHotstar recommendation, ahead of competing titles from other platforms?

I’d love to see user feedback when this has properly launched.

*we don’t really say ‘couch potatoes’ much now, do we? Not because we aren’t potatoes anymore, (I am, on good days); but because we don’t watch only on the couch anymore? so…watch potatoes? Scroll potatoes? Binge potatoes?

get me a coffee?

4. Buying belief: humans wanted?

Influencer marketing is just regular life. Having creators in the marketer’s arsenal is standard. What many of us may not grasp though, as we doomscroll through laughs, opinions and how-tos, is the shape and scale of these collaborations.

Recent reports shine a light on how Big Tech has been deploying this machinery for its AI products. Content and posts, but also junkets, events, early access.

The intent? Transform attention to adoption. Impress. Amuse. Trigger FOMO.

There’s been some arm-waving, particularly around the amount of money being thrown behind these efforts- “Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI are paying influencers up to $600,000 to promote AI.”
This is not inherently sinister, and needn’t be misread for anything more than what it is- smart, expected marketing. Amplification.

And yet.
The scale makes people pause. AI is not a new sneaker drop or headphone. These are ‘tools’ being positioned as cognitive infrastructure. So when the messaging around them is pushed through glossy demos, frictionless life hacks, breathless ‘agentic’ workflows, it is worth keeping a healthy pinch of salt handy.

Relatedly, there has also been chatter about the increased role of Comms and ‘storytellers’ in these organisations (an example- Anthropic tripled its team to 80, and is still hiring). A BI article tells us the hottest job in tech is “writing words”. They’re looking for narrative control, as “the rise of slopaganda is fuelling a surprising tech hiring boom”.

Many see a distinct irony in how the companies offering tools to automate writing and creating, are valuing those very skills so highly… in humans.

Generating words and writing them, it would appear, are not quite the same thing.

5. First Person Goodness

The Winter Olympics Milano Cortina just wrapped. I can’t say winter sports are staple watching in our home, and I’ll be honest- my skiing skills, though brilliant, are limited to 90s video games. But the Olympics come with their own appeal, so some viewing happened here in our sunny climes.

And when we watched, one thing stood out big time (for clarity, I don’t mean the royal ‘we’, but me and the family).

The incredible POV drone footage. It really swooped us into the action, the hillsides, the tracks. Yes, drones are not new to sport anymore- but there was something about these FPV drones, in those settings, that really raised my viewing experience. Sports coverage is prone to the odd gimmick, but this here is no mere novelty. These cameras, these angles, this dynamism (and these skilled operators) are here to stay.

As you might imagine, flying these drones in such dynamic settings can be a challenge. Custom builds. Lack of pilots. Radio frequencies. Weight.
Hop over here for a brief peek into how much of a challenge it can be, with OBS CTO Sotiris Salamouris talking about Milano Cortina’s ‘drone legacy’.

➕ Quick Hits

1. TV networks in Korea have sued OpenAI for using their content for training, saying, “OpenAI has refused any negotiations with the three broadcasters and continues to maintain discriminatory copyright policies.”

2. The volume of Indian streaming originals is at its lowest since 2020, according to an Ormax report. After peaking in 2023, the category has witnessed drops of 18% and 13% in last two years. The merger of Disney+, Hotstar and JioCinema into one app has been the biggest ‘villain’ here, with the inevitable rationalising in their collective offering.

3. While many of us would readily accept the value of news, not as many might ascribe real importance to following it in a responsible, meaningful way. A recent Pew report showcases this tension in the US, one I feel will be a common tension in many regions. Half say they are worn out by the amount of news, two-thirds have stopped getting news from a specific source.

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