The Unofficial Most Unexpected Retailer Campaigns in 2025 (June) | Reimagining Retail
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Hello, listeners. Today is Wednesday, June 25th. Welcome to Behind the Numbers, Reimagining Retail, an e-marketer podcast made possible by Sint. This is the show where we talk about how retail collides with every part of our lives. I'm your host, Sarah Lebo. Today's episode topic is our June unofficial most interesting retailers of the month list, with a twist.

We'll get into that special twist in a sec. Before we do, let's meet today's guests. Joining me for today's episode, we have Ariel Fager. Hey, Ariel. Hey, thrilled to be here. Thrilled to have you. Also with us, Rachel Wolf. Hi, Rachel. Hey there. And also joining us is Zach Stambor. Hi, Zach. Hey. Hello. Okay, let's jump into our unofficial most interesting retailers of the month list.

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Here's the twist. We're halfway through the year. So this month we're doing another themed list, something we've done in the past. First of all, can you guys believe we're halfway through the year? No. I cannot believe that. It's actually truly shocking. It's like every year it's always like, that's crazy. But like this year really got me. So our themed list this month, we will be counting down our top eight most unexpected retail campaigns from the past year.

Think the Notorious Elf Beauty Liquid Death collab of Corpse Paint, which was over a year ago, but was such a good collaboration. We've got some collabs, some interesting product launches, and some interesting campaigns on here. So Arielle and I, we are the committee, will present our list in the first half of this episode. In the second half, Zach and Rachel will have the opportunity to edit our list. So here is our list.

Number eight, liquid death kegs for pregs. Okay, this was an ad featuring a very pregnant Kylie Kelsey, wife of Jason Kelsey, brother to Travis Kelsey, who is very famously Taylor Swift's boyfriend, drinking liquid death canned water.

I want to point out that we were kind of hesitant to put this one on the list because everything Liquid Death does in campaigns is unexpected. They put an adult entertainment actress in an ad years ago. Their brand is very unexpected. And as a result, some of those unexpected things almost become expected. It's hard to top what they're doing. But we thought this campaign was unexpected. So we put it on here.

Yeah, I think it's important to kind of think about these with that grain of salt that anything a brand is trying to do is, you know, going to be expected because they want to make headlines. They want all of the articles to be about them. So this, I think, falls into that category.

Number seven, Kate Spade's Heinz bag. Arielle, as our in-house ketchup expert, tell us about this. Oh, love it. So Kate Spade and Heinz launched a capsule collection. It's, you know, a bunch of stuff. It's totes and...

tees and footwear and all of this um my favorite is the like the bag that looks like like a ketchup packet um and I just think it's really fun um definitely Heinz feels like kind of a you know a summery picnic-y kind of chill vibe whereas Kate Spade's a little more high fashion luxury um so I just think it's kind of an interesting um duo to see and like very visually uh fun

Yeah, I saw they did another one with M&Ms last year. So this seems to be the trend for Kate Spade. And I think, you know, it fits very much with the Kate Spade aesthetic of being, you know, like very cute and fun. Yeah, this also fits with like a trend toward like tomato baking.

based accessories. And also as someone who I would say is, was on the cutting edge of like food as apparel, something I've always been into. I was a big fan of this and I'm a big fan of how popular that sort of kitschiness has gotten.

This is not a video podcast, so no one can see that I am wearing two different pieces of food-based apparel right now. But we can. I can't even see what food-based apparel you're wearing. I'm wearing shrimp earrings, which is unusual because I never wear earrings. And I guess I'm not wearing this, but my phone case is orange themed. Oh, okay. All right. Number six.

A1 Steak Sauces Start Them Early Campaign. Arielle, what's this? Yeah, I guess I'm the condiments girl on this podcast today. Love that. Wish it were me. I'm into it. Yeah, so I think, I mean, A1 just kind of did a very, you know, smart timing. So earlier this year, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon referred to AI, artificial intelligence, as A1, talking about, you know,

starting kids early in school with AI to help them learn. A1, of course, you know, just took advantage of this, responded on Instagram saying every school should have access to A1. And then, you know, a photo of the bottle saying, with a label saying for education purposes only. So I just thought it was a,

quick and fun thing and interestingly brave considering the political you know landscape that is this

uh you know a little bit challenging for brands to step into so i thought it was a pretty cool thing yeah i was gonna say i feel like you used to see more people more brands willing to sort of make fun of politicians yeah that hasn't happened recently so the fact that a1 really leaned into that i think helped them stand out yeah that that's why we put this on the list because of like how uh

Brands are really shying away from anything political. Something that we were comparing this to when we were making the list was the 2013 Oreo tweet. If you are not engrossed in marketing culture, this was after the power went out in the 2013 Super Bowl after Beyonce's halftime show. Iconic halftime show. Oreo tweeted, what was it like? You can still dunk in the dark or something? Yeah, I think it was something like that.

And brands hadn't really responded to pop culture in real time on social media like that before. So I think it's interesting how this sort of comment from A1 is actually kind of expected now. It shows how that Oreo tweet, if that happened now, no one would notice. This kind of landed in A1's lap. It was a hilarious gaffe.

And I mean, how could it not respond almost? But they did it in a really fun, clever way and they did it quickly, which is the essential component here. Number five, Coors Light's spelling mistake.

Coors Light launched a billboard in Times Square where the word refreshment was spelled wrong. Then they doubled down on the misspelling by releasing a statement and product playing off of it. This was, of course, a marketing play. Of course, it was not an accidental misspelling. It never is. And it was actually done by the same agency that was behind the A1 play. Oh, I didn't know that. That's interesting. We put this on because...

I hadn't seen this before, like potential misspelling. I'm kind of like, oh, that's so clearly a marketing play. But it's one I hadn't seen before. It worked. Yeah, I think, you know, it was having fun with itself. I think, you know, I think it's always fun to see a brand kind of like being playful with itself and like meta about its own marketing. And I think it's engineered to draw engagement, right? Because how many people are going to start tweeting at the brand saying, you spelled it wrong?

Yeah, it like gets at our like base instinct correcting people. Number four, Bon Iver ex-fish wife. Yep. Yep. I'll talk about this. So Bon Iver for his latest album did like a slew of collaborations, one of which was... Artisan collaborations. Yeah, artisan collaborations. And one of which was a...

smoked salmon with a tin fish company called Fish Wife. And I just, you know, definitely was not expecting that. I think tin fish obviously is extremely popular. Another trend I was way ahead of. Yep. So, yeah, I just thought it was funny. And again, like it's just one of many partnerships that Bon Iver did. Were you familiar with Fish Wife before this? No.

No, no. Interesting. Yeah, I think this is a great move for Fishwife. I, as a

Brooklyn girl who loves tinned fish. I was going to say, this seems like tailor-made for that audience. I have known Fishwife for years. I have Fishwife currently sitting in my cabinet. It's a fancy tinned fish company. But I think this was smart. Bon Iver is a very popular artist, and Fishwife is popular among a niche crowd, sort of in New York City. It was a great way to get it more out there. I

interested in if we see this sort of artisan merch coming from more

launches in the future. I might like to see it. I would be interested. What do you want to see? What's your ideal product? Oh, don't put me on the spot like that. Do it. I mean, the fact that Sabrina Carpenter did not team up with anyone for, I think, did she do a Dunkin' Donuts espresso? Why hasn't Chapel Roan done T-I-D-E Tide to Go? There you go. It's not quite our

The whole thing about this is that the brand and the artist have to align. This certainly does. Yes. You know, Tide might not or whatever it might be. Who doesn't align with a Tide to go pen?

Yeah. Good point. Good point. Okay. Number three, Duncan's sexy Halloween spider. We don't usually allow quick service restaurants, but we made an exception for this list because it's special. For Halloween last year, Duncan released a spider donut. That's not very surprising. It's like a munchkin in a donut with some legs, eight legs to be specific. Okay.

But the spider had like very unhinged and flirtatious social media posts, honestly, to the point where I'm not going to say them on the podcast, but you can go look them up. Yeah, I think this is fun. I don't know. I mean, I am a Halloween fan. So, you know, already got me with that. And Dunkin', you know, is not a brand that I consider particularly popular.

playful in that kind of more you know adult all of their marketing budget on the one Ben Affleck ad so yeah so it to me it's it's a little bit of a new thing for them and I applaud it

It's certainly surprising. I'm not sure I totally got it. Is this getting me to go to Dunkin Donuts? I think it's just getting you to talk about Dunkin Donuts. It's getting my attention, I guess. It's getting you thinking about Dunkin Donuts. And so then the next time you're in your car between a Dunkin Donuts and a Starbucks, maybe you're going to Dunkin Donuts. But you're not thinking about it like an appetizing way.

You're not going to go, okay, I'm going to go buy that spider donut now. I mean, the way Sarah described it, I was like, oh, I could really go for a donut right now. Donut with legs? Like, yeah. This idea has legs. I'm going to get kicked off of my own podcast. Okay, number two, Frida Uncensored. Frida is a baby and maternal care brand. Zach, are you familiar with Frida as a person with children?

No. Okay. Frida is a baby and maternal care brand that has the, their like flagship product is this like snot rocket kind of product, but they're also maternal care. And they have these uncensored videos offering like tutorials and information for postpartum women related to taboo or stigmatized topics about health.

They put out a series of out-of-home ads casting for these videos, like putting real women in these videos. These caught my attention at South by Southwest. The ads hinted at explicitness but were pixelated because they were out-of-home ads.

I like the ads a lot because I found them legitimately daring in a world that deprioritizes or stigmatizes women's health. And because without mentioning Frida's products at all, they still provided brand equity and awareness. This was like the number one thing in coming up with this list that stood out to me, not these campaigns specifically, but brands that did a campaign that had brands

Nothing to do with their product, but just had to do with like raising brand awareness and boosting their brand's identity. Well, I think that also has to do with the types of products that we're talking about, right? Like if you're Heinz, you know, so much of it is about your brand equity. I would suggest checking out those ads. I think they're cool. Number one, Heineken's Boring Mode app. Arielle. Okay, so...

Previously, Heineken teamed up with a streetwear retailer called Bodega to launch what it called the boring phone, which basically is just like had no Internet access, you know. And now it's kind of expanding on that idea with an app called

that can turn any phone into a quote dumb phone with no internet access. And so, you know, the campaign really centers around, you know, encouraging consumers to unplug, to be there, you know, with their friends as they're, you know, at a music show or, you know, hanging out. And I just think

that's really at a time where most brands are encouraging consumers to go online or become more digital. Obviously, you know, you have to download the app. So there's that. But

I just think it's a really fun thing. And, you know, we do hear a lot about, you know, Gen Zers or even Gen Alphas kind of learning. If you're listening to this, please don't buy. No, that's exactly. That's actually a really good point. But we do hear about, you know, people wanting to kind of unplug a little bit. So I think it's it's, you know, playing into that trend. Yeah, this this one stood out to me because if you're Heineken fan,

you don't everyone knows your product is beer like everyone already knows that so you don't really need to be pushing like our specific beer that honestly might not work if you're Heineken instead you need to be pushing that brand equity and experience totally and beer is like something that you have in a social setting generally and so I love this idea of like fostering

dialogue, fun, engagement, rather than focusing on your phone, which like so many of us do so much of the time, even when we're among each other. This evokes my favorite Cher tweet.

which is I need to shoot my phone. Iconic tweet from Cher. Good old Cher. Okay, so our final list is number eight, Liquid Death, Kegs for Pregs. Number seven, Kate Spade, Heinz Bag. Number six, A1AI. Number five, Coors Light's spelling mistake. Number four, Bon Iver canned salmon. Number three, Duncan's sexy spider. Number two, Frida Uncensored. And number one, Heineken's boring mode.

Now it's time for our second half, where Zach and Rachel get to tell us where we went wrong. Each of them will have a chance to move a brand up or down our rankings and to list a new company entirely. So, Rachel, make a move. Okay, I'm going to move Dunkin' Sexy Spider down. Oh, no, that was my move. Oh, no. Wait, okay, so make this case together. I mean, I think it's just one of those things where, you know, it's a fun...

campaign on social but again like does it move the needle for the brand I don't know necessarily and I also didn't remember that this happened so in terms of longevity I don't think it really worked either yeah I agree I just again like I said before it's like

Yes, it does. It is unexpected. It does capture my attention, but I'm not sure it does it in a way that makes me want to actually go get a donut or a cup of coffee. It's just attention. To me, it's attention for attention's sake. Isn't that what the whole point is, one might say? If it would then drive me to go to Dunkin'. But it's just...

I don't know. It just strikes me as like, okay, like it's, it's a try hard to me. I understand where you're coming from, but you did, you said it yourself, you said it was unexpected. And I feel like that's the name of the game here. Yeah. Although I get the argument that like being unhinged on social media is, is par for the course at this point. It is. I, I, you know, I see it both ways, but I, I,

You like the spider? Your team spider? I don't know. I don't know. What do you? What was it? So what was your, do you want to move it completely off the list or do you want to move it down? I think I would move it off the list if it were me. Zach, where would you move it? Yeah, I've got mine that I'm putting on the list. I mean, I'm fine with moving it to number eight. I'll move it to number eight. All right. We're moving it to number eight. Let's see if you guys can actually get it off the list with your nature check suggestions. Yeah.

you've talked a big game to be fair there wasn't that much pushback I will have to say yeah I tried a little you know okay it is wild card time this is where you both can add a new brand to the list but let's see if you succeed at that or not so Zach what is your wild card

So I want to talk about Budweiser and their Beer Behind the Backstage campaign, which is an outdoor and print campaign that really highlighted the brand's connection to music. Budweiser has been a consistent presence on backstage riders for musicians for decades. And this campaign used the actual riders minus the band names on billboards.

like right in front of iconic venues like Madison Square Garden, Hollywood, Palladium. And it gets people guessing like whose requests these are. It seems a little unexpected. It seems a little effective to, you know,

You just use the actual documents and be it's kind of like a boring visual presence. But it's also like an interesting visual presence. And so, you know, it's not flashy, but it is authentic. And so I just I just kind of liked it. It's interesting that you say that about the boring visual presence, because when Ariel and I were putting this list together, we were like.

okay, brands need to do things that are unexpected. As they do that, the unexpected gets more and more expected and they need to find ways to go over the top and they need to find ways to go over the top. And we were like, where does that leave brands? And so that simplicity, that boring look actually does stand out in a world of flashiness.

Budweiser has also always tied itself to music. So this is really core to its brand identity. They had a music festival in the early 2010s, the Made in America Music Festival. So, yeah, I mean, this makes sense. Wow, we're really... Congratulations, Budweiser.

beer companies yeah on your marketing well who knew beer companies had good marketing and I would be lying if I said I didn't really enjoy like looking at people's writers I always find it really interesting right it's super fun people ask for I went to a conference a while ago where Shaq was a speaker and uh the announcer like said what his

Ryder was and he said all it said was 12 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and he and his team ate all of them there's something very wholesome about that yeah did he specify what kind of peanut butter I don't know he should

That was my question. Shaq, if you're listening. Okay. I'm fine with putting them on the list. I don't know if they're that high on the list. Yeah. I would definitely put them like towards the bottom, but I definitely agree with putting them on there. I mean, we could knock off, you know, good old Duncan. All right. Put Budweiser. Sorry to Duncan's sexy spider. Yeah.

Please don't take it personally, Spider. Okay. Yeah. All right. Budweiser Rider. Rachel, what is your wild card? My wild card is a campaign that I've been watching very closely over the past couple weeks, and that is this new soap from Dr. Squatch that incorporates bathwater from Sidney Sweeney.

Oh, you... Okay. Yep. That is something that's been happening. Yeah, so I think... I don't know about this. Oh, lucky you. What? How do you not know about it? Because I deleted all social media from my phone. So, allegedly, we don't know if this is true, though they claim it's true, the soap incorporates a little bit of her bathwater. I think the other ingredients are sand and pine bark extract, which...

And the other notable thing is that I forgot to mention, this is a brand for men. So, you know, they're clearly, you know, there's a reason they chose Sidney Sweeney to do this. I think it's a very tongue in cheek campaign. Definitely very cheeky. I think it's more effective than the Duncan campaign because it has actually gotten people to buy the soap, which sold out immediately. Unsurprisingly. I don't know if you guys have heard a little marketing term, but it's sex sells. Yeah.

Exactly. I think you can buy them now for like $2,000 on eBay if anybody is interested. Okay, according to the internet, you can also buy it for $13 at Walmart. Try there first. Take your pick. Yeah, Rachel, that's a great one. I can't believe that

I think I've just blocked it out so much. Yeah, I was shocked you didn't make the list. I have been purposely avoiding. Shocked and happy. This campaign has everything. It has men's personal care, a huge up-and-coming category that is crowded with D to Cs, crowding with D to Cs, I should say, that need to find a way to stand out. It has a very relevant actress category

And it has controversy. Yeah. And it was timed to release around, I think she has a movie out at the same time. So she's promoting her movie. She's in the spotlight. And the soap comes out. So I think it's kind of a perfect storm. Yeah. It's got to go on the list. And I would put it up pretty high, personally. Does it get number one? I think it might. That's going to kick Budweiser Rider off the list. I feel bad. Oh, man.

I feel a little bad, but yeah, I think it's very timely and relevant. It's happening pretty much right now. And yeah, I've seen so many social media posts about it. I've got a new pitch in defense of Zach and Zach's honor. Okay, I'm listening. And it's hard for me to say this because I really like this campaign, but I think Budweiser Ryder maybe should replace...

Kate Spade Heinz bag because Kate Spade does launch kitschy bags. Yeah. And we put that on the list, I think, because you and I are both really partial to kitsch.

Well, I'm not partial to ketchup, but you're partial to ketchup and I'm partial to ketchup. And I do like food related things. Yeah. I mean, especially because as Rachel mentioned, they are doing another line with Eminem right now. Yeah, they've done similar things. Sure. Sure. Okay. There we go.

So, our final list is:

Hard to say. Yeah, a little bit of a tongue twister. Thank you guys for joining us and informing our list. Thank you so much for being here, Ariel. You are welcome. This is really fun. Thank you, Rachel. Thanks for having me. Thank you, Zach. Yeah, thanks. Please give us a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Thank you to our listeners and to our team that edits the podcast and is always doing the unexpected.

We'll be back next Wednesday with another episode of Reimagining Retail, an eMarketer podcast. And on Friday, join Marcus for another episode of Behind the Numbers, an eMarketer podcast made possible by Synth.