July's SRG Salon was a hoot

It could've also been titled "everything is a scam (&everyone is a scammer)". We talked about:

• the world cup is not about soccer (T-Pain DoorDash tweets were fake)

• Alix Earle's Reale Actives vs Hailey Bieber's Rhode

• The "privilege" of getting to see the odyssey in imax

• bandwagon culture (exemplified by knicks merch). i hate it. I hate 'just let people like what the like' apologists. This is why we have disney adults.

• The ethics of celebs endorsing GLP-1s

• HUM by Helen Phillips came up because there's a dystopian-but-real scene where the character gets in a cab and can't mute the ads unless she pays a fee (Cat made a good point that we are basically here already paying for streaming WITH ads)

• "Low T" (as in testosterone) being totally misunderstood

• The "Enhanced Games" (where you are allowed/supposed to take performance enhancing drugs)

• the "spectrum" of authenticity-- this struck me as oxymoronic because shouldn't something either be authentic or not? how can it be semi-authentic? imagine a counterfeit handbag -- but it's made with leather from the same factory that the real ones come from, by a craftsman trained alongside the authentic craftsman. this feels like a theseus' ship for birkinheads

• so much more

It was such a fecund topic and the convos that I sat in on meandered widely--very entertaining.

Suggested media/reading

• caroline calloway's ozempic essay

• The Feed Is Fake essay in Vulture

• Publishing has a hologram problem LitHub

• reaction to the essay^^ tiktok

• Everyone is an influencer reel

• I Don’t Want to Be Friends With a Corporation Substack

• Reddit Corporate brands being “relatable” on social media and infiltrating

• Ingrid Goes West (movie starring Aubrey Plaza & Elizabeth Olsen)

• Even NFL players have to be influencers tiktok

• It’s Hard Making Friends When Everyone Wants to be Famous substack

• Elmo's Knicks PR crisis... which was just promo?

• Elmo forced to respond to criticism ... which was just ads for the world cup?

• Reaction to said criticism tiktok

• Conan on press tour culture tiktok

• Do You Have to Become a Content Creator to Make It in the Arts? substack

• Confessions of an AI Clickbait Kingpin WIRED

• Gen z knows brands are trying to be friends IG post

• Intellectual influencers, the cool vs the rich, & the allure of a private life substack

• art galleries are turning into failed luxury brands reel

• gen z does not want to be influencers anymore cosmo (if you have a WSJ subscription read this, same info)

• food influencer parody tiktok

• slop economy tiktok (this creator tries to walk a fine line between being critical vs endorsing AI)

• being part of the digital circus IG post (comments section>post)

• not every brand/celeb is a morality compass reel

Discussion questions

• What’s the most obvious ad you’ve seen recently that still worked on you?

• Is the best marketing simply content that doesn’t feel like advertising?

• Is it possible to be a sellout anymore?

• When is content just a vehicle for monetization? Marvel, Coachella, Meghan Trainor’s flop album—are these designed primarily as vehicles to sell merch/make tiktoks (or to exist as “art”)?

• What is your reaction when an influencer you like gets their first brand partnership?

• What's "wrong" with watching ads? There are entire coffee table books that treat ads as an art form.

• Does "stealth marketing" erode media literacy?

• If you enjoy the content, does it matter that it’s an ad?

• If an ad is entertaining (think: comedian podcast where they turn the ad into a bit that is actually funny), does that make it less intrusive?

• Are you more critical when individuals turn themselves into brands, or when brands try to act like people?

• Do you feel like you have “succumbed” when influencers/ads work on you?